About
Solstrand Hotel & Bad occupies a privileged position on Bjørnefjorden, the southernmost arm of the Hardanger sea, about 30 kilometres from Bergen. The hotel opened in 1896 and its wellness offering has grown from a traditional seaside bathing house into one of the most distinctive spa hotels in western Norway. The centrepiece is a glass-walled sauna built out over the fjord, so you sweat with an uninterrupted 180-degree panorama of open water and forested hillsides before stepping directly into the fjord for a cold plunge.
The thermal complex includes an 88-metre heated seawater infinity pool that appears to merge with the fjord beyond, two smaller indoor pools, and a full-service spa with massage treatment rooms. The hotel has also maintained its classic Norwegian hospitality: formal dining rooms, a period bar, and extensive grounds.
Solstrand is the kind of hotel where the setting does as much work as the facilities. The fjord is always visible, always audible. The glass sauna is genuinely unique in Norway, and the infinity pool at 34 °C is one of the best places in the country to watch an Atlantic weather front roll in.
