The Vibe: Amerikalinjen is a humming cluster of cool, slickly designed restaurants and bars, where guests and fashionable locals eat, drink and play.

The Area: Right in the city centre, on Jernbanetorget Square, adjacent to the city’s bustling Central Station.

The DNA: Amerikalinjen occupies the grand bones of a landmark Neo-Baroque pile – the former headquarters of the now non-existent cruise ship company, Norwegian America Line, which ferried thousands of hopeful immigrants across the Atlantic to the Land of Opportunity – and flies the Norwegian flag by championing all things local. Oslo fashion brand Holzweiler is behind the stylish staff uniforms; cosmetics company Sprekenhus has supplied the bathroom amenities; personalised crockery in the restaurant is by porcelain company Porsgrund; special occasion champagne glasses and the guestroom pendant lamps are by the country’s national treasure, Hadeland; and mid-century furnishings and lighting, like the Birdy Lamp designed by Birger Dahl in 1952 or Torbjørn Bekken’s Veng Armchair from 1960, which have been revived by companies Eikund and Northern, dot the interiors.

Suite-Me-Up: Owing to the building’s listed status, rooms come in all shapes and sizes and have been informed by the building’s original details, such as the stately deep-ledged windows. In particular, the suites, which have been shaped from the former boardrooms, feature lovely original corniced ceilings.

Seen: Architecture Norway, Wallpaper*

Accolades: Condé Nast Traveller Hot List 2020, Wallpaper* Best Urban Hotels 2019

✅ free Wi-Fi • size matters: 122 rooms (19-27m2) (205-291 sq ft) & suites (37-50m2) (398-538 sq ft) • hotel opened: March 2019 • interior design: Puroplan • parking possible nearby (charged) • pets allowed • 24-hour front desk • wheelchair accessible