Havsdalsgrenda Apartments

“Pre Christmas trip with a large group”

From December 15 to 21, I stayed at Havsdalsgrenda with 15 people from Singapore, the Netherlands, and Germany. Given our group size, we booked two adjacent apartments, which was an excellent choice. The setup allowed us to stay close while giving the kids space to relax and connect. Overall, I dou… more

From December 15 to 21, I stayed at Havsdalsgrenda with 15 people from Singapore, the Netherlands, and Germany. Given our group size, we booked two adjacent apartments, which was an excellent choice. The setup allowed us to stay close while giving the kids space to relax and connect. Overall, I doubt we could have had a better stay anywhere else. The location was ideal, offering a perfect backdrop to get into the Christmas spirit. The shared facilities and well-organized management provided a level of convenience that a stand-alone cabin couldn’t match, all while maintaining the cosy, authentic mountain vibe. For instance, pre-ordering groceries from the local “Spar” store and having them ready upon arrival was a thoughtful touch. Additionally, Havsdalsgrenda offers excellent alternatives for those who don’t want to ski daily, such as a pool, which adds variety to our stay. A special shoutout to the management team, led by Gro, who went above and beyond to make our experience seamless and enjoyable. If I were to offer some constructive feedback, it would be regarding the facilities for ski gear. A designated space for storing and prepping skis and a proper room to dry ski boots and gloves would have been helpful. Another minor issue was with the main fireplace in the cabin. While it added a fantastic ambience, it seemed a bit old-fashioned. Some heat escaped through the chimney; if ventilation wasn’t managed carefully, smoke could occasionally drift into the living room. Despite these minor points, our stay was fantastic, and I highly recommend Havsdalsgrenda for a memorable mountain getaway.

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“A very comfortable stay requiring a little organisation if you are without a car”

We stayed here through Crystal Ski. We had a very comfortable stay with 4 adults, a 4 y old and a toddler. Apartment was spacious and clean. Lovely lounge/diner area with large comfy sofas and a fireplace. Lots of bath/shower rooms. Kitchen was well equipped. The whole place was warm, boots and kit… more

We stayed here through Crystal Ski. We had a very comfortable stay with 4 adults, a 4 y old and a toddler. Apartment was spacious and clean. Lovely lounge/diner area with large comfy sofas and a fireplace. Lots of bath/shower rooms. Kitchen was well equipped. The whole place was warm, boots and kit dried easily. The apartment was arranged over a number of floors. We wished we'd taken our own travel cot as the ones available were either small or very tired out. We did not have a car and catering for ourselves did require a bit of organisation. We did a shop on route during the transfer. Then, as buses to town only go first thing, and back only in the afternoon, we took bags with us skiing and did small shops in town as needed. There are no shopping options walking distance from the accommodation. The local ski hire shop was great and the local bar was good with decent pizza. The complex has a nice pool, ok temp for adults but a few degrees too cool for our toddler. Nice for a dip though! We would definitely stay here again.

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“Much better than we expected”

The accommodation was much better than we expected. We came from the UK and booked through Crystal and I don't think the website does it justice. The site layout is ingenious with ski paths to all rooms above ground and a warm underground route through the car park to reception when on foot. We sta… more

The accommodation was much better than we expected. We came from the UK and booked through Crystal and I don't think the website does it justice. The site layout is ingenious with ski paths to all rooms above ground and a warm underground route through the car park to reception when on foot. We stayed in a 3 bedroom apartment, which was arranged across two floors and was spacious, comfortable, well equipped and very clean. It probably wouldn't suit beginners as the ski in/out would be too difficult at first as it is accessed via a blue run. There is no Crystal rep in this resort but receptionist was incredibly friendly and helpful. The only improvement I could make would be to have an onsite restaurant. The nearby ski café was great at lunchtime and you could pre-order breakfast from the accommodation reception but in the evenings our only real option was to cook or to get a taxi into town, which was quite expensive (around £40 return). I believe the local Spa supermarket delivers to this accommodation so we would look into this if going again. In addition to the ski café there was a great little ski hire shop about a 5 minute walk from the accommodation, at the bottom of the adjacent blue run. The town centre was about a 10 minute drive away. For anyone with a car this accommodation would be totally perfect as every apartment had an allocated space in the underground carpark close to entrance to the lower floor.

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“Good! Better than average, but not 'Very Good'”

3.5 / 5 - Its 'Good'! Its somewhere between average and very good! there should be more stars! The positives: reception, access around property, pool, gym, sauna, cafe, ski-in / ski-out. The living rooms and facilities / decor / fit & finish. The views are exquisite (northern lights on the fi… more

3.5 / 5 - Its 'Good'! Its somewhere between average and very good! there should be more stars! The positives: reception, access around property, pool, gym, sauna, cafe, ski-in / ski-out. The living rooms and facilities / decor / fit & finish. The views are exquisite (northern lights on the first night), and the staff were excellent. The negatives: Bedrooms, bathrooms, the communal steam room smelled awful (near the pool). Ski in access. And the ICE!! Review: Communal areas are lovely and the staff great. moving round the property is easy in the underground car park, but above ground, especially with the Ice we had when we got there was treacherous and wasn't cleared, many people fell, some hurt themselves. However this cleared later in the week when it snowed. The Ski out element is brilliant, either a green run down to Slaata (ski school and green slopes) or a short run down to the drag lift up Geilohovda. However, the Ski In options are not as good if your a beginner - just be warned. The blue 41 from GeiloHovda is ok if your intermediate but steep for a beginner (like me) and in fact ALL the runs are coloured easier than they are - so blues are harder than blues in say France/Italy and reds are in places more like blacks. The other ski-in option is drag lift H and a blue across into the resort (which is ok). Drag lift H is a death trap! and is far too steep for a button lift. there was a nasty accident while we were there when a woman came off the button and tumbled to the bottom (its a black run one side and a red the other). this should be a chair lift and is just plain dangerous!! To overcome this we took taxis at the end of the day, some days. Taxis from Slaata / town are about 200 Krone normally (although 300 Krone late at night or during the weekend if they have a special event / festival on) - that's about £15. The living space is lovely and the kitchen, lounge, TV area etc was nice, well equipped and with great views. There was only 1 x 3 seater sofa which wasn't amazing for 5 adults if you have a night in but not unworkable. We had a 3 bedroom, bottom floor apartment for 5 adults (20E) - but there is only one bathroom for 5 adults which is really poor !! The sauna is off the bathroom which makes it basically un-useable for any length of time - it essentially became a drying room for ski gear which was good as there isn't a drying room anywhere either in the room or reception for wet ski gear. The bedrooms are small and we had to move the beds around just to make space to walk round the beds. there are no wardrobes in the room or chairs/arm chairs. there are cupboards in the communal areas for clothes storage but that's not much use if your sharing with others to wander round the communal areas to get your clothes. The 3rd bedroom was bunk beds & again thats not much use for 5 adults (we were all 40+ except 1 who was 26 and got the bunk). The snow is the snow and there isn't much the resort can do about it but it hadn't snowed for 2 weeks and the 2 inch of snow on the paths etc around the resort were now solid ice and no effort had been made on the paths which made them death dealing and needed attention. Cost wise we paid about £640 p/p. (But we got BOGOF ski passes). I think for self catering and the sleeping arrangement thats the TOP end of a reasonable budget. BUT ... saying that, for ski in/ski out with excellent views and great staff / facilities its probably worth it ... Just. we were a group of 18 so we got to see the other 4 bedroom apartment which had 8 people in. they had 2 bathrooms and more space, but it was over 4 floors! and there were stairs everywhere !! and the bedrooms were in the roof space with poor access and no headroom. would we stay again? yeah probably / maybe, but only with 4 people or in a larger apartment and if the price was right and we got BOGOF lift pass deal again. Would we rush to go back? No. Friends there said there were other places that for the same money were better in France / Italy. But Norway is absolutely beautiful, the people are lovely, skiing was pretty good and its not as expensive as you think. meals in restaurants on the slopes were £10-16 which is normal. and snacks like chips etc are £3-4. Transfer bus will stop at supermarket on the way from the airport so fill up on all the food you can. The airport supermarket has an incredible booze section where boxes of wine (4 bottles) were £40-£50 which is good value.

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