Malangen Resort

We booked here because some family members stayed 9 years ago and loved it, so we weren't as careful with checking reviews as we would normally be. The resort is very far from 4*. The apartments are tired and basic. The soft furnishings (sofa, cushions and blanket) in the living room are dirty and smelly. The bedrooms are tiny, with just beds and no other furniture, not even a bedside table. The shower cubicles are cheap plastic. The only great thing is the view over the fjord. If the weather is good then I'm sure it's a fantastic place to see the Northern Lights but if it's cloudy, as it was during our visit, then you won't see anything and you're stuck in one location. The activities are run by a separate company and the staff are lovely but completely untrained. We booked a trappers experience day, where we were meant to learn about local flora and fauna, and how to make a fire. In reality, it was just a snowshoe hike, which was gorgeous and fun but not what we thought we were getting. Our guide had only been at the resort for a few weeks and had been given minimal training, so didn't know the area very well (not his fault, he was doing his best). We also found out that some of the activities staff live in tiny near the dog yard in extremely basic conditions. There was actually a fire while we were there - likely caused by unsafe electrics (no injuries thankfully). The sauna was also not working properly. On the plus side, the hotel staff were friendly.

Room beautiful, Norwegian decor. Big windows looking out over the fjord and mountains in distance

Good: restaurant, dog sledding Bad: reindeer activity, room service, reception

It’s one of the best places to see the northern lights but is it really worth it? First-don’t book through Hotels.com. They leave out details that matter in winter - hot water is extremely limited (2 showers of 4 minutes each-see water tank picture) and the cabins can be a long walk from the main lodge in -6°C weather. Be prepared to drag your suitcases to your cabin in the snow. There is no assistance with luggage. We booked two reservations: one through Hotels.com and one through a travel agency. The pricing was better with an agent and we were offered full board. The agent caught errors on charges and details that we couldn’t . You need an advocate. They consistently overcharge items and are reluctant to credit items back. We stayed in a “luxury” water’s-edge cabin. The upstairs had three bedrooms (one large master and two much smaller rooms) accessed by a narrow spiral staircase-bags have to stay in the living room-bathroom also downstairs. The two smaller bedrooms had absolutely no heat. Our children slept the first night in their clothing and hats. We had to move them to another accommodation at our expense for the remaining nights. We also heard similar complaints from other guests, who were heating their cabins by turning on the oven and opening the oven door—our smoke detector was on the coffee table with no battery in it so we didn’t try this. The worst part of the entire stay was the front desk and management. They were consistently unhelpful, frequently rude, an

Room was ok, just that no wifi and our first night after 3 persons showed, there is no hot water.