SOMMERRO House was once the building that lit the city of Oslo and it continues to dazzle as it enters a new era as one of the city’s most decadent and exciting hotels. Developed under strict instruction to remain sympathetic to its iconic Art Deco features, superstar designers Adam Greco and Alice Lunde have kept the essence of its 1930’s spirit with pistachio, mustard and terracotta hues. Set against a backdrop for dark wooden period furniture and voluptuous blown glass chandeliers, while still creating a thoroughly modern hotel that is resolutely Scandinavian in its immaculate design and practicality.
It is also an archive to important heritage pieces from the period including original pieces by one of Norway’s most prolific muralists, Per Khrone, with a vast industrialist scene paying homage to its electric past that flanks the wall of the main brasserie and a dreamlike swimmers and walrus mosaic in the downstairs swimming pool and one of Oslo’s oldest bathhouses, connected to the spa, where the humble people of the city would go to wash with original Orlando pine changing rooms still intact.
Façade Sommerro House
Suite at Sommerro House
The reason I came to stay at Sommerro House was for love. Oslo holds a special place in my heart as a teenager with a half-shaved head, I would travel often to go and see my then boyfriend who lived in this cold city that lit up my soul. It had been nearly 20 years since I last visited so nostalgia was riding high. This once wild teenager was returning as a grown up with the swell of a baby in her belly and a full head of hair to watch Love Story, a show that has been the talk of the town this year across the city with monthly performances at Sommerro House.
Manchester-born poetess and songstess, Eleanor Flowers, writes and performs Love Story, a part-cabaret, part-monologue, part-intimate diary reading of the metamorphosis of her life that has occurred since moving to Oslo in a love letter to the city and to herself. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Eleanor effortlessly moved through heart wrenching ballads, moving songs about the mundane and the jubilation of love and coming home to oneself.
A captivating one-woman show, Eleanor takes her audience on the rollercoaster of human emotions to rapturous applause. It is a rare treat to watch such talent and raw emotion in such an intimate space – catch one of the last two performances before the end of the year.
Per Khrones Mural in the Bath House | Vestkantbadet by Francisco Nogueira
View of Rooftop pool from sauna
Oslo has a thriving cultural scene as the birthplace of the spray can – check out Oslo Street Art for ongoing street art and graffiti exhibits and events – and of Munch: the huge Munch Museum has a fantastic collection of the Norwegian artist’s work as well as other contemporary artists. Stroll around hipster neighbourhood, Grünerløkka , for thrift stores, bars and cafés. Stop off at Haralds Vaffel for traditional Norwegian waffle (brown cheese with jam is a winner).
Ekspedisjonshallen Restaurant & Bar
Eleanor Flowers Love Story Trial by Johanne Nyborg
Oslo’s largest public library, Deichman Bjørvika, is an architectural marvel that gives a masterclass on how communal spaces can be beautiful and practical. It is located opposite the similarly impressive opera house.
Visit both and take part in the city’s sauna culture with a visit to Oslo Badstuforening, one of a handful of public saunas that also give access to the icy fjord, the exposure to the contrasting elements a pastime the Nordics excel in. For a more extensive spa experience, head 30 minutes out of the city to The Well, the largest spa in Scandinavia for dipping into various themed pools and spaces inspired by wellness traditions around the world
by Lallie Fraser
Nightly rates at Sommerro House start from $427. https://www.sommerrohouse.com/en/