Where are the best hotels in Svalbard?
When I decided to spend a week in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, I didn’t think too much about where to stay. Like I do when planning most trips, I just assumed there’d be a lot of places to choose from.
Not so much.
Svalbard sits at the end of the world, and the main settlement of Longyearbyen is officially the world’s northernmost town. It’s not a big place, though. With a population small enough to be outnumbered by the island’s roaming polar bears, there are only a dozen or so accommodation options – which also means that beds up here can get pretty expensive.
After doing some hasty research I chose to lay my head at the cheap and cheerful Gjestehuset 102 hostel for the duration of my stay in Svalbard – but thanks to doing a lot of walking in Longyearbyen, I also managed to investigate plenty of the other Svalbard hotels, guesthouses, hostels and even a couple of campsites.
So if you’re looking for decent places to stay in Longyearbyen, hopefully this article will help you make your choice.
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Accommodation in Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Choosing where to stay in Longyearbyen is one of the biggest potential expenses of your Arctic trip. There are expensive hotels with all the bells and whistles, mid-range guesthouses where quirky design is more of a focus than having a private bathroom, and hostel dorm rooms with bunk beds and communal kitchens.
Alternatively, you can try your luck with Airbnb rentals (sign up here for £25 off your first booking!), or you can even choose a more adventurous sleeping spot and pitch up a tent at the camping grounds close to the airport.
Whatever your budget, there’s an option to suit it – although it’s worth bearing in mind that ‘cheap’ in Svalbard still feels a lot more expensive than elsewhere in the world.
Also an important quirk to remember about life in Svalbard: once you enter any hotel, guesthouse or hostel, you’ll be expected to take off your shoes. This tradition dates back to the old coal mining days where residents wanted to avoid spreading coal dust everywhere; now, you’ll see a big shoe-rack inside virtually every Svalbard business’s doorway. Unlace your boots and get used to wandering around in your socks!
High-end and luxury hotels in Longyearbyen
Tourists arrive in Svalbard either by air or sea, so the fanciest hotels are right in the centre of Longyearbyen, close to the port. These properties all have restaurants onsite, employ concierges who will happily organise all your tours and activities around the island, and will essentially take very good care of you.
The Radisson Blu Polar Hotel
The only hotel run by an international chain in Svalbard is the Radisson Blue Polar Hotel. A lot of travellers automatically choose the Blu Polar if they’ve already used and enjoyed Radisson hotels elsewhere in the world, and it’s also the base for many of the tour groups passing through Svalbard.
Now, I’ve never stayed at a Radisson (my backpacker budget doesn’t allow for it!) but when I visited the Blu Polar I was happily surprised at its lack of ‘uppity’ attitude. The hotel is stylish and modern, with low slanted roofs, warm ambient lighting and a gorgeous interior. I spent a happy afternoon at the Radisson Blu Polar with some friends from the expedition ship: we sat in the hotel bar watching sports (not my choice!), eating pizza and drinking beer.
Check availability at the Radisson Blu Polar Hotel | Prices start from £134pp
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The Funken Lodge (formerly the Spitsbergen Hotel)
The Funken Lodge hotel was originally constructed back in 1947 as accommodation for employees at ‘Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani’ (a Norwegian coal mining company). After a big refurb in 2018 it’s now a tastefully designed place which looks a little like a Swiss lodge from the outside, and sits on a little hill – the height of which provides fantastic views!
I paid a quick visit to the Funken Lodge when a tour bus I was on dropped some passengers here, which gave me a chance to wander into the Funktionærmessen restaurant and gaze through the full-length windows to the snowy mountains beyond. There were guests sipping hot chocolate and it felt like a really cosy place to stay; especially as it’s set a little bit away from the main town, so it feels like you’re in a secluded spot.
Funken Lodge has a conference space for business guests, as well as a gym, sauna and library – but it’s apparently also really kid-friendly. Top marks go to whoever thought up serving fresh waffles to the guests every afternoon!
The Lodge is set back from Longyearbyen town centre, but there are shuttles which transport guests there and back. Alternatively it takes about fifteen minutes to walk.
Book a room at the Funken Lodge | Prices start at £130pp
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Hotel Svalbard | The Vault
The Vault hotel is right in the middle of town, a stone’s throw from the Kroa restaurant and close to the red-roofed Svalbard Kirke church. It opened in February 2018 so The Vauilt is a new edition to the Longyearbyen hotel scene. It’s simple, sleek and efficient: 35 compact rooms (mainly doubles, but there are a few single rooms too). They offer a breakfast buffet each morning and there’s a sushi restaurant in the basement.
Hotel Svalbard The Vault is inspired by the Global Seed Vault situated just outside of Longyearbyen (a huge cold storage vault where the world’s seeds are kept). The hotel has lots of information about the vault for guests to read.
Another lovely feature at The Vault is a video display which, throughout the four month darkness over winter, shows the number of days, hours and minutes until the sun comes back!
Book a room at the Hotel Svalbard | The Vault | Prices start at £130pp
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Mid-range guesthouses in Longyearbyen
In Svalbard, ‘mid-range’ accommodation should be taken with a grain of salt as they’re still pretty expensive. However, the places in this section have more of a unique and individual atmosphere.
Basecamp Trapper’s Lodge, Spitsbergen
Basecamp is an homage to the historical trapper’s lodge it’s built in: the hotel features furniture made from driftwood and it’s decorated with old sealskins, artwork and maps from Arctic history.
The sixteen rooms are each decorated individually, and they can accommodate forty people in total. In keeping with the trapper lodge theme there are no TVs – but the ‘Cognac Attic’ has a glass ceiling for guests to view either the northern lights or the midnight sun, and there’s a pub and restaurant just next door.
The Basecamp Trapper’s Lodge is run by ‘Basecamp Explorer’, a company which operates five different eco-lodges in Svalbard including ‘the North Pole Camp’, a tented camp which changes location; a trapper’s old teepee hut amongst a hundred husky dogs; and the Isfjord Radio Hotel (mentioned later in this article).
Book a room at the Basecamp Trapper’s Lodge here | Prices from £120pp
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Mary-Ann’s Polar Rigg
From the moment you walk towards the wooden boat which fronts Mary-Ann’s Polarrigg, you know you’re heading somewhere unique.
These atmospheric apartments are located inside three rigs surrounding a courtyard. There’s the mining rig, with standard single and double rooms inside; the transportation rig, which houses both luxe rooms and the spa and sauna; and the luxury rig, home to the ultra-fancy Polar Suite (£657 a night, year round).
The Polarrigg’s common area has an open fire burning, comfy sofas and thick patterned rugs and carpets everywhere. Just outside, there’s a smoking shelter in an old red miner’s bus (and the outdoor hot tub is close by too!).
[Image: Bernt Rostad]
But it’s dinner at the Polarrig which gets everyone talking. The gorgeous Vinterhagen Restaurant feels like you’ve stepped into a conservatory: there’s plants hanging everywhere, underfloor heating and full glass windows and roof! They serve Thai dishes as well as more locally inspired Norwegian and Arctic meals like reindeer steak, Arctic trout, cod tongue and whale tartar…
Like all the other hotels in Svalbard, the on-site restaurant isn’t just reserved for guests – so if you don’t book a night’s stay at the Polarrigg you can still enjoy an evening at Vinterhagen.
Book a room at Mary Ann’s Polarrigg | Prices start at £75pp
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Budget hostels in Longyearbyen
The budget options in Longyearbyen are the Coal Miner’s Cabins and Gjestehuset, both in a little area called Nybyen which is 2km from Longyearbyen’s centre (so it takes about half an hour to walk).
There’s plenty of transport available in Svalbard, although no public transit system. Instead, there are taxis and bus pick-ups for all tours, and a shuttle bus which gets you to the airport before your flight, or which drops you at your hotel from the airport.
Coal Miners Cabins
These two-storey buildings used to be barracks for the coal miners, but they’ve now been renovated into seventy bedrooms with eight shared bathrooms along the corridors. The hotel also has a main unit where the reception, restaurant and bar are all located.
The Coal Miners Cabins is a simple, clean hotel with a Norwegian breakfast buffet on offer every morning. The Coal Miner Grill is open to the public for lunch and dinner – it’s the original mess hall and was probably my favourite place to spend my evenings (they have delicious burgers and plenty of locally brewed beer on tap too).
One of the regulars at Coal Miners Grill is a stuffed polar bear named Nanook who props up the bar and hangs out with guests at their tables. Buy him a drink if you spot him!
If you’re trying to stick to a budget, the Coal Miners Cabins also has a kitchen with utensils, fridge and oven. There are travellers of all ages staying here as it’s probably the most reasonably priced place for what’s on offer!
Check availability at Coal Miner’s Cabins | prices start at £67pp
Gjestehuset 102, Svalbard
Opposite the Coal Miner’s Cabins is Gjestehuset 102, Longyearbyen’s only official hostel, which is also built inside a miner’s cabin. There are shared bathrooms and sixty one beds in total, spread throughout single rooms, double rooms and a few four-bed dorms: I stayed in a dorm and had plenty of space to store my sizeable suitcase, along with a sink and a mirror.
The price includes breakfast in the communal kitchen each morning – a lovely spread of cereals, toast, meat, cheese and salad – and there’s free coffee and tea available all day and night.
When I first arrived in Longyearbyen, fresh off my expedition ship, it was only 10am and I couldn’t check into my dorm room until 2pm. Luckily Gjesterhuset has a little communal room with a TV and comfy chairs where I happily hung out for a couple hours and caught up on all the internet I’d missed over the last week!
Gjesterhuset 102 is Longyearbyen’s cheapest accommodation option, but it’s a perfectly adequate place to stay. For meals you can either buy groceries in the local supermarket and store them in the fridge, or head to the Coal Miners Grill just opposite.
Book a room at Gjesterhuset 102 hostel | prices start at £40pp
Camping in Svalbard
Most people visiting Svalbard choose to sleep indoors – but for some hardy travellers, camping outside in these stunning landscapes makes total sense.
You can open up your tent each morning to see reindeer grazing, terns swooping and the occasional Arctic fox scampering past. Just don’t forget your eye mask to block out the midnight sun!
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Longyearbyen Camping Ground
About 300 metres from the airport car park and down a steep track is Longyearbyen Camping. It’s effectively ‘on the tundra’: there’s a lagoon beside it which is popular with nesting Arctic terns, and reindeer and Arctic foxes both roam the area too.
This is Longyearbyen’s original camping site, set up in 1976 just after the Svalbard airport was opened and people began to wild camp in the area. The local government built a toilet and shower block plus a fully equipped kitchen and an outdoor fire pit for grilling, and it’s been popular ever since. Facilities are only open to the public when there’s no frost on the ground, but you can still theoretically camp here year-round – just bear in mind there’ll be no access to running water or electricity in that case!
You don’t have to lug all your camping gear to Svalbard, either— the site rents out tents, sleeping bags and insulation mats for use. Tent rental is 180 NOK (£18) per night, and it costs 150 NOK (£15) per person to stay at the site (children under 13 stay free of charge). There are also bikes to rent so you can cycle into the town centre.
Perhaps most wonderfully, anyone who stays at Longyearbyen Camping is also able to hang out with the Arctic Naked Bathing Club. If you want an official certificate and your name in the logbook, rules state that you have to both take a swim and dive into the Arctic sea without your clothes, and a staff member at the camping site has to watch you do it.
I did my own Arctic plunge in Svalbard and can guarantee it’s just as freezing and exhilarating as you’d imagine!
NB: If you’re planning to hire a tent, you’ll need to reserve it before arriving (just visit Longyearbyen Camping’s website for info). The camping site only accepts cash, but there are ATMs in Longyearbyen town centre if you need them.
Other places to stay on Svalbard
If you’re keen to explore the Russian side of Svalbard, Barentsburg and Pyramiden are fascinating places.
Both Russian mining settlements, they differ significantly: Barentsburg is home to around 500 Russian and Ukrainian coal miners and their families, while Pyramiden is effectively a ghost town – it was hurriedly abandoned in 1998 and the buildings have been left to the Arctic elements ever since.
Strangely enough, both settlements have two accommodation options on offer despite their differing populations. Pyramiden has the Hotel Tulpan and the Pier Hostel, while Barentsburg has the Hotel Barentsburg and the Pomor Hostel.
[Image: Kitty Terwolbeck]
Hotel Barentsburg
It’s cheaper to stay in Barentsburg than in Longyearbyen, so plenty of tourists find themselves at Hotel Barentsburg, a comfortable place (albeit a bit old-fashioned) with 43 rooms throughout the building’s four storeys.
There’s an onsite restaurant with a great view of the Grønfjord bay to the north and views of Olaf Mountain to the south. They serve up both European and Russian cuisine for breakfast (100 NOK), lunch (200 NOK), and dinner (150 NOK).
The Barentsburg Hotel is a great place to base yourself while exploring the Russian mining settlement. Tourist favourites include the Orthodox wooden church (recently restored), the famous Lenin statue (second northernmost in the world, as the top spot goes to a similar bust in Pyramiden), the Pomor Museum, and a small smattering of street art.
In the evenings, there are Russian shows in the theatre with folk songs and dances, and live music on the weekends – or the bar at Hotel Barentsburg has Russian cognac and vodka on offer.
Check for availability at Hotel Barentsburg | Prices start at £75pp
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Pomor Hostel, Barentsburg
Pomor Hostel is housed inside another classic-looking Soviet building. There are thirty rooms with seventy two beds in total for pretty reasonable prices: a twin room costs 600 NOK (£55/$70) and a triple room is 800 NOK (£74/$93).
Guests share bathrooms and shower cabins which are dotted along the corridors, and there are washing and drying machines which can be used for free too. There’s a kitchen attached to Pomor Hostel, but if you don’t fancy cooking then the Red Bear Pub & Brewery across the road serves meals and drinks.
Check for availability at Hostel Pomor | Prices start at £53pp
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Basecamp Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel
Welcome to the most isolated Svalbard hotel of all: the Basecamp Isfjord Radio Hotel.
As you might expect from its name, the Isfjord Radio Hotel is built inside a radio station which once linked the inhabitants of Svalbard with the Norwegian mainland. It’s 90km from Longyearbyen and extremely remote – but although it still looks rough on the outside, the Isfjord has been totally transformed within.
There’s a sauna with a panoramic view of the ocean, a library filled with Arctic literature, and restaurant which serves beautifully prepared food caught by one of the few remaining trappers in Svalbard. If you’ve ever wanted to re-live Svalbard’s traditional trapping days, this is where to do it.
The ‘adventure’ aspect of this luxury boutique hotel lies in the difficulty required to reach it: there’s no road connection, so you arrive either on dog sled in the winter or by boat in the summer (there are daily boat trips from both Barentsburg and Longyearbyen).
The Basecamp Isfjord Hotel also offers a weekly adventure program with expert guides who take guests on birdwatching expeditions and wildlife spotting trips – searching for seals, whales and even polar bears.
Check for availability at Isfjord Radio Hotel | Prices start at £209pp
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The Tulpan Hotel, Pyramiden
Have you ever wanted to spend the night in the northernmost ghost town in the world? If your answer is a resounding, “YES!” then you’re in luck: Pyramiden’s original Tulpan Hotel is open to guests from March to October, and it’s one of the few operational buildings left in Pyramiden, Svalbard’s abandoned Russian mining settlement.
The Tulpan Hotel has 24 twin rooms – some in a modern design and some more Soviet-style – and guests can stay for full or half board. There’s a restaurant on the first floor which serves breakfast (150 NOK), lunch (250 NOK) and dinner (200 NOK).
As you might expect in an abandoned town with less than a dozen residents, the hotel bar is open until 2am – and they have a LOT of vodka.
Prices from £75pp for a Soviet-style single room | Check for availability at the Hotel Tulpan
Read more: exploring the abandoned Arctic town of Pyramiden
The Pier Hostel, Pyramiden
For Pyramiden visitors on a tighter budget, there’s a rudimentary accommodation choice at the Pier Hostel, just beside the port. Inside three cabins they have twelve bunk beds on offer, along with a shower, toilet and electric stove. The Pier Hostel is probably akin to sleeping inside a shipping container, but still has the necessities – and the location offers a stunning view of the fjord and the Nordenskiöld glacier in the distance.
For 300 NOK you’ll get a bed with included bed linen. Tip: It’s better value to book the whole cabin! If you stay at the Pier Hostel you can order your meals up at Hotel Tulpan (a 10 to 15 minute walk away) but you’ll need a gun to fend off unexpected polar bears (seriously – it’s the law).
Book a room at Pier Hostel | Prices start at £28pp
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