Holmen Lofoten

Arctic tranquillity and culinary adventure

Holmen Lofoten

At the western tip of the Lofoten Islands sits Holmen Lofoten, a hotel where guests can log off, unwind, and embark on a unique culinary experience. We spoke to founder and owner, Ingunn Rasmussen, about her childhood in Lofoten and the challenges of running a hotel in the Arctic Circle.

Top Image / Head chef Richard Cox' razor clams with victory onions, butter, and pine, served on hand crafted ceramics by local cermacisist Gunvor Tangrand.

Bottom Image / One of our larger fisherman's cabins, "Gustavbua".

Facing Image / Cabin - "Ingebua" - named after Ingunn's father, Inge. He was the last who used the cabin during the Lofoten fishery. When Ingunn Rasmussen was growing up, Holmen was, in her words, “really in the middle of nowhere.” With no bridges or roads from the mainland to the distant western end of the Lofoten archipelago—and only an infrequent ferry service—life had its challenges.

“You had to be as self-sufficient as possible. And that meant making do with whatever resources you had to hand.”

Now the founder and owner of Holmen Lofoten, a remote hotel and fine restaurant in the Arctic Circle, Ingunn was born into a family of 13 children. Her father was a fisherman, she tells me when we speak on the phone— just like most of the men in this part of Norway—while her mother was a seamstress and housewife. Together, Ingunn says, they would put whatever they could on the table, from hunting, fishing, or foraging.

“It was inevitably a locally-focused, sustainable way of life,” Ingunn tells me. “It had to be. You had to follow the shifting patterns of nature and the weather. This is how we grew up, by learning how to survive in—and to appreciate—the nature around us.”

Having left the islands at the age of 17 and having travelled the world since, it’s these ideas of rootedness, calm, and local resourcefulness that Ingunn is returning to and promoting with Holmen Lofoten. Set in refurbished old fishermen’s cabins—now equipped with insulation, natural materials, and impeccable Scandinavian design— Holmen remains “just a little place on a little island”, she describes.

Because it’s not just a hotel that Ingunn runs. Rather, physically set in the local history of the fisheries—and with her childhood home just round the corner—it’s something like a way of life that she’s trying to show her guests.

“We want people to come here, calm down, and log off. But we want to share our childhood memories of these islands too. This is not the hotel for people to come to if they want to rush around doing things and ticking off different sights. We just want our guests to be relaxed, happy, and well-fed.”

Indeed, “well-fed” hints at a crucial part of the brand’s offering. Alongside the homely, elegant hotel, Holmen Lofoten places a lot of emphasis on what is put on the plates of its guests.

Image / Dan Mariner Kitchen On The Edge bartender Nick Strangeway created this delicious milk-fruit punch. Throughout the year, the hotel’s restaurant is run by head chef, Richard Cox. Meanwhile, the culinary focus has also resulted in the “Kitchen on the Edge of the World”, a series of five food events a year managed by Ingunn and British chef and food writer, Valentine Warner.

“The restaurant is inspired by the island values of this place— of foraging and making do with what you have,” Ingunn says.

“But while we’re eager to protect and preserve our food traditions, we need to move forward too. Thanks to Valentine, we invite international chefs to come to the site to host these special events, while Richard is always here to ensure that every meal is surprising and special in its own way.”

That’s why Holmen Lofoten’s restaurant menu features such remarkable, eye-catching culinary experiments as oyster, goat sausage, and pickled rhubarb, or sea urchin, fermented plum, green juniper, and fig leaf.

“That last one is really delicious!”, Ingunn laughs. “But the point is that when people come up here, they don’t expect to find this sort of range. We’re determined to keep the high standards of local produce, but we really want to encourage our guests to be adventurous.”

And without a doubt, despite the tranquil atmosphere in the hotel, it is a special sort of adventure here in Lofoten. Ingunn explains how the challenges facing the hotel aren’t just logistical. Instead, one of the biggest challenges is how nature itself often intervenes to disrupt well-made plans.

“Of course, we don’t have everything nearby we need to run a hotel, so everything takes a bit more planning than it would elsewhere. But more importantly, everything needs to be choreographed around the next storm, so there’s nothing left flying around outside or nothing gets damaged. This inevitably affects what we can do with our guests too—but that’s all part of the experience.”

Now, Ingunn says, after a week of intense wind and rain, the weather has calmed, just in time for the new season.

“The staff are arriving, and the guests are not far behind. Now, we’re preparing for the summer. We’re looking forward to great weather ahead.”

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