I normally choose this hotel when going to Bergen - nice location, nice service, god breakfast, good bar, good common areas. The hotel configuration is strange (you pass from rooms to restaurants and other rooms...) but when you get used to it it is quite interesting.

My room this time was quite small, but always very confortable... Hope to be there again soon...

We stayed 30 Dec to 2 Jan. There seemed to be a skeleton staff only. The restaurant was closed - which was not mentioned when we booked. Not usually a problem, but since almost nothing else was open, it became an issue. Indeed some items were not available for breakfast because everything else in Bergen closes for the 'holiday season'. In fact almost every other restaurant in a 25 min radius was closed apart from 2 expensive junk food chains and a truly awful Indian Restaurant, opposite the hotel.

In fact most of everything in Bergen was closed: Fish Market, Ulriken cable car, museums - even most bars . Only the rather sorry looking Aquarium and a few 7-11s were open. I would definitely not recommend a trip at this time of year.

My husband and my two children, ages 15 and 17, have just returned from The First Hotel Marin in Bergen. It was horrible!! We told them we had a fjord pass and they quoted us a discounted rate by email. We accepted their offer. When we checked out they wanted $500.00 a night twice the rate they had quoted us!! They were very argumentative. We are still trying to get some of our money back!! Also, we asked for a quiet room. They gave us a room across from the loudest disco, with laughing and screaming people until 3:30 a.m. Apparently, all the family rooms face the Disco. I could not sleep a wink. It was claustrophic. The one window in this suite faced upward and so you couldn't see anything. The second bedroom had no window at all--like a closet. They were very rude and argued with me about the money. I would not suggest anyone go to the First Hotel Marin. Also, the exercise room had 2 pieces of equipment. It was horrible. A Trip Advisor Member, Brooklyn, New York

Although the First Hotel is nicely located, it leaves much to be desired if you value a good night's sleep. Do not accept a room facing the neon sign "ExOdus," as it is a nightclub (this is the side of the building where the buses line up).

Our experience was as follows: My sister and I had booked a room with twin beds for August 2, 3, and 4, 2007 (Thurs-Sat. nights). What they gave us was a very small room with twin beds made up for a couple (i.e., one top sheet, one bed cover). After requesting a room with enough space to separate the beds, we were moved to a large, attractive room facing the front of the hotel (on Rosenkrantzgt). This seemed to be a great improvement until 1:30 in the morning when the noise from people laughing and talking in the street in front of the nightclub woke me up. Over the weekend nights I was kept awake until about 2:45 a.m. by the crowd in the street. I never heard any music, just the people in the street. All of those in our travel group suffered similarly from the club noise if their rooms faced the front. Complaining to the front desk did not help. Our father, on the other hand, had a small room to himself on a different side of the building (with an unattractive view), but said it was quiet.