One of Norway’s best-selling novelists, Lars Saabye Christensen, who is translated into English, once claimed in an interview: “I often went past Cochs Pensjonat in my childhood and I always slackened my pace. But I never went in. You couldn’t see in. I imagined all sorts of things happening behind the entrance door.” He was so impressed that he wrote a novel, The Half Brother, in which one of his main characters stayed in Room 502 at Cochs for 4,982 days. There’s nothing secretive going on inside. Rather, Cochs is the most famous and most enduring boardinghouse in Oslo, having been launched in 1927 by the Coch sisters. It’s been greatly expanded over the years, and the policy of “resident bachelors,” in which 2 or 3 gents shared a bathless room, is long gone. This is a clean, well-conceived, inexpensive hotel that represents excellent value. The building has an ornate facade curving around a bend in a boulevard that banks the northern edge of the Royal Palace. This is a comfortable but simple lodging whose newer rooms are high-ceilinged, spartan but pleasant, and outfitted with birch-wood furniture. You’ll climb a flight of antique steps from the ground floor to reach the second-floor lobby. Rooms — including a communal TV lounge that’s sometimes packed with residents — rise for two additional floors above that. We infinitely prefer looking out onto Slottsparken from the “Royal Rooms,” which were created in 1996 when a large apartment was incorporated into the guesthouse. Expect very few, if any, amenities and services at this hotel — rooms are without telephones. Breakfast is served at KafeCaffé in Parkveien 21.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.