Vestlia Resort

Arrived today. First evening ruined by shocking service in the restaurant and useless customer service at front desk when I complained. No effort at all to placate us or make amends. Food thus far ridiculously lightweight and tiny portions for hungry people coming off the slopes. This is a very expensive place to stay and frankly thus far they seem to be taking the piss.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at this hotel, which offers an abundance of entertainment options, from a swimming pool complete with a slide to a dedicated playroom for kids, a cinema, spa facilities, and even a bowling room. The rooms themselves are spacious and many boast breathtaking views of the ski piste. However, one notable area for improvement is the noise isolation in the rooms. I frequently found myself disturbed by sounds from my upstairs neighbors, including footsteps and moving chairs, which detracted from the overall experience. Additionally, while the restaurant offers a variety of a la carte meals, the quality of ingredients could be enhanced, particularly considering the prices charged. Overall, a wonderful hotel with room for refinement.

This is our second visit to Geilo. In my opinion the Vestlia resort is the best hotel in the region, especially for families. The good stuff: - Very modern accommodation (we stayed in a family lodge), that had a kitchen so we could cook if we wanted to (definitely a good option as Norway is expensive to eat out each night), balcony, wi-fi, underfloor heating, comfy beds! The kids loved it and commented it was the best hotel they've been to (and they've been to some impressive places!) - Restaurant is great, huge breakfast, loads of space, never a problem getting a table - Loads for the kids....swimming pool (packed between 4-6pm so go before or after that time), bowling etc - Really modern gym and impressive spa - Ski store close to reception with a door straight outside putting you right next to the lift and ski schools, no messing about with buses or taxis - Complimentary taxi/bus from the train station to the resort The not so good stuff: - This isn't a five star hotel. It is busy (it's a large complex), but there is plenty of space. Not a problem for us but some people might be disappointed by not having every luxury. I debated whether to give it four or five stars, but I think 5/5 is fair - It is expensive, but you get what you pay for. Getting to the end of a run and skiing right up to the ski store is incredibly convenient

Didn’t want to rush this review as wanted the dust to settle and I’m glad I did. First and foremost, this is without a doubt the best overall hotel in Geilo; we’ve been to a few! Rooms are a good size, clean and modern. Shame the towels and pillows aren’t a little nicer, felt they were of a far lower quality than anything else in the hotel which was a shame. The facilities are fantastic. There is a good sized pool with a slide for the kids, a lovely bowling alley with the ever so popular shuffleboard on offer. A tiny cinema is on offer for the younger kids along with a tiny play area (not for teens). Alongside a very large bar area to have a drink or play some cards, there is a very large restaurant that can be a bit crowded in the evening but offers a very good breakfast buffet in the morning. For those of you skiing, there is an incredibly large boot room to store all your equipment and the hotel itself is mere meters away from the lifts and ski hire shop. The location of this hotel is second to none. As lovely as this hotel is, it’s not a 5 star venue. There is no room service or even a phone in the room to contact the front desk. I won’t dwell on an issue we experienced during our stay that was very unpleasant as it was dealt with eventually, but at the time of occurring, I do wish there had been more of a security/seniority presence at the hotel. I do feel for such a lovely place, a slight increase in older, professional members of staff would not go amiss. All in all, lovely place, fantastic facilities and location but still has a few minor flaws. Saying that, I wouldn’t stay anywhere else in Geilo from now on.

We were recommended to Vestlia Resort by a local & had a good stay, it holds the accolade of being Norway’s best ski hotel 2023. It’s a sprawling property, the communal areas vast & open plan, though for the most part, nicely designed. Staff were all terrific, both at reception (pre-stay emails answered promptly) & in the bar/restaurant. Our room was a 2 bedroomed family suite, it had a kitchen & dining table for 6 but provisions were sp****, not even any tea or coffee. The size & layout of the suite was fine, but it was dark & gloomy, even during daylight, & to make things worse, the lighting was extremely poor…. no ceiling lights at all, just ambient table lamps. We could barely see our clothes in the wardrobe & the only area light enough to apply makeup was the bathroom. Other rooms/suites may have a brighter outlook, but I know from other guests that they were also disgruntled with the dire lighting. Perhaps it’s a ploy to drive you to the bar!! For sure, we didn’t want to spend any more time in our room than we needed to. Apart from that, the suite was satisfactory, with a pleasing aspect overlooking the slopes, a decent shower, comfy bed, & well insulated from noise. We booked on a HB package & food was pretty good. The bar is nice enough, but they don’t offer table service. I’m not into spa treatments but it looked like a lovely oasis & the gym was excellent too, with a large & up to date range of equipment (perhaps because it is also open to non-residents). The sizeable indoor pool is superb, & the full sized bowling alley a particularly great feature. The hotel has lots to commend - the aforementioned staff, excellent wifi, ample parking, & ski lift on the doorstep, so it feels unfair to mark down to a 3 star/average rating….. though the glum room meant I was tempted to. But - when judged on overall enjoyment of stay - Vestlia was ‘Very Good.’

Although this is a very large complex, the design is such that it doesn’t feel like it. The hotel is beautifully designed and furnished. We chose a suite and double room with interconnecting door, for 4 adults and 2 children, which gave us plenty of space and the added facility of a kitchen area. We opted for half board and the meals were excellent, as were the children’s and breakfast buffet. So much choice and plenty of healthy options. All the staff we came into contact with were professional, helpful and friendly. The ski/snowboard instructors were all great. With an 8 yr old and 10yr old nervous first timers, both confidently managing red runs after 3 days. Private snowboarding lessons booked 6 months in advance had unfortunately been booked as ski-ing and although this was eventually sorted out it did mean that 2 of the party lost an hour of lessons and had to change instructor after the first day. The hotel is adjacent to the lifts, ski school , ski shop and cafe and you can literally ski in to the hotel. The swimming pool, games room and bowling alley were a great hit. We used the spa once for a more relaxed swim/jacuzzi, but opted out of treatments which were expensive. The only shop on resort is the ski shop. The resort would benefit from having a small general shop on site. There is a ‘Spar’ approx 15 min walk away and the only other shops we saw were near the station area. We wanted to buy an instructor a small gift but there was nothing other than ski stuff, so we opted for a voucher from there. Fortunately, we had taken snacks/coffee etc with us so avoided having to make the trip to the Spar, and took a jug of milk from the restaurant in the mornings and kept in the fridge. We booked a husky ride with Geilo Huskies which was excellent. It is a five minute walk from the back of the hotel. As we were unsure of what the road conditions would be like we booked a taxi which charged us 420 NoK (£32) for less than a five minute journey. This could have been because it was New Year’s Eve. We walked back in less than 10 minutes The path was wide and safe. We flew into Oslo and then took the train to Geilo. The train was very comfortable, with a cafe, and the scenery is stunning. We were collected from the station and the paid transfer to the hotel was about 10 minutes. We had the best time and would definitely stay here again.

Great for families with kids. You can easily go out for skiing, if you get tired or cold, you can come in for swimming, and you can sit while the kids play in the play land, with slides, my kids had so much fun, they had it all, snow, swimming, eating, playing. The room was very comfortable, with the kitchen and the grocery store, easy to make dinner.

Incredible building, beautiful rooms. Unfortunately the stay was not pleasant due to the staff, probably bad leadership. Rude reception and bar staff, most foreigners who seemed ill tempered and without knowledge. What a pity for this gorgeous place.