Barfot Apartments

As a TripAdvisor destination expert I feel the need to be honest about this apartment. At this time I would rate it at 2.5 out of 5, barely just average. This is a newly_refurbished loft apartment with three bedrooms. As a solo, I took the smallest bedroom. It is listed as a double but is really only large enough to be a single. The bedside table blocked the only outlet next to the bed. I had to move it so I could plug in my charger. One of the two side by side twins needs to be removed and this room should be advertised as a single. There is no dresser in this room and there are holes in the wall where a hook rack was pulled out. I found it on the floor in the laundry room. There is no storage in this room. I had to stack my clothes in piles on the floor. To be fair the other two bedrooms did have storage, although in one a mirror was placed too high on the wall to be used by a short person. There is only one bathroom but there were no shelves, no towel hooks, no towel racks, and no soap or shampoo shelf in the shower. The kitchen left a lot to be desired. There was no microwave, there was no toaster, there was only one dish towel, the coffee maker shut off halfway through the brewing cycle, then shut off again once the coffee had been made, causing the coffee to go cold before a full pot could be enjoyed. There were lots of very nice pots and pans, and lots of cutlery, but a simple spatula was needed and could not be found. Having the washer and dryer to use was convenient but very confusing. I would hope that instructions in English would be provided for future guests. Also, the lint trap on the dryer was completely full of lint, creating an unnecessary fire hazard. Most of the photographs I saw online were of the other apartments in the building. I can't say for sure, but I suspect that the loft apartment was only recently completed but not yet fine-tuned. With a little more time and effort applied, this apartment would be an excellent place to stay in Bergen.

Before writing about anything else, the biggest issue to be considered with these apartments is the stairs. These apartments are in a beautiful but old building . If you have a ground floor apartment you need only negotiate 3 stone steps up to the front door. If 1st floor, think lighthouse spiral staircase with half size treads. So long as you’re fully mobile, sure of foot and capable of carrying your bags you’ll have no problem. If not, make sure you have the physical ability to access the apartment you book or you might be in trouble. On to the positives, location is great – 10 minute walk from the Hurtigruten terminal, 15 from town centre, trams and buses and 20 from the railway station. Space is limited, but well laid out. More than enough space for 2 people without being too cramped. Bathroom is good with a decent shower, well fitted kitchen with enough equipment for a short stay. Plenty of local supermarkets and safe baggage storage before or after check in/out. Overall, we were very happy with our short stay at Barfot and would consider staying again on our return to Bergen.

Clean, modern apartments and nicely styled. Good email communication. Street itself is a bit average but walking distance to everything. Steep stairs to higher floors, might be difficult for some people, but ground floor apartments are easy. The only major negative which unfortunately has lowered my rating is the fact that you must put on the bedsheets yourself and then remove them at the end of the stay. This unheard of in any serviced apartment or hotel, and I've certainly never seen it before in 2 decades of travelling globally. Nowhere else asks this of the guests. A cleaning fee is already incorporated into the charge so can't understand why they make the guests do this.