What People are saying

This "old dusty lady" is still running as a great weekend hotel for us slalom fans.

FroekenPetrellon 25/05/2017 14:19

First I have to say that staying at a hotel that is so beautiful, but has not re-painted or decorated since the 90´give the whole atmosphere a kind of travel in the past. It has an entrance with classical furniture, a grand fireplace and big leather wing chairs that you are sure noble men has sat in, but when you come up to the rooms they are overstacked with writingdesks,wardrobes, minibars and other things that people don´t use when they are on a skiing holiday. Who rents a hotel room in the need of a 180*80 writingdesk??

Because this is what it is right, a hotel perfect situated between two mountains so there is a lot to choose between when you want to go skiing. Two different slalom facilities gives you the opportunity to choose eather the side you live on, or just jump in to your care and the other one is close by.

Remember to book a track down at the bowling restaurant, and yes: try the mini spa treatment because it was so fantastic. The have a small swimming pool that usually where stacked with kids playing around so I don´t think you´ll get your early morning swim, but don´t worry.. just pop out to the jacuzzi at night with the snow all around you and then try the Turkish sauna afterwards. It may not be as fancy as you want it to be, but it´s all there.
And if you don´t want to go on after ski, you can just order a bottle of prosecco in the reception, walk over to the fireplace and relax after a fantastic day in the snowy hills.

We did not try the food at the restaurant because we did not hear any good recommendations of the food, but we traveled down to the center ( 5 min walk) and found a lot of restaurants that was both stacked with atmosphere and good food, so there is still plenty to choose from.

Very good value for mid-week stays

egilkon 07/04/2017 09:56

Dr Holms has a long history as a fashionable "snob" hotel in the area. The styling is a tad "over the top" classical for my own personal taste, bordering on McMansion as a first impression. But the place has historical roots to "defend" it, and some of the buildings are actually quite old, so at the end it is all a matter of personal taste, I guess. As far as I could tell, the maintenance and state is excellent, the service was also good and friendly, and breakfast was to a high standard (not extraordinary, but as expected, I'd say). At the price I got for a mid-week stay, it was actually a bargain.

The worst hotel ever

Morten Jon 01/04/2017 22:49

This is by far the worst hotel ever. The hotel is for local rules only. We were a group of cross country skiers going in the mountains(starting from Finse) for 3 days. Ending our journey here. We where not allowd to order beers due to the managers orders (not allowed to weare ski clothes) There was no one who could define what that was. Its a very special place where rules are abdoted under really special local conditions. Keep away. As a Norwegian, this is a embaricing and a desceace.

Grand and lxurious, but slightly faded and worn!

LarsNilsenon 18/03/2017 10:27

There is no doubt that Dr. Holms was so fashionable and luxurious in its heyday as it appears when you see the magnificent building on top of the hill. But it was unfortunately in the past. A lot of things has changed, faded and seems slightly worn these days.

This is an old hotel, and there is no doubt that this was a grand and lxurious hotel back in the days. They still have a small job to do before they can keep up with the glory of the past.
We traveled as a group from my workplace, so all of us had some different rooms on different floors. Some of the oldest rooms needs a little attention. My room was one of the newer I think, and it was decent. Small, with two single beds. The bathroom was very small, but modern. The only complaint about my room was the noise from the neighbours. Luckily there was no party-neighbours, but the sound insulation should be better.

The food was overall very good. Nothing over-the-top extraordinary, but good.
We enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at the hotel the whole weekend.

I didn't notice anything negative about the staff of the hotel, but some of my colleagues had some bad experience with some of them, especially in the bar, about some tabler-reservations and other things. They were not friendly! If you want to live up the the old glory, the first rule is to have a friendly staff.

The best part for me was the Spa-area.
It is not the biggest I've seen, but it has all the neccesities. A large swimming pool, some therapy or childrens pool, an indoor jacuzzi, and an outdoor jacuzzi. You can also have all kind of treatments if you want to. The whole area is modern, clean and well done. Thumbs up! Since I was not skiing this weekend, I spent the day in the swimming pool and the outdoor jacuzzi just relaxing - all by myself, since everyone else was out in the cloudy and snowy weather. Perfect!

Overall I had a good stay at the grand Dr. Holms. But when you notice all the small imperfections and experience a somewhat unfriendly staff there is no doubt they have a small job to do to continue their reputation as the glorious and luxurious hotel it once was.

And by the way, do not forget the good atmosphere in the after-ski parties!

Good in parts

PeterH_and_LizBon 15/03/2017 20:51

Ive stayed at Dr Holmes many times but not recently. It looks the same. Slightly faded grandeur. Maybe a little more faded than I remembered but still grand. On arrival we were early - in Geilo one arrives with the trains. Our room wasn't ready. We waited. 2 hours later it was ready but it was a twin not the requested double. A replacement double was instantly available but probably had been for 2 hours!
Dinner was lovely but no choice and a single waitress rather overworked and flustered. The bar man from Greece was great. A change of staff on reception and that was good too.
We read the other reviews and I've realized I agree with them all. Dr Holmes is tired and needs a gentle refurb. It may buzz at the weekend with guests and lots of staff but in the week it's running on a skeleton crew and almost empty. There are some excellent staff but then some who cannot cope and there is no consistency. When the hotel is almost empty and staff are hard pressed why light thousands of candles all over the empty reception rooms? Some waiters can manage the whole dining room on their own but some cannot.
The breakfasts and the dinners were lovely but if the waitress is too busy and the fried eggs are cold or there's no milk for the coffee it doesn't work. The spa is lovely but not when there are no towels.
The bowling alley and diner are great and the food and service fab.
It sounds like we didn't enjoy our stay but we did. We just had to work out how to pitch it.
The location and the accommodation are great. Access to the station is a short walk. We skied to the door. Ski storage is good but should a hotel of this caliber be charging a non-refundable 20Kr for a locker overnight - irksome.
I hope to come back again but I hope this gets sorted out otherwise Dr Holmes may not survive.