Opened 2013 on the artificial island of Tjuvholmen — 119 rooms, an Anish Kapoor in the lobby, a Peter Blake on every floor, the Renzo Piano-designed Astrup Fearnley Museum as immediate neighbour, and the only fjord-side rooftop spa terrace in the city.
"The most ambitious art-and-design hotel north of Berlin — a 119-room contemporary five-star on the artificial island of Tjuvholmen, named for the eighteenth-century thieves' execution ground that previously occupied the harbour. The art programme alone (Kapoor, Blake, Andy Warhol, Sir Peter Blake) costs more than most Oslo hotels' entire interior budgets."
The Thief opened in April 2013 as the anchor hotel of the Tjuvholmen masterplan — an artificial-island residential and cultural redevelopment at the western end of Aker Brygge, designed by the Norwegian architectural practice Niels Torp Arkitekter. Tjuvholmen ("Thieves' Islet") takes its name from the eighteenth-century criminal court ground that previously occupied the harbour rocks before the area was levelled for shipping. The hotel was conceived from the outset as an art-led property by the Norwegian developer Petter A. Stordalen and his Strawberry hospitality group; the founding interior team was led by Anemone Wille Våge with art curation by Sune Nordgren (formerly director of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design).
The 119 rooms (including 6 suites and the Penthouse) occupy seven floors of the L-shaped building, with the better categories looking south across the Oslofjord to Hovedøya, Bleikøya, and the inner fjord islands. Standard Doubles run 32–38 square metres; Deluxe Doubles add the small-balcony fjord-view configuration; the Suites and the Penthouse add the larger volumes. The art programme is the room-level proposition — a different curated artwork in every room, ranging from contemporary Norwegian (Bjarne Melgaard, Olafur Eliasson editions) to international names (Andy Warhol prints, Damien Hirst editions, Antony Gormley editions). The lobby holds an Anish Kapoor mirror sculpture; the corridor programme includes a Sir Peter Blake on every floor.
Fru K — the hotel's flagship restaurant — runs a contemporary Nordic menu under chef Kristoffer Aga, with a wine list curated around small-grower European bottlings. The Thief Bar is the lobby cocktail room (the most consistently busy art-crowd evening room in Oslo). The seventh-floor rooftop houses the Thief Spa, with treatment rooms, a sauna, a hot tub, and the city's only fjord-side hotel-rooftop terrace open to non-residents (with day-pass programmes available through the Tjuvholmen-residents association). The Astrup Fearnley Museum — the Renzo Piano-designed contemporary art museum at the western tip of the island — is sixty seconds' walk from the lobby and is the most consequential single museum proposition co-located with any Northern European hotel.
The position is the second proposition: Tjuvholmen Sjøbad (the public seawater bathing platform) is two minutes' walk from the lobby; Aker Brygge's restaurant strip (Lofoten Fiskerestaurant, Beach Club, Solsiden, Onda) is five minutes' walk; the Akershus Festning headland is fifteen minutes' walk along the harbour boardwalk; Karl Johans gate is twelve minutes' walk. The new Munch Museum (the Lambda building) and the Operahuset are reached in twenty minutes by walking along the inner harbour to Bjørvika.
For Oslo honeymoons the Thief is the contemporary answer — fjord-side, art-led, the rooftop spa, the Astrup Fearnley Museum next door, the Tjuvholmen Sjøbad bathing platform two minutes from the lobby. Deluxe Fjord View or Suite is the booking; the Penthouse is the milestone version. The concierge runs a strong restaurant book including Maaemo allocations and the Astrup Fearnley after-hours programme.
An Oslo anniversary at the Thief is the design-led version of the brief — the art programme is conversation material for an entire weekend, Fru K at dinner is a serious modern Nordic kitchen, the rooftop spa with fjord view is the morning-after ritual. The hotel is comfortable with multi-day-itinerary anniversaries that combine the Astrup Fearnley, the Munch Lambda, and the Vigeland.
For Oslo wellness stays the Thief is the fjord-side answer — the seventh-floor rooftop spa is the only Oslo hotel spa with direct Oslofjord view, the Tjuvholmen Sjøbad sauna-and-bathing platform is two minutes' walk, and the Sørenga floating sea-pool is twenty minutes by harbour ferry. The treatment programme uses Norwegian-coast botanicals; the booking is the Spa & Suite combined package.
Landgangen 1
0252 Oslo
Norway
Aker Brygge ferry pier 4 minutes' walk; Tjuvholmen Sjøbad 2 minutes' walk; Astrup Fearnley Museum 1 minute's walk; Karl Johans gate 12 minutes' walk; Oslo Sentralstasjon 17 minutes by tram (line 12)
119 rooms (incl. 6 suites + Penthouse)
Doubles from NOK 3,900/night
Deluxe Fjord View from NOK 4,800/night
Suites from NOK 8,500/night
Penthouse from NOK 25,000/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Opened April 2013; Strawberry / Petter A. Stordalen ownership
Fru K restaurant
The Thief Bar
Seventh-floor rooftop spa with fjord terrace
Curated art in every room (Kapoor, Blake, Warhol, Hirst, Gormley)
Astrup Fearnley Museum next door
From NOK 3,900/night. Fjord-view Deluxe rooms and the Penthouse book two to three months ahead for spring and autumn weekends; four months for the May 17 Constitution Day week and the Nobel Peace Prize week.
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