Hotel Union Øye has been standing in the village of Øye since 1891. The building itself has an unusual origin. In 1889, a hotelier from Ålesund named Adolf Schieldrop visited the World's Fair in Paris, the same fair that introduced the Eiffel Tower. There he saw prefabricated wooden houses designed by the Norwegian architect Christian Thams. Schieldrop bought two of them: one for Øye and another for Geiranger. The building arrived by ship through the Hjørundfjord in 1891 and was assembled on site.
Within a few years, the hotel became one of the most fashionable summer retreats in Norway. Kaiser Wilhelm II came every two years between 1890 and 1908. Queen Maud, King Oscar II, and King Haakon VII all stayed here. So did Karen Blixen, Edvard Grieg, Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Roald Amundsen, and the mountain pioneers William Cecil Slingsby and Charles Watson Patchell. Every room is named after one of these famous guests.
But the hotel did not survive the 20th century unscathed. At some point it fell into disuse, and during the 1980s it served as a school run by a local church. It was eventually bought by new owners who restored the building and furnished it with antiques collected from across Europe. In 2022, after a further two-year renovation, the hotel reopened with 38 rooms.
Even if you are not staying the night, it is worth stepping inside for a coffee or a meal. The interior feels more like a small museum than a hotel lobby, and there is a grand piano in the salon that Grieg himself once played.
Within a few years, the hotel became one of the most fashionable summer retreats in Norway. Kaiser Wilhelm II came every two years between 1890 and 1908. Queen Maud, King Oscar II, and King Haakon VII all stayed here. So did Karen Blixen, Edvard Grieg, Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Roald Amundsen, and the mountain pioneers William Cecil Slingsby and Charles Watson Patchell. Every room is named after one of these famous guests.
But the hotel did not survive the 20th century unscathed. At some point it fell into disuse, and during the 1980s it served as a school run by a local church. It was eventually bought by new owners who restored the building and furnished it with antiques collected from across Europe. In 2022, after a further two-year renovation, the hotel reopened with 38 rooms.
Even if you are not staying the night, it is worth stepping inside for a coffee or a meal. The interior feels more like a small museum than a hotel lobby, and there is a grand piano in the salon that Grieg himself once played.