Five years have passed since the last guest checked out. Since then, tourists have encountered a locked door and a construction site. Old and ruined wooden floors, chairs and bosses lie around the site when we write July 2023. The hotel has been under renovation since 2018 and locals and visitors have wondered if it would be completed. Hotel Mundal Historic wooden hotel at Mundal in Fjæland, Sogndal municipality. Built in 1890-1891. Architect: Peter Andreas Blix. 35 rooms, 64 beds. Closed due to renovation in 2018. In 2022, the unique hotel archive from back to the end of the 19th century received a place in Norway’s documentary heritage. The private archive with guest books and other things was taken care of by the Orheim family, who previously owned and ran the hotel. Source: Store norske lexikon But now the exterior of the building is almost finished. The owner, Ola Moe, promises that the hotel will be ready. He has made the trip from Austlandet to the small parish where the hotel he owns has been a landmark for 132 years. – I understand those who think it has taken a long time, but when you have not participated in the process it is difficult to see how complicated it is, he says. Hotel Mundal in 1895, four years after opening. A question of prioritization For Moe, he wants the hotel back to the way it was when it was opened in 1891. – Time is an investment in the quality of the authentic, he says. Moe promises that the hotel will be ready for the new opening in the summer of 2025, but he has a problem. The project lacks a budget. – We are like a boat without a rudder at sea, says the investor. He has a good laugh. – In a way, I have been a hostage in my own hotel, so I am forced to carry out. It will cost both time and money. The aim is to return the interior to the way it was when the hotel was new 132 years ago. Photo: Bård Siem / news Climbing pioneer and German emperor The history of Hotel Mundal runs parallel to the development of climbing tourism, glacier hiking and what is today called summit tourism. Beyond the 19th century, Fjærland became a young destination for rich foreign adventurers. Located by the fjord, with a short distance to the mountains and the glacier, artists, the upper class and tourists were lured to Mundal. Climbers such as William Cecil Slingsby, who wanted to be the first on the mountain peaks in Jotunheimen, used the hotel as a base. The climbing pioneer William Cecil Slingsby was the first man up ma Store Skagastølstind in Jotunheimen, and a frequent guest at Hotel Mundal. The area was also attractive to the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II and nobles from all over the world. It is this era that Ola Moe will bring out under layers of old wallpaper. The tapestry will also be able to tell about the visit of the then vice-president of the USA, Walter F. Mondale, in 1979. The family name Mondale comes from Mundal. Controversial Ola Moe himself has made headlines on several fronts in recent years, and gained a reputation for being a rather media-shy investor. The 45-year-old from Gjøvik is today an investor and farmer in Nordre Follo outside Oslo. During the large wave of refugees in 2015, he was called “asylum baron” and “asylum investor” in the media. According to VG, Moe made good money by subletting a property he rented from Oslo municipality to UDI. The investor also turned Rondablikk Hotel into an emergency ward for refugees. Moe was also blamed for giving the employees a muzzle after a bankruptcy, and the plans for a mountain village in Rondane met with protests. – They can call me whatever they want. We have had refugees living in a couple of our hotels for a short period. We have never run any pure asylum sales, says Moe today. Ola Moe has been the subject of many media reports in recent years, not least in connection with investments in asylum reception facilities. Even the investor has kept a very low profile. Photo: Bård Siem / news The investor was behind the acquisition of several historic wooden hotels around the country. Both in Drangedal, Eidsbugarden in Jotunheimen, and Nigardsbreen Gjesteheim and Tørvis Hotell in Sogn. Many of these are later sold. Moe is still the owner of Nigardsbreen Gjesteheim in Luster and Hotel Rondablikk Rondane. The plans for these, and the extent to which these will also be renovated, Moe will not reveal. Has so far spent 35 million In 2016, Moe applied to demolish Hotel Mundal in protest against increased property tax. It didn’t work out that way. Instead, craftsmen moved in to save the building. The investor admits that it would have been quicker and cheaper if he had not set such strict requirements for authenticity. Among other things, a completely new room division will be carried out and several of the floors will have a different height. He would probably get more in return if he put the money in the bank. – But it is more exciting to spend the money on this, says Moe. Moe has so far spent NOK 35 million on roof and window repairs. Of this, the company has received around NOK 10 million from the conservation authorities. He does not know how big the total price tag will be. Owner Ola Moe can state that the exterior is mostly ready, much remains to be done before Hotel Mundal houses guests. Photo: Bård Siem / news Gets support from former national antiquities Moe has received a lot of criticism for the lateness of the renovation work. He has often been unavailable to the press, and it has been uncertain whether the work as a whole would be completed. One person who does not share the criticism is Jørn Holme, chairman of the Norwegian cultural heritage foundation and former national antiquarian. He points out that it is very demanding to renovate the hotel. – It is formidable that Moe is so persistent. Many would have given up along the way, he says. Jørn Holme was National Treasurer from 2009 to 2018. He says we have few hotels like Mundal in Norway. Photo: Jan Henrik Ihlebæk Holme points out that Hotel Mundal is one of the most unique wooden hotels in the country. – We have few hotels that have such great preservation values both inside and out from the golden age of wooden hotels like Hotel Mundal, he says. But despite a new roof, new cladding and new windows, there is still a lot of work to be done. Work worth many millions of kroner. – But do you have enough money to complete the work? – It is a matter of prioritization. When you have started something, the most expensive thing is not to end it, says the investor, who emphasizes that he has the necessary equity capital. In total, more than NOK 3 million in public funds have been authorized for the work to rehabilitate the hotel.
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The unique wooden hotel Hotel Mundal in Fjærland has not received a hotel guest in five years – news Vestland
