Here's a trio of offbeat Norwegian hotels where the experience goes beyond 400-count linen sheets and dazzling bathroom amenities.

WEATHERING THE STORM IN ROOM 47 IN ALESUND

It's easy to miss Room 47 if you don't know what you're looking for. Perched 175 steps down a jetty in the middle of art deco-inspired Alesund's busy harbour, the room does double duty as a circa-1858 lighthouse that's still in operation. And while the archipelago may be best known as the unofficial adventure capital of the fjords, Room 47 may just be its best-kept secret.

I first learnt about the Molja Lighthouse while cruising on the coastal steamer Hurtigruten a few years ago. As the big ship was docking, a Norwegian friend motioned towards the stout, brick-red lighthouse. "If you love a good storm, that's the place to stay," he observed.

The first floor of Molja is given over to a meticulously built bathroom and narrow stairs lead to the second-floor bedroom. One side of the bed is round to accommodate the lighthouse wall. Head and footboard shelves are big enough to drop a book, and a cleverly planned cubby provides just enough room for a French coffee press and snacks.

A beacon pulsates non-stop high above the room, a reminder of the country's reliance on the North Sea and its myriad islands.

On a recent visit, I awoke early to a typically spectacular Norwegian rainstorm and snapped a few pictures just in time to greet the hotel's delivery girl. She shoved a basket filled with a thermos of blistering hot coffee, fresh fruit and warm mini-croissants towards me with a smile, wished us a good storm and beat it back to the hotel.

Good, I thought. Let it pour.

NATURE WITHIN AT THE JUVET LANDSCAPE HOTEL

The Juvet Landscape Hotel is well on its way to becoming one of Scandinavia's most engaging destinations.

On Burtigarden, the centuries-old farm along the Geiranger-Trollstigen national tourist route in upper Valldal, the quirky little conclave of cubes on stilts overlooks the Valldola river.

It was already late in the day when I stopped to watch the waterfall rushing through nearby Gudbrandsjuvet Gorge, and the sun wouldn't be up much longer. I'd been up early, hiking the paths around the Geiranger fjord, and now clouds were collecting. I longed for quiet.

I managed a quick check-in and set out to find the wooden cube that would be my temporary home. Stark in grey tones, it was perched among other, similar cubes on a low hillside overlooking the river.

Each cube faces the river and has a slightly different shape to accommodate the topography. Curtains are moot despite a full wall of windows facing out, and privacy is spectacular. The interiors have three pieces of furniture: a bed and two lounge chairs. Devoid of ornamentation such as pictures, TV, and even a lamp, the interiors have been stained in a midnight hue. It wasn't until I was packing up that I realised the built-in alcove was actually a table and two benches.

The sauna in the Relax Room was already warm when I arrived, and after jettisoning my bag on the bed, I hiked down for a long soak. As I would later come to realise in my own cube, the full glass wall and dark interiors give an uncanny, and wonderful, sensation that you are sitting outside. The longer you stare, the wider the landscape.

The farm is still very much alive, as it has been for centuries. And although the cow byre has been converted into the dining room, the pigsty into the kitchen, and the old hay bridge used to store animal feed into the lounge area, milk production goes on and cultivated land tended. The farmhouse and its out buildings have also been restored, and the delightful, 1,000-year old style of roofing with turf and plants still remains the most effective.

A PINK REVERIE IN THE WORLD'S GREENEST – AND COLDEST – HOTEL

If cold is your thing, the Kirkenes Snow Hotel delivers. Not your typical bricks-and-mortar construction, the Kirkenes Snow Hotel is one of those experiences that may be better experienced without a lot of forethought.

For starters, it's made of snow. Near the Russian-Norwegian border in Finnmark County, gasps of surprise are the norm and guests sport heavy down parkas and balaclavas rather than Prada. And when I wasn't knocking back icy shots of non-alcoholic crowberry glog at the ice bar, I passed the time debating the impact of cold on mobile phones with my fellow travellers.

Thankfully, the temperature inside stayed around 25C, warmer than outside. Still, I opted to stuff my phone and camera in the bottom of my sleeping bag and wear the balaclava to bed to maintain my body temperature.

According to co-owner Ronny Ostrem, when the weather warms in spring, the hotel simply melts, returning the water back to the neighbouring lake. "It's the world's greenest hotel," he winks.

If you're feeling adventurous, the large property hosts activities such as snowshoeing, kick sledding and traditional dog sled rides.

I spent the afternoon zipping around on a snowmobile across the salty, frozen fjord where we cut through thick ice to pull out king crab traps. As reward, we warmed up at a cosy cabin in the woods, a well-stoked fire in the middle of the room casting a cosy glow as we wolfed down the freshly cooked crab at farm-style tables.

IF YOU GO:

For more information on adventures in Norway go to visitnorway.com.

Molja Lighthouse: brosundet.no.

Juvet Landscape Hotel: juvet.com.

To visit the Kirkenes Snow Hotel, consider getting there via a voyage on the Hurtigruten. Visit Hurtigruten.com or kirkenessnowhotel.com.