Add your sail date and the links open on the night before.
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Polfareren’s strength is the bus. Visit Svalbard says the airport shuttle stops just outside, and until 31 October 2026 it’s the stop for Basecamp and the Lodge too.
It ranks ninth because so little is confirmed. The hotel’s own site wouldn’t load for us, and Booking.com mentions a breakfast buffet without saying it’s included.
Ask about breakfast when you book and it may be better value than the rank suggests.
Book it if
- You want the Flybuss at the door
- You want the Polar Bear Suite
Look elsewhere if
- You want breakfast confirmed in the rate
- You want facts from the hotel’s own site
Your night before, from here
From check-in to the gangway, using only what Polfareren publishes and our own map estimates.
Nothing to eat on site that we found listed, so plan dinner in town.
No ride to the ship is listed. Bykaia is about 1.6 km in a straight line; use your line’s transfer or a taxi ordered ahead.
A buffet in the Polfareren Restaurant, per its Booking.com listing; the pages we could read don’t say it’s in the rate.
Bykaia is about 1.6 km away in a straight line. Use your line’s transfer, or order a taxi the night before.
No parking is mentioned. Guests fly in.
Night-Before Score: 30 of 100
Every point comes from the hotel’s own pages or its brand’s; the hub explains how the Night-Before Score works.
Getting here, and on to the ship
By our map estimate Polfareren is about 5 km from Svalbard Airport in a straight line, and about 1.6 km from Bykaia. Every question mark below is a ride you book yourself.
No hotel shuttle; Visit Svalbard says the airport bus stops just outside. Visit Svalbard puts the airport about 5 km away.
No ride to the ship is listed. Bykaia is about 1.6 km in a straight line; use your line’s transfer or a taxi ordered ahead.
From LYR without a hotel shuttle
The Flybuss leaves 30 to 40 minutes after each scheduled landing and stops at the hotels in town: NOK 125 for adults from 1 August 2026, per Svalbard Buss og Taxi. Taxis come from Svalbard Buss og Taxi and Longyearbyen Taxi; neither publishes a fare. The airport page has the fares.
No parking is mentioned. Guests fly in.
Parking for your stay: Not mentioned.
No ride to the ship is listed. Bykaia is about 1.6 km in a straight line; use your line’s transfer or a taxi ordered ahead.
Flying in the morning you sail? You can skip the hotel entirely; the airport page has the landing check.
Which quay
BykaiaMeasured to Bykaia, Port Longyear’s main quay, Polfareren is about 1.6 km in a straight line, and about 100 m from the town centre. No turnaround quay is published: smaller ships use other piers or anchor and tender, and Quark warns you may board by Zodiac. Your line’s documents name the place; the Longyearbyen cruise guide has the rest.
Source: portlongyear.noDistance
~1.6 km, straight lineAbout 1.6 km from Bykaia between our map pins, roughly 25 minutes on foot at an easy pace. That’s our estimate, not the hotel’s.
Airport bus
Flybuss outside“The airport shuttle bus stops just outside the hotel,” per Visit Svalbard. From 9 August to 31 October 2026 it’s also the stop for Basecamp and the Lodge.
Parking while you sail
Cruise parking
Cruise parking unconfirmedNo parking is mentioned. Guests fly in.
In town
No cruise parking publishedParking isn’t the question in Longyearbyen. Almost everyone sailing from here flies in, on a scheduled flight or the line’s own flight, and Port Longyear publishes no car park for cruise guests. None of our ten hotels mentions parking on the pages we read.
The evening and the morning
The evening
Not statedBooking.com places breakfast in a Polfareren Restaurant. We couldn’t confirm dinner from the hotel, so it doesn’t score.
Breakfast
Depends on the rateA buffet in the Polfareren Restaurant, per its Booking.com listing; the pages we could read don’t say it’s in the rate.
Address
The centrePostboks 538, 9171 Longyearbyen (no street address published)
The fine print, in one place
Times, fees, rooms and the small stuff, as Polfareren publishes it. We couldn’t confirm whether breakfast is included, dinner on site, the hotel’s own website, so ask when you book.
Check-in and check-out
Breakfast
A buffet in the Polfareren Restaurant, per its Booking.com listing; the pages we could read don’t say it’s in the rate.
Parking for your stay
Not mentioned
Pool
No pool mentioned on the pages we read
Pets
Not stated on the pages we read.
Rooms
31 rooms, opened in February 2015, including a Polar Bear Suite, per Visit Svalbard.
Accessibility
Polfareren’s pages we read don’t detail accessible rooms, so ask before you book one.
On site
- GymNot stated
- Sauna or spaNot stated
- Family roomsNot stated
- Pets allowedNot stated
Also worth knowing
- Open all year
- Eco-Lighthouse certified
- Baggage storage
- The Flybuss stand-in stop for Basecamp and the Lodge until 31 October 2026
Before you book
Worth knowing
- The Flybuss stops outside.
- Breakfast inclusion isn’t stated.
- Check-in times come from Booking.com.
What we couldn’t confirm
- Whether breakfast is included
- Dinner on site
- The hotel’s own website
Every hotel fact here comes from Visit Svalbard’s listing (the hotel’s own site redirected to a page we couldn’t read), read October 2026, unless we name another source. Distances are straight lines between our own map pins.
Worth a look alongside it
Before you book Polfareren: the Longyearbyen cruise guide and Longyearbyen as a port of call.
Off the Flybuss, into a room in the centre.
Tell us your sail date and we’ll check Polfareren for the night before. No payment on the form.
Polfareren FAQ
Does the airport bus stop at Svalbard Hotell Polfareren?
Yes, just outside, per Visit Svalbard. From 9 August to 31 October 2026 it also stands in for the closed Basecamp and Lodge stop.
Is breakfast included at Svalbard Hotell Polfareren?
Booking.com mentions a buffet in the Polfareren Restaurant but not whether it’s included. Ask when you book.
Booking the cruise too?
Tell us the sailing and we’ll line up Polfareren, the ride to the ship and the cruise itself. No fee, no obligation.
Got it — thank you.
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