Accommodation Great Life

The demands of our everyday life sweep us along. To have more time to ourselves is what we seem to long for more than anything; more time with our family, friends, our loved ones. What happened to all that time we had on our hands? Many of us go traveling in order to try to recapture some of it. But where do we go? Thankfully, there are still places that can take you away from the mundane, everyday demands, where you can find peace of mind, serenity, time to enjoy the beauty around you. Norway´s spectacular landscape may be what you have been looking for. Here you find a pure environment, free from noise and distractions, fewer people per square kilometer than anywhere else in Europe, an abundance of natural beauty.

THE GREAT LIFE COMPANY

The fact that you may also experience four seasons in just one day, adds spice to the visit. In Norway, you´ll find that the changing weather transforms the landscape, adds new dimensions to it. In The Great Life Company, our challenge has been to select the very best places to offer our guests and to discard those that don´t. In choosing these places, our focus has been on individuality, rather than uniformity. To present you with establishments that truly offer the very best of Norway, we have let the seasons, the weather, the character of each location and your hosts decide what should make up the daily menu, the recreational activities, the list of events.

Over the last decade we have been searching for locations that were in need of restoration, we have been doing our part in revitalising communities, capitalizing on the talents of local artists and craftspeople, applying local building techniques. This way, usage becomes the best form of conservation.

The buildings are all either an expression of local tradition or designed to add character to their environment. At our destinations, local hosts and families will introduce you to local heritage and customs, familiarize you with the attractions in the area, and tell you about excursions that you will not find in a guide book. In addition to personal service, focus is on authenticity, friendliness and informality, rooted in the daily life of the community, its history and culture. In our establishments, we have set the scene for culinary experiences to remember, with the focus on local delicacies and ingredients inspired by seasonal variation, accompanied by comprehensive international wine lists.

Ours special treasure chest: Family recipes and local culinary "secrets" that have passed from one generation to another. These often more than 100 year-old recipes are not fancy or do not follow fashion, but are part of a traditon that a new generation of Norwegian chefs have integrated into dishes that have won international fame over the last decade.

Experienced travelers understand that the destination is just part of the total journey. We present you with twenty destinations, each worth a visit. However, at the same time we want you to give yourself time enough to enjoy what is en route: We sincerely hope you will have a chance to experience Røisheim and Bøverdalen bathed in sunshine; that Vestfjorden is in a friendly mood when the jagged edges of the Lofoten wall rise before you; that birch trees´ leaves have sprung when you sit down for lunch at the Bjørnsgard chalets just outside Oslo and that the Hemsedal mountains, when the morning fog is lifting in autumn, can show you their very brightest red and yellow colours.

The good life can be different things to different people. We have tried to put everything together as well as we possibly can, according to our core values of quality, harmony and serenity (and should we not reach perfection every time, it´s not for the want of trying). We continuously strive to make the places you visit as beautiful on the interior as on the exterior, to satisfy your eyes as well as tastebuds, to make our establishments true meeting places for discerning people. But the truly great life is something that also depends on you, it is a matter of blending together the ingredients that have been placed before you.

The internationally well-known author (and frequent visitor to Norway) H.M. Enzenberger, has written about this, and about what travelers in the future will be looking for: "That which will be in short supply, expensive and attractive in our galloping time of consumption, are the elementary things in life, such as clean water and enough space. The luxury of the future will be to renounce the superfluous and search for the essential."