Amerikalinjen

The trendy new kid in town, Amerikalinjen offers buzzy, retro-inspired social spaces and a central location in a historic building.

• The array of chic public spaces, including an intimate jazz club and a lush interior courtyard
• The building's unique history interwoven throughout the property

Amerikalinjen’s buzzed-about arrival in Oslo in the spring of 2019 marked the city’s first luxury debut since 2013, when the sexy, art-focused Thief hotel opened in Tjuvholmen. And the trendy new property lived up to the hype. (Within its first few weeks of opening, the hotel was even taken over by Mercedes-Benz for the press launch of its new electric crossover.)

Amerikalinjen is set on bustling Jernbanetorget Square, close to the city’s main train station and just a few minutes from the Opera House and Bjørvika, Oslo’s booming waterfront cultural district. The hotel owes both its name and its vision to the unique history of its building, the early 20th-century headquarters of the Norwegian America Line, a former cruise ship company that operated transatlantic service between Norway and the United States. Like the ships’ passengers drawn to the promise of the “New World,” the hotel’s aesthetic finds inspiration in America, and New York City in particular, as beacons of the new and the reinvented.

The accommodations, which range from small, 200-square-foot standard rooms to the 540-square-foot Triton Suite with a balcony overlooking the cityscape, feature high ceilings, walk-in showers and contemporary twists on retro designs. Though the 122-key property feels thoroughly trendy and modern, the past never fades too far from the foreground, and nods to the history of the hotel’s setting include framed memorabilia from the original ships, reproductions of classic mid-century furnishings and the Pier 42 bar, named after ship passengers’ first point of entry in New York and serving classic cocktails from the 1920s and ’30s. Stylish social spaces also include a library; the all-day Atlas Brasserie, serving European cuisine; the chic, greenhouse-inspired Haven courtyard; a grab-and-go deli café; and Gustav, a basement jazz club inspired by the speakeasies of the Big Apple. The art collection—curated by Sune Nordgren, who also selected the eye-catching contemporary pieces at The Thief—similarly takes it cues from America, with eclectic works ranging from an Obama campaign poster to paintings by Alex Katz. There is also a 24-hour gym and wellness area.