Collection
Sunnmøre, Norway
Storfjord
Tucked into old-growth forest above the Storfjord, Storfjord Hotel has a way of making the outside world feel very far away. The surrounding landscape is extraordinary – dense woodland, mountain ridges, and the fjord below – and the hotel sits within it rather than apart from it.
It is a Relais & Châteaux property, which tells you something about the level of hospitality. But what stays with guests is usually simpler than that: the quiet, the smell of the forest, and the particular quality of light in the early morning.
Sunnmøre, Norway
Union Øye
Union Øye has been receiving guests since 1891, and the valley it sits in feels much the same as it did then. At the end of a narrow road, surrounded by peaks that rise almost vertically from the water, it is the kind of place that is genuinely difficult to leave.
Over the years it has welcomed royalty, explorers, and artists – drawn, presumably, by the same thing that draws guests today. There is a romance to it that is hard to manufacture and easy to feel.
Sunnmøre, Norway
Staurneset Cabin
A small cabin on a headland, with water on three sides and very little else. Staurneset is as simple as it sounds, which is precisely the point – it strips the experience of a Norwegian fjord back to something close to its essence.
It suits guests who are happy to do very little, or guests who want a quiet base from which to explore the surrounding waterways. Either way, it tends to leave a strong impression.
Svalbard, Nowray
Basecamp Explorer
Svalbard sits far above the Arctic Circle, and Basecamp Explorer is where most journeys into it begin. It is a place designed around the idea of going out into the wilderness – the accommodation is comfortable and well-considered, but the point is always what lies beyond the door.
Polar bears outnumber people on the archipelago. The light in summer never fades. In winter, the darkness is total. It is one of the more unusual places on earth, and Basecamp makes it genuinely accessible.