OhDoctor

Any thoughts on these two Choice properties? The Clarion can be had for 16k points/night, while the No13 (part of the presumably more upscale Ascend Collection) is a mere 12k per night. The Clarion appears to be in the Bryggen area but more remote from the city center, while the No13 is more centrally located but also maybe a bit more mundane.

We booked the Clarion, based on Rick Steves' recommendation, but I'm wondering if the No13 may be a better option.

sdsearch

I never heard of the No13 before, but I would caution against assuming that Ascend Collection is more "upscale" than Clarion. I've stayed in one Ascend collection property which is a decent-but-otherwise-typical two-story motel, with themed illustrations on the room walls which make it "unique", and that "uniqueness" being the only thing that qualifies it into Ascend Collection. And when it first joined Ascend Collection its breakfast didn't have any eggs (cold or hot) or any hot food of any kind (though they've expanded the breakfast a bit since then). Nothing even close to upscale about it IMHO.

So I suggest reading up on what specifically the No13 is like (detailed hotel descriptions plus any detailed reviews), and not assuming anything just based on its being in the Ascend Collection.

meraki

No13 gets sold out pretty quickly because it's much cheaper. But I agree with sdsearch, I would not assume it's nicer than Clarion.

I stayed at Clarion Admiral a few weeks ago and it was lovely. My room had an amazing view of Bryggen and the breakfast was top notch.

You can do a cash+points option with Choice too if you don't want to spend the 16k on Clarion. However, if you want a nicer hotel, definitely go for Clarion. Since Havenokontoret is so close to Bryggen, you'd be at the center of the tourist area so lots of transportation options and plenty of things to do, like the fish market and Floibanen being right there.

OhDoctor

Thanks, that's what I figured. We'll only be there for 24h so definitely want to see as many of those things as possible.

meraki

Oh I wasn't even in Bergen for 24 hours, more like 16 hours, half of it spent sleeping. The parts of the city I did see were all in the central area where the fish market, Mt Floyen, and Bryggen are, all of which is within a 10-15 min walking distance from both Clarion hotels and the walk is not hilly at all.

Something I forgot to mention is that if you take Flybussen from the BGO airport, the last stop is Bryggen, which would get you almost directly in front of Havenokontoret.

Have a good time!