Hotels in Svalbard

The hotels in Svalbard are where you’ll truly get a sense of what “High Arctic luxury and comfort” is, but what does it actually mean?
You may have heard someone say “Food just tastes better in nature” when describing the experience of a nice meal when out in the wild. It’s a well-suited description seeing as a nice meal is even more appreciated when you’ve just finished a long hike, or perhaps because you get to enjoy a nice meal in fantastic natural surroundings and landscapes. Luxury and comfort at a hotel is often thought of as an experience far removed from anything to do with nature. But just as with many other quirky things, the hotel experience in Svalbard is also somewhat different from what you may be used to.

In little big Longyearbyen you’re never more than a few minutes’ walk from the wild, and if you’re staying at Isfjord Radio you’re practically in the wild at any given time. The hotel experience in Svalbard is therefore anything but completely removed from nature. For most visitors to Svalbard, a guided adventure in Svalbard’s wilderness is usually included as well due to it being so readily available from town. But what does all of this have to do with the saying “Food just tastes better in nature”?

We’d like to be as bold as to say that similarly to this saying, “A hotel bed is best after an adventure in Svalbard”. What gives meaning to the term “High Arctic luxury and comfort” is the contrast between the great adventures in Svalbard’s vast nature and the urban comfort of a soft and warm hotel bed. In one moment, you may be on a dog sledding trip underneath the starry sky during Svalbard’s Polar Night season, and in the next you’ve just finished a nice warm shower in your hotel room and are on your way to a fine-dining dinner in the hotel restaurant. High Arctic luxury and comfort lies in other words in the sometimes-surreal experience of the contrast between raw wilderness and relaxing comfort you may find in Svalbard.

Each hotel in Svalbard has their own unique quality to add to this contrast, and on this page, you’ll find more information about all of them. Maybe you’ll find the perfect hotel bed to relax in after your next adventure in Svalbard?