Planted on Tjuvholmen — Oslo's reclaimed harbour peninsula, whose name translates literally as Thief Islet — a curved nine-storey volume designed by Mellbye Arkitektur opens The Thief to the Oslofjord on almost every elevation. The building's rounded facade, clad in dark brick and punctuated by deep-set balconies and floor-to-ceiling glazing, sits in deliberate dialogue with Renzo Piano's Astrup Fearnley Museum directly opposite, the two buildings anchoring a district that transformed a former shipyard into Oslo's most architecturally charged waterfront address. Launched in 2013 with 119 rooms across its upper floors, the hotel was conceived from the outset as a platform for contemporary art, with works by Damien Hirst and others woven through the public spaces rather than installed as afterthought. The interiors, developed by Tara Bernerd, deploy a palette of charcoal, amber, and pale ash that carries consistently from the guest rooms to the lower-level spa. Bedrooms layer deep-pile shag rugs over bleached oak floors, upholstered headboards set against back-lit geometric wall panels in warm gold leaf — a detail visible across room categories that gives the scheme its signature warmth without tipping into excess. The spa pools are lined in dark stacked slate, the ceiling above pierced with fibre-optic points that mirror the fjord's night sky. At the rooftop restaurant, retractable glass walls dissolve the boundary between the dining room and open water, tabletop fire lanterns doing just enough against the long Nordic dusk.

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Stepping into THE THIEF is sure to rob you of something. Something familiar and shall we say, enslaving at times. And the thing is that the hotel is so good at it… that you might not notice until the end. You suddenly find yourself engaged in a world of new impressions: cutting-edge art, architecture and world-class gastronomy.And then it hits you, what’s been stolen from you…you haven’t had a single thought about your very long to-do list, the responsibilities at home, the everyday worries.