Hotel Christiania Teater, Oslo, review

Oslo has spent the past 15 years adding to its art offering, with the Astrup Fearnley Museum's Tjuvholmen building opening in 2012, MUNCH in 2021 and the National Museum in 2022, alongside sculpture parks including Vigeland Park and Ekebergparken. Hotel Christiania Teater's part in all this is a historic one, and it begins with its theatre.

Hotel Christiania Teater, Oslo. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

The building opened in 1918 as Opera Comique, Norway's first permanent opera stage, with legends such as the opera singer Kirsten Flagstad beginning their careers there. It later became the revue theatre Casino, was rebuilt in the Nordic Neo-Renaissance style after a fire in 1931, and from 1945 to 1985 housed Det Norske Teatret before becoming a cinema. It became a hotel in 2010, and Christiania Teater Scene still hosts productions in the building through the year.

Lobby at Hotel Christiania Teater, Oslo. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

We were in town exploring Oslo's art scene and made Hotel Christiania Teater our base. It is well placed for getting around, with Nationaltheatret station around 3 minutes away on foot and metro, tram, bus and local train connections from there. The National Museum, Aker Brygge, Tjuvholmen and the Astrup Fearnley Museum are all easy to reach on foot or by tram, and it is also convenient to reach further afield places such as Kistefos Museum and its sculpture park.

The Room

The hotel has 112 rooms in seven categories, each with its own flair. The smallest are the Single Petite and Double Petite rooms, which face the inner courtyard. Standard rooms have a work desk, and superior rooms have views over Spikersuppa park and the city. Deluxe rooms are more spacious with a seating area, and junior suites add a sofa and chairs. The suites are the largest, with city or park views, a velvet headboard, a golden glass chandelier and wall paintings courtesy of interior designer Gathe Gram. Sofa beds are available on request in the junior suites and suites, and breakfast is included with every room.

The Director Suite, Behind the Curtain. Hotel Christiania Teater. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

The rooms were redesigned in a renovation that began in 2023, using velvets, dark woods, metallic details and ornate wallpapers, with custom velvet headboards, gold brocade wallpapers and Art Deco elements that tie the interiors to the building's theatre history.

Dining and living area in the Director Suite, Behind the Curtain, Hotel Christiania Teater. Image credit MTotoe. Courtesy of FLO London.

We stayed in the Director Suite, which has a teal colour scheme, a floral headboard, a soft king bed and an Art Deco-style chandelier overhead. It also has an adjoining dining area with four seats and a living area with a sofa and TV. The bathroom is compact and chic, finished in ruby-red tiles, gold fixtures and a chessboard floor, and it has underfloor heating, which matters when temperatures outside drop well below freezing. The "do not disturb" sign comes in the form of a tie that hangs on the door handle, a nod to the hotel's theatrical heritage.

Hotel Christiania Teater. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

The lobby and surrounding are brings together playful details in keeping with the hotel's theatrical heritage, including chartreuse velvet sofas, a chandelier made from trombones and ceramic cats above the doors.

Practical touches include daily housekeeping, a 24-hour front desk and concierge and laundry services. Rooms have WiFi, complimentary coffee and tea, a minibar, and ironing facilities or a steamer, and room service from the dinner menu is available from 4pm to 10pm.

Sustainability

Hotel Christiania Teater is Nordic Swan Ecolabel certified and is committed to reaching net zero by 2030, with actions that include recycling waste and saving water and energy. Single-use items in the rooms have been reduced, with amenities such as bathrobes, slippers and sewing and shaving kits available on request. Guests can even skip mid-stay cleaning and have the hotel donate to UNICEF on their behalf instead.

Suite park view. Hotel Christiania Teater. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

Fitness & Wellness

There's no gym on site, but guests have access to the nearby Evo Fitness Centre, so a workout is still easy to fit in without leaving the neighbourhood.

Food & Drink

Teatro, the hotel's restaurant on the second floor, changes character over the course of the day. In the morning it serves a buffet breakfast with Norwegian favourites alongside smoked salmon, mackerel, salami, salads and a selection of cheeses, plus pastries and hot items including scrambled and fried eggs.

Breakfast buffet at Hotel Christiania Teater. Image credit MTotoe. Courtesy of FLO London.

There is fresh fruit such as watermelon and pineapple, and for something sweet, waffles and pancakes with chocolate and jams. In the evening the restaurant transforms into a pizzeria with a menu of pizza and gelato, including Nordic-inspired toppings alongside the classics, and it is popular with locals as well as guests.

Teatro at Hotel Christiania Teater, Oslo. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

The Mezzanine bar is the place for an elegant aperitif before dinner or an interval drink before a show. Downstairs, the wine bar has more than 1,400 labels and a cocktail list. Its hours may vary depending on events in the theatre.

The Art Collection

Art is everywhere in this hotel, and thoughtfully placed. The works come from Christian Ringnes' private collection, chosen to suit a building that spent decades as an opera house, a vaudeville stage and a cinema before it became a hotel. It feels like art leads the interiors. Seating areas are dressed with groupings of framed works, so every floor and corridor has a different look.

Angel by Kari-Lena Flåten-Lindbæk. Hotel Christiania Teater. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

Hello, World!

Classical pieces hang alongside contemporary works, in the stairwells, the lobby and the guest rooms. Tim Walker's photographs stand out with their signature flair, while sculptures by Norwegian artist Kari-Lena Flåten-Lindbæk draw on human interaction, in particular with children.

Tim Walker and Kate Phelan create a celebration of Alexander McQueen, Tim Walker. Hotel Christiania Teater. Image credit MTotoe. Courtesy of FLO London.

There are also paintings by Karl Johan, Delphin Enjolras and Kaja Norum, work by Julia Fullerton-Batten and Torvald Lund Hansen, and pieces by one of Norway's most celebrated artists, Edvard Munch. Large-scale murals by Katrina Solhoff and Stine Aamodt continue along the corridor to the Behind the Curtain suites.

Mural by Stine Aamodt, Hotel Christiania Teater. Image courtesy of Hotel Christiania Teater.

The hotel works with local galleries too. One suite has been given over to contemporary art with Fineart Oslo, Norway's largest gallery, where the works change on a rotating basis and everything on the walls is available to buy. On show at the moment are photographs by Morten Qvale, known for his fashion and fine art work and exhibited in Oslo, Monaco, New York and Sweden. They take you across Norway, from the Barcode district and the Royal Palace in Oslo to the ocean at Risør and the midnight sun and mountains of Lofoten, and his art book is left in the room for a closer look at his work across the decades. Click here to discover more about the hotel's latest art collaboration.

The theatre

The hotel is home to Christiania Teater Scene, one of Oslo's leading theatres, known for its mix of timeless plays and modern interpretations. The auditorium seats 549 across the stalls and the balcony, and the programme takes in musical tributes, comedy, concerts and family shows, with the Christmas season given over to its own festive productions.

Theatre at Hotel Christiania Teater, Oslo. Image credit MTotoe. Courtesy of FLO London.

The front desk can arrange tickets, and the current list of shows is at christianiateaterscene.no. There is also a show package, which includes a ticket to the show, an overnight stay and breakfast the next morning. Details of this package and several others can be found at christianiateater.com

Art and culture beyond the hotel

Beyond the hotel's own stage and collection, the location puts a serious concentration of Oslo's art scene within easy reach. The National Museum of Norway, the country's largest art museum, sits about 300 meters away. The Nobel Peace Center is a similarly short walk at around 450 meters.

MUNCH Museum, Oslo. Image credit MTotoe. Courtesy of FLO London.

Fortress and the harborfront district of Aker Brygge are both within an 11 to 13-minute walk, which also gets you to Tjuvholmen and the Astrup Fearnley Museum, a striking waterfront contemporary art space. The Munch Museum, dedicated to Edvard Munch, is about a 25-minute walk or a short ride away for anyone willing to go a little further, and Oslo's central train and tram network makes it easy to build in Vigeland Park or Kunstnernes Hus without much extra planning.

Vigeland Sculpture Park. Image credit MTotoe. Courtesy of FLO London.

The #FLODown: Between a location that puts Oslo's best museums within walking distance, a history tied to the performing arts and a collection of contemporary artwork throughout the building, Hotel Christiania Teater makes a strong case as a base for anyone who wants to explore the city's art scene. 

Price 

Rooms start from around £145 a night in the quieter winter months and rise to roughly £250 or more over the summer and in the run up to Christmas.
Visit christianiateater.com to check availability and book.

By Maawura Totoe