Haholmen - by Classic Norway Hotels

Wondered whether to give 5 or 4 stars - as it is a very special place. The island and views are beautiful - the room was very well done. It is noisy with neighbours as they are old buildings but people took care to speak softly and did not impact our stay. Dinner was nice but bit pricy even by Norway standards - using that you have to be on the island. Again we enjoyed it and was great food, but we were also out the door again in around an hour of quick serving of food. And that is on an island with nothing else there 😀 The ferry left 5 minutes early to schedule on our way there and 10 minutes early to schedule ont eh way back. Had to run to catch that back and were lucky both ways. For a schedule of once an hour and the only way to get to your hotel I do t think that is acceptable. So would highly recommend and stay there again ourselves - but not giving 5 as too many small things not perfect and things like a missed ferry cause it left early could have had a major impact on the day.

Traveling around by own car in North-West part of South of Norway, we had booked through the Company Berg Reiser, a night at the Haholmen Havstuer. The Hotel at the Island could only be reached by a boat that picked us up at the enormous Atlanterhavsveien at Averøya. This great small Island owned by Ragnar Thorseth and family well known also because of his ship Saga Siglar. Very cozy hotel and very nice to look straight out at the Atlantic Ocean.

Awesome staff! Beautiful island hotel!

We loved our stay at Håholmen Havstuer. The island is idyllic with wonderful views onto other islands and the ocean and it's utterly peaceful. You can walk around the island in about 15 mintutes and the cottages are full of character with simple but comfortable accomodations, though the single beds are very narrow. The food was excellent, though dinner was pretty pricey--but one has to keep in mind that everything has to be brought in by boat from the mainland.... The Atlantic Ocean Road is well worth seeing and the Kvernes Stave Church and folk museum aren't far away. Altogether, an excellent place for a getaway!

Amazing stay at Håholmen, both in the sun when we arrive and gales the day after. Quite an experience sitting safely indoors while the wind whittles the buildings, eating exquisite seafood and sleeping in top-quality lining. This was in all ways the perfect backdrop for our meeting!

Håholmen Havstuer presented itself in fantastic quiet weather and after parking the car in the big spacious car park we waited to be picked up by "the boat" which was this elegant Viking ship "hvitserk". An excellent start and arrival to Håholmen only 10 minutes across calm and sheltered waters. Håholmen offers a complete mini community changed into a hotel. We slept in the barn in the "pigshouse" and our friends had the horses stables. Old buildings, but nicely and freshly decorated inside. Very good balance with excellent sleeping comfort. Steep staircase to the bathroom, but is gave a distinct and historic character. Very well done. Outside the island itself is very well maintained and anywhere you go you feel they care about how it looks. Neat and tidy, very accessible and magnificent view out towards the "big sea" with the small islands. Everything here was nice and of course weather dependent. We sat in the sun at 9 p.m. watching the "flat sea" and seeing the kids in a boat bathing and 4 kayaks sliding by. A truly wonderful evening. We had a dinner reservation at Ytterbrygga restaurant and had a delicious high class meal with naturally fresh fish as main course. in the late evening we shared drinks in the Silver Bell bar, a real sailor's bar. Breakfast next day was also very well assorted at Ytterbrygga. Then the weather had changed to quite windy, but the ride back to the mainland is so sheltered it did not influence the boat trip at all. No Viking ship though in such weather. This is an attraction, truly historical, no tourist trap. Highly recommendable for a different adventure in a fantastic landscape.

We were met by the boat from Håholmen on time. The driver was welcoming and seemed genuinely friendly. It took a few minutes only in the power boat to the skerry/islet. Upon arrival we were welcomed by reception. Efficient check in and also a friendly greeting. The 'room' was a wood cabin. The view from our room on one side, was completely blocked in and in shadow from the high stone embankment and no view was possible - the other, any view of the sea was almost completely obscured by other cabins. Cabin itself was 'basic' but clean . No TV in the room - I can understand this probably doesn't fit in with the intended experience by the management but there was not a great deal to do here and watching TV might have given a modicum of relief from the ennui. If you are not lucky with the weather here, it can be very depressing. Dinner was pre-booked by the hotel - you have to cancel it if you don't want to eat in their restaurant. Since eating in their restaurant is the only option if you don't want the hassle of travelling to the mainland you have just come from, we decided to try it. This is where service fell way below what I expected. The staff were friendly enough but they didn't know what they were doing. First, I wasn't happy with the choice of meal ; it was either klipfisk or salad. That was the choice. If you had the salad the main ingredient wasn't available. Also, the choice of dessert was a grand total of one choice and this was a sweet accopmanied by ice cream except they didn't have any ice cream. The fish meal took one hour and fifteen minutes to arrive (there were very few people in the restaurant) and when it did arrive it was nothing special - tastless, meagre fish portion with style over substance its main attribute. I enquired why it had taken so long and the waiter said there had been a ' few problems'. I am not a big eater but I was left still feeling hungry. The worst of it was you couldn't even order a burger or anything else not even chips - it was the set menu of a sald or fish and that was it. There was no atmosphere in the restaurant as the place was almost empty. I would advise against eating here. I went to the pub the second night to get a nightcap at 15 minutes before closing . I asked the barman from Czech Republic for a beer. He refused saying he was shut. I said 'you are open until eleven, aren't you?' and he said 'yes' . Then he explained that he had cashed up the till. No offer to put a drink on my room , nothing. The main thing that upset me was the barman was so proud that he had cashed up early and din't seem to realise that if you say you are open until eleven that doesn't mean you shut it fifteen minutes early. One more thing, I asked for a second key so we could have one each. The second key didn't work . In conclusion, this was a regrettable experience. Terrible, slow, unprofessional service in the restaurant and bar with a terrible service offering. To make matters w