Fjærland Fjordstove Hotel
The area is voted the world’s most interesting destination by the prestigious National Geographic magazine. As a guest at Fjærland Fjordstove Hotel you have the beautiful Sognefjord and the majestic Jostedalsbreen glacier as your next door neighbours. No wonder the small and intimate fjord hotel attracts guests from all over the world.
Text: Edda Espeland / Translation: Linda Vikaune / Photo: Marianne Ramstad Malone
And that’s exactly what the host wanted; that the world should come to Fjærland. There is an international community here, among the staff as well as guests, and the host do all they can to make sure everybody feels at home. In the hotel there is a small international collection of books, and the aim is that every guests should be able to find a book that resonates with them, regardless of their religion, culture or world view.
Intimate and beautiful
Bård Huseby had always dreamt of running a small hotel, and finally realised it with this beautiful timber building from 1937, idyllically situated by the water’s edge. It was originally built as a guest house, and was renovated in the 1980s so every room got an en suite bathroom. Today the hotel offers 15 small rooms, all simply furnished. Some have a view to the fjord, some to the mountain. None of the rooms, nor any of the communal rooms, have a TV. Nothing at this hotel is there by coincidence; every single item has a special significance to the host and has a story behind it.
The opportunity to explore one of the world’s most beautiful fjord landscape is one of the most important reasons why guests book a room at Fjærland Fjordstove. From the beginning of May to September the hotel is perfect for anyone who appreciates breath-taking scenery and the outdoor summer activities. But winter also offers exciting adventures, whether you like to float down through the loose snow from a mountain top or take in the incredible beauty of a frozen waterfall. The hotel cooperates with guiding company Breogfjell – glacier and mountain – and are happy to share their knowledge with their guests, so they can be safe in the wintery mountain.
The hotel hosts mainly functions, meetings, courses and conferences during the spring and autumn, but can offer interested guests a chance to hunt deer in the season. With the natural conditions in the area and the intimate atmosphere of the hotel, guests often comment that a group have experienced a particularly good camaraderie after a stay at Fjærland. And if you choose to have your family wedding at Fjærland Fjordstove, they promise you a wedding in exquisitely beautiful surroundings and a hotel which will do everything in their power to make it a fantastic day.
Delicious, simple and healthy food
Right outside the door of Fjærland Fjordstove Hotell is a rich cultural landscape where west coast farmers have fruit in their gardens, lambs in the mountains and guns in the cupboard, ready for the deer hunt. Lambs follow the melting snow and eat fresh and protein rich plants, herbs and grass which give them a fantastic flavour. The forest provides venison and lots of mushrooms and berries, herbs are grown in the hotel’s own garden, and from the Sognefjord come delicacies like Norway lobster, crab, halibut and monkfish.
The proximity of the produce and the good contact with suppliers is important to the kitchen staff at Fjærland Fjordstove, who have made deals with several local farmers in order to offer hotel guests their products. If you stay at the hotel you will have the opportunity to visit these farms, see how the animals are treated and learn where the food comes from. Using Nordic food traditions, you always get the very best from the produce available in the local area. The kitchen at Fjærland Fjordstove aim to serve delicious, simple and healthy food – to be enjoyed with specially selected and imported French wines, their own locally brewed beer with juniper berries picked near the glacier, or a cider from nearby Balholm in Balestrand.
Many have wondered why people decided to settle just here a thousand years ago. They didn’t have much contact with the outside world, in fact they didn’t get a road until 1986; before that they were relying on boats. But because of the mineral rich glacier water the grass grows particularly well, making it possible to keep grazing livestock. Today Bård takes the water for his beer from a local water source deep beneath the glacier, containing a wealth of minerals supposed to increase vitality and give a long life …
At Fjærland Fjordstove Hotell you will have wonderful food and drink and a host who cares about you, no doubt about that.