Funken Lodge

Very comfortable hotel and excellent service. Hard to believe you are almost at the North Pole! Restaurant is fantastic with a gorgeous view. The rooms are pretty small, so get a suite if you need some privacy. I may be biased, but best time to visit is during the Sunny Winter, with 24 hr sunlight.

My wife has wanted to visit Svalbard for years and the Funken Lodge was always the place she wanted to stay. It did not disappoint. I think it’s safe to say it was her favourite hotel she’s ever stayed in, and it was a close runner up for mine. We felt so at home here. It was December so the Christmas trees were out and the whole place had a wonderfully cosy feel, even in -20 degree cold and 24h darkness. Relaxing on the sofas with a book after tucking into a delicious burger was the perfect way to round off a day of snowmobiling. We stayed in one of the suites which were small but so comfortable and had a nice view into town. The Funken restaurant deserves a special mention for 2 wonderful meals we had. We also dined at Huset but preferred the Funken. We are already planning our return trip!

Hotel is a great place for adults, but very challenging if travelling with children. No children's menus. No colouring pencils, no toboggans to borrow, no toys or play corners. The soap at wash hand basins is too high for them to reach. Breakfast buffet also too high, so us parents spent all breakfast running around for the children. The evening menus are great for adults, but too challenging for a very young palate. I will be recommending to the hotel that they make some small changes (like a children's menu with simple food in small portions, some colour crayons, a box of lego and having "sparks" to borrow to get to and from town) which will make staying here as a family a lot less of a challenge. The last Norwegian hotel we stayed at had a children's buffet at breakfast too. That would have made our stay here much easier.

All details at this hotel are really well thought and everything is prepared with care and keeping in mind offering the best quality to their guests.

I would connect the waterfall shower as it was disconnected from the pipe and it looks like a scam . Food in the restaurant was very average as well as the breakfast. Two dishes like the cod and the reindeer were really bad. Crabs were good . Lunch food and soup of the day excellent . Staff sure nice and polite and the room was super clean with nice matrice but vers small for 350€ per night. We booked it 8 months in advance