Engø Gård Hotell & Restaurant
Welcome to Engø Gård in Tjøme – a coastal idyll where you can relax and let your soul rest. Enjoy the peace and quiet to do anything you want – or nothing.
Text: Edda Espeland / Translation: Linda Vikaune / Photo: Marianne Ramstad Malone
Engø Gård is an exclusive and peaceful hotel far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It feels like time stands deliciously still here, surrounded by an exquisite floral display and verdant trees, and a magnificent panoramic view of the sea. This place practically breathes peace and harmony. And not just in the summer – “Tjøme all year round” has become Engø Gård’s mantra. Wonderful experiences await the guests during lobster season in late autumn, or in the winter when houses glow with candlelight and lanterns and snow covers everything creating a fairy tale atmosphere. Every season has its charm at Engø.
Pihls sommerpensjonat
Engø Gård started as Pihls Pensjonat, one of Tjøme’s many summer guest houses which were popular until the end of the 1950s. The romantic Frithjof Pihl hand his sister Daisy started the guest house at Engø in 1924. In 1935 the English woman Dorothy Grace Babington came to stay and fell in love with the place and also with Frithjof. They got married the year after, and Engø had a new, interesting, strong and charismatic hostess with an unmistakably British style and manner.
She quickly started screening the guests, making it a privilege to be accepted, and the summer guest house soon became an attractive place to meet. The guests’ privacy was respected, and famous people from Norway and abroad could holiday there in peace and quiet without being disturbed.
In 1983 Nina Felling Andersen and Harald Andersen took over the farm, which by then had been a holiday resort for many years. After an extensive restoration and modernisation, the new Engø Gård was reopened in 2000, with the old charm and style intact.
Many opportunities
At Engø you can choose between many different kinds of rooms. There are big rooms, wonderfully spacious, some with a jacuzzi, some with a tub. Deluxe rooms are all more than 40 square metres, some with a private outside space. The Stables is a new building adapted to the Engø atmosphere. It houses 20 double rooms, all with style and quality in every single detail. The Bath house is built in English ”Conservatory Style” and has a heated pool and jacuzzi, changing rooms and a sauna.
It is possible to rent the entire resort for big or small events. The old barn has been completely renovated and the hay loft is now a restaurant which can serve a hundred guests. On the ground floor of the Barn is a function room which can accommodate up to 40 guests. The extension with its fantastic sea view accommodates 20, and the cowshed has been converted into a cosy room with a fireplace. There are other reception rooms in the other buildings, so there are many possibilities.
Culinary feast
Engø Gård is also famed for its culinary delights. The menu is guided by season and availability, and the kitchen uses local and Scandinavian produce and ingredients.
In order to create the very best experience the inspirational menu is changed monthly to make the most of seasonal foods and flavours. Guests can enjoy a four course or seven course gourmet menu with a carefully selected wine menu.
You can choose between several package offers allowing you to enjoy the farm as well as the food: for example, spend a whole day at the farm, with a two course lunch, afternoon tea, five course dinner, overnight stay and homemade breakfast. Or go straight to the afternoon tea, then five course dinner, overnight stay and homemade breakfast. The hotel has also launched weekend packages, so you can pick and choose according to your wallet and your preferences.
A stay at Engø can be so many things, but most importantly it is an escape from everyday life, and don’t we all need that now and again …?