Hotels in Stavanger: harbour, park or by the Forum arena

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Saturday late morning on Skagenkaien, the quay on the east side of the harbour. The old warehouses stand in a row with café tables out front, a cruise ship blocks the sun at the mouth of the basin, and across the water in Gamle Stavanger, the old town, someone is watering the geraniums outside a white clapboard house. You can take in the whole centre from here. That is the point of Stavanger: it is small, dense and built around water, and the hotel you pick decides which side of the harbour you wake up on.

Oil has paid Stavanger's bills for half a century, and the hotels show it. Many were built for conferences and commuters, with big breakfast rooms and rooms that simply work. In between are a handful that are something more: a design hotel sharing its building with one of Norway's most talked-about restaurants and an old harbour hotel looking over Vågen. Our eight cover the harbour, the streets around the lake called Breiavatnet, and one address outside the centre, with a clear word on who each is for.

Short answer: where to stay in Stavanger

Stay on the harbour if you want Stavanger at its most atmospheric, with the old town and the restaurants of Skagen outside the door. Eilert Smith Hotel is the pick for design and food at the top level; Hotel Victoria for history and a harbour view. Around Breiavatnet you pay less and sleep closer to the train and bus station, and Clarion Hotel Energy by Stavanger Forum is the answer when the family wants a pool.

• Best for romance: Eilert Smith Hotel

• Best for families: Clarion Hotel Energy

• Best for first-time visitors: Home Hotel Skagen Brygge

• Best for value: Thon Hotel Maritim

• Best for design: Eilert Smith Hotel

How to choose a hotel in Stavanger

• Close to everything: The centre is small enough that anything between the harbour and the lake is under fifteen minutes on foot. Choose on mood, not distance.

• Harbour or lake: On Vågen you sleep in the restaurant streets and the life of the harbour, and you pay for it. By Breiavatnet you are next to the park, the cathedral and the station, often for less.

• Conference hotels have their uses: The big hotels do good breakfasts, gyms and sometimes pools, and they are quietest and cheapest at weekends once the meeting crowd has flown home.

• Think about Pulpit Rock: If you are hiking to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) or Kjerag, you need an early start. A hotel near the bus terminal, or with parking, saves you a lot of morning.

• Fly in, fly out: The airport at Sola is a short drive from town, and the airport bus runs to the centre. Check where the nearest stop is when you choose a hotel.

Vågen and Skagen: the harbour on your doorstep

Vågen is the harbour basin that cuts into the centre, with Skagenkaien and the restaurant streets on its east side and Gamle Stavanger, the old town of white wooden houses, on the west. These are the hotels for travellers who want the city in the window.

Eilert Smith Hotel: small, severe and home to the city's best-known kitchen

Eilert Smith Hotel occupies a functionalist building by the harbour, a few paces from Skagenkaien, with few enough rooms that you recognise the other guests at breakfast. The interiors are pared back and Nordic, all oak, pale walls and carefully chosen art, and the same building houses the restaurant that has made this address famous well beyond the region.

Staying here is like living in a private home that happens to have staff. Everything is quiet, everything is considered, and dinner can be the high point of the trip without leaving the building. It is for couples who want design and food at the very top, and for solo travellers who value calm. Families and large groups should look to the bigger hotels, for space as much as for atmosphere.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Eilert Smith Hotel

Hotel Victoria: the old harbour hotel

Hotel Victoria is one of the oldest hotels in the city and faces the harbour basin and Skagenkaien head on. The building has kept its high ceilings, tall windows and a staircase that tempts you to leave the lift alone, and the harbour-side rooms let you follow the boat traffic from bed.

It feels like a hotel with a memory. The lobby is dark and snug, breakfast is served in a room that has watched decades of travellers pass through, and you are out among the restaurants of Skagen before you have buttoned your coat. It is ideal for anyone who puts history and position ahead of the latest design, and a weekend where the old town and the harbour are the whole plan. If you want a large bathroom, a pool and entirely silent nights, pick one of the newer hotels.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Hotel Victoria

Home Hotel Skagen Brygge: warehouses with supper included

Skagen Brygge is built as a row of warehouse-style gables on Skagenkaien, and from the pavement cafés below it reads as an extension of the old quay. Rooms vary in shape and size because the building follows the old plots, and many look straight onto the harbour. Like Strawberry's other Home hotels, it includes a simple dinner buffet for guests, which makes it a place you can come back to tired after a day in the mountains.

You sleep in the middle of things here, with music drifting up from the bars at weekends and a breakfast room where hikers and oil executives share tables. It is the first-timer's choice for anyone who wants Stavanger's best-known waterfront as their address, and for travellers who like meals taken care of without planning. Light sleepers should ask for a room away from the quay, or stay further into town.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Home Hotel Skagen Brygge

Breiavatnet and the city park: the calmer side of the centre

Breiavatnet is the small lake in the middle of the city, ringed by the park, with the cathedral on one shore and the railway station on the other. The hotels here are minutes from the harbour but on a quieter and often cheaper address.

Radisson Blu Atlantic Hotel: the park in your window

Radisson Blu Atlantic Hotel sits on Breiavatnet with the park and the cathedral as its nearest view, and is one of the largest hotels in Stavanger. The building is tall for this city, and rooms on the upper floors take in the lake, the park and the rooftops running down towards the harbour.

You stay inside a well-oiled machine. Breakfast is big and varied, the service is used to guests racing for flights, and the lobby has space to sit and work. It is right for travellers who want reliable comfort with no surprises, business guests, and anyone moving on by train or bus from the station next door. If you are hunting for something small and personal, this is not it, and it does not pretend to be.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Radisson Blu Atlantic Hotel

Thon Hotel Maritim: by the lake, next to the train

Thon Hotel Maritim stands on Kongsgata right by Breiavatnet, with the railway station and the bus terminal a couple of minutes' walk away. It is a hotel without airs, with clean rooms in warm colours and a breakfast that holds the standard Thon is known for.

You stay here so the logistics fall into place. The train from the airport ends close by, the buses to Pulpit Rock leave from the terminal nearby, and the harbour is a few blocks away when evening comes. It is a strong pick for hikers with early starts, travellers who would rather spend on experiences than on the room, and anyone getting around by public transport. If you want a harbour view or a lobby to lounge in, your money goes further on Vågen.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Thon Hotel Maritim

Clarion Hotel Stavanger: between the cathedral and Øvre Holmegate

Clarion Hotel Stavanger stands in the centre close to the cathedral, with Old Stavanger and the brightly painted houses of Øvre Holmegate a few minutes away. Reception has a fireplace, The Social bistro serves dinner, and there is a bar and a gym.

It suits travellers who want to sit between the harbour, Breiavatnet and the railway station and walk to everything. It works well for couples and friends on a weekend, and for anyone in town for work. It is a big, busy hotel, and breakfast costs extra on some rates, so check what is included when you book.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Clarion Hotel Stavanger

Thon Hotel Stavanger: breakfast and a shopping centre under one roof

Thon Hotel Stavanger is in the centre, in the same building as a shopping centre, a short walk from both Breiavatnet and the harbour. The breakfast buffet is included, and guests get a simple evening reception laid on by the hotel.

It is a practical choice for families and anyone who wants breakfast sorted and shops within reach on rainy days. It also works for a short business stay. It is a functional city hotel rather than a place with atmosphere, but guests single out the breakfast and the helpful staff.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Thon Hotel Stavanger

Outside the centre: arena and pool

One hotel lies beyond walking distance of the harbour but earns its place with a pool and the city's arenas next door.

Clarion Hotel Energy: pool, arena and room for everyone

Clarion Hotel Energy is at Tjensvoll beside Stavanger Forum, the conference and arena district with its ice rink and exhibition halls, a little west of the centre. The hotel is large and modern, with a pool, a gym and a lobby scaled for trade-fair days and big parties.

You stay here for the space and the facilities. Rooms are generous, breakfast is built for numbers, and children get a swim before the city wakes. It is the safest choice for families and for anyone attending a concert or event in the Forum district. If the weekend is about restaurants and evening walks along the harbour, you will depend on buses or taxis, and the centre serves you better.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Clarion Hotel Energy

On business: Forus and the airport

Stavanger is the capital of Norway’s oil and energy industry, and many meetings take place not in the centre but at Forus, where Equinor has its headquarters and suppliers are clustered close by. If you are heading straight from the plane to the meeting room, or on by helicopter to the platforms, staying out at Sola saves time.

Clarion Hotel Air: right by Sola

Clarion Hotel Air sits at Stavanger Airport Sola, with Sola beach a couple of minutes away by car and a short drive into Forus. Some rooms look straight out over the runway, and the interiors are dark, calm and consistent.

Good for landing late with an early meeting, or heading offshore the next morning. If you would rather have restaurants and nightlife, the harbour hotels are a better bet, and if you only need a bed near Kvadrat, Smarthotel Forus is the simple alternative.

Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Clarion Hotel Air

When to book

• Summer is high season, with cruise calls, hikers bound for Pulpit Rock and festivals in the centre. Book well ahead, especially for the harbour hotels.

• The ONS energy conference, held every other year at the end of August, fills every hotel in the region. Check whether your trip lands on a conference week before you fix dates.

• Winter is quiet and good value at weekends, while weekdays belong to business travellers. Travel in March or October and you get both space and lower prices.

Frequently asked questions about hotels in Stavanger

Where should I stay in Stavanger?

On the harbour if you want the waterfront, the old town and the restaurants of Skagen outside the door. Around Breiavatnet you sleep more quietly and closer to the train and buses, and by Stavanger Forum you have a pool and the city's arenas next door.

Which Stavanger hotel is closest to the Pulpit Rock bus?

Thon Hotel Maritim and Radisson Blu Atlantic are both a couple of minutes from the bus terminal by Breiavatnet, where the tour buses to Preikestolen start.

Are there hotels with a pool in Stavanger?

Clarion Hotel Energy by Stavanger Forum has a pool and a gym. Several big central hotels have gyms but no pool.

Is it better to stay in central Stavanger or by the Forum?

The centre suits restaurants, museums and day trips by bus. The area around Stavanger Forum suits events there, travellers with their own car and families who want a pool.

Which is the most romantic hotel in Stavanger?

Eilert Smith Hotel, a small design hotel on the harbour with a top-class restaurant in the building. Hotel Victoria is the alternative for history and a view over the harbour.

Which Stavanger hotel suits business travellers?

It depends on where your meetings are. Eilert Smith Hotel and Hotel Victoria by the harbour suit you if you want dinner and nightlife after work, Clarion Hotel Energy is next to Stavanger Forum where ONS is held, and Clarion Hotel Air at the airport is handy for Forus and offshore helicopter trips.

Read on

• Norway: destination guide

• Europe's best second cities

• The Norwegian fjords: how to plan the trip