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A hotel with a view

Utsikten .
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Utsikten .
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High above Kvinesdal is a hotel where the staff really see you - while as a guest you can easily discover that the best thing in life is just staring out the window.

Utsikten Hotell Kvinesdal .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes
Utsikten Hotell Kvinesdal .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes

- Hello and welcome to Utsikten Hotell, smiles Agnes Berntsen.

She's slumped on a red sofa in the lobby, wearing a neon yellow Moods of Norway track jacket, but still greets the two newly arrived guests at the front desk.

- I took off the manager's uniform. If I do it all the time, I get bored. But I am the owner of this hotel. So I say hello, she explains, and the conversation begins.

"Seeing guests throughout their stay is so easy, but incredibly important to the experience," says Agnes, before catching another guest who needs help.

- Looking for coffee? It's over there, just feeding on itself.

– Tvedestrand er en by med sjel, smiler Elisabeth Ellefsen mens hun kikker ut gjennom utstillingsvinduet i Designsalong.

Du skal ikke gå mange skrittene i byens gater før du innser at hun har rett.

Selv blant de sjarmerende småbyene langs sørlandskysten skiller Tvedestrand seg ut. Rett nedenfor interiørbutikken til Elisabeth stuper Hovedgata – ja, hele sentrum – ned til fjorden; byen blir bratt og full av trapper og smug.

Fraværet av brede gater skyldes at Tvedestrand aldri har hatt noen bybrann. Her er alle gatene smale og svingete!

Og husene er like særegne inni som utenpå.

Det siste skyldes tvedestrandingenes store evne til å lage spesielle butikker – både som del av Bokbyen Tvedestrand og innenfor helt andre sjangre.

"Seeing guests throughout their stay is so simple, but incredibly important to the experience."

Agnes Berntsen

Agnes Berntsen ved Utsikten Hotell Kvinesdal .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes
Agnes Berntsen ved Utsikten Hotell Kvinesdal .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes

The hotel now looks elegant and modern.

Utsikten .
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Utsikten .
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The breakfast buffet is rich and delicious.

Utsikten .
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Utsikten .
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Outside is the statue of Tjodolfr from Kvinesdal overlooking the fjord.

Utsikten .
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Utsikten .
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Lots of short-distance experiences

The hotel owner states that the hotel has all the ingredients for success.

One thing is the location: historic Feda is tucked away behind a promontory out in the fjord. And even closer you can expect a variety of hiking opportunities, the new Kvinabadet and a golf course, which is called Norway's golf pearl.

The latter offers very special experiences, says former golf pro Eirik Tage Johansen, who is now the managing director of Utsikten Golfklubb.

- Most golf courses are laid out in sensible places. Here, on the other hand, you are in the middle of forest, mountains and heath. The reward is a fun course that will make you feel in the middle of nature. Curious elk calves chew on the golf flags at night, and deer can occasionally be seen playing, he says.

Everything from the Lindesnes lighthouse and the harbors of Loshavn and Korshamn to the Dutch town and dressage cycling in Flekkefjord, the Lista beaches, the mine and via ferrata at Knaben and the horizontal potholes of Brufjellhulene also await you within an hour's drive.

Idyllic Feda is just a short drive away.

Feda .
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Feda .
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If you like heights, you can view the beautiful Fedafjord from the via ferrata boys

Knaben Via Ferrata .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes
Via Ferrata Knaben .
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And just as short-travel flavors

Agnes Berntsen states that the final success factor is also there: the employees.

"I have a golden team around me now," she says.

One of the key people is head chef Michael Reimer, who has just taken a trip to the hotel's herb garden. There he can go and pick everything from common herbs like mint and thyme to delicious flowers that take a long time to find in the supermarket, like fennel and borage.

- We also network with local farmers. "Local food isn't a seal of approval, but we're fortunate here to have really good ingredients locally," he says.

A little later he puts a plate with some goodies on one of the tables in the restaurant. Bottom center there is sausage from NICO, vegetables from Lista, Rødlin cheese, which won silver at the world championships, from southern farm Tjamsland and...

It tastes heavenly. Just as the view from the window deserves.

Text and photo: Gjermund Glesnes.

Head chef Michael Reimer picks herbs from the hotel's own herb garden.

Utsikten .
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Utsikten .
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Local goodies including sausage from NICO down in the city centre, vegetables from Lista, World Cup silver-winning Rødlin cheese from Southern Farm Tjamsland and much more.

Utsikten .
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Utsikten .
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