Bokhotellet Lyngørporten
Booklovers by the sea
Bokhotellet Lyngørporten halfway between Tvedestrand and Risør is about as close to the sea as you’re going to get. The white wooden houses of Norway’s first and only Book Hotel is a delightful southern idyll right on the water’s edge with the world’s best view out towards beautiful Lyngør.
Text: Edda Espeland / Translation: Linda Vikaune / Photo: The Hotel
Lyngør, with its smooth coastal rock slopes, crags and green knolls, the fjord with wooden boats, white and red wooden houses is so beautiful it’s no wonder people keep wanting to put it into words.
Authors and writers are invited to come and be inspired by sea and skerries in a place where creativity can flourish and imagination roam free. The hotel also welcomes anyone who needs a short break from everyday life, or a place to hold their meetings or seminars. At Bokhotellet you can bring your cup of coffee out to the pier and enjoy the calm and quiet respite from an otherwise hectic world. Relax, recharge, just relish the day.
Guests don’t stay in rooms at Bokhotellet – they stay in pages or chapters, all offering a sea view.
The idea for Bokhotellet started taking shape in December 2009, and in May 2010 the doors of Norway’s first book hotel opened. The reception and lounges were already filled with metres and metres of bookshelves, and a new chapter had begun.
The cosy hotel lends and sells books and hosts exhibitions, launches and other literary events in partnership with Bokbyen, member of the international organisation of Book Towns.
Unbeatable combination
The two biggest events are Norwegian crime writer and historian Hans Olav Lahlum’s crime writing festival in February and the literature festival Bokstavelig Talt which takes place in May. At a festival at Bokhotellet, focus is on connection and conversation, as participants get close to the authors and have the opportunity to ask questions. The authors take part in breakfast and dinner and you might end up sharing a table with them. If you are a budding writer, you might even get some useful tips to take away.
The hotel restaurant serves wonderful food from simple lunch dishes to dinners with several courses. Emphasis is on quality ingredients, bread and sauces are made from scratch and fish is smoked in the kitchen. In the morning the smell of freshly baked bread wafts through the halls, and over the course of the day it is mixed with exciting spices and other wonderful scents. Bokhotellet has its own herb garden which is in constant use throughout the summer season.
With a restaurant and terrace right on the shoreline and its magnificent view, everything is in place for you to enjoy a delicious meal and a refreshing drink.
It really is an unbeatable combination: the books and literature, the location near the sea, the calm and quiet and the beautiful landscape.
A dream hotel – literally!