Our history
Grunnlaget for turisttrafikken på Høvringen har vært seterdrift. Gårdene nede i bygda Sel hadde god nytte av å sende dyra på sommerbeite på Høvringen sommerstid.
Ole and Mari
Ole and Mari Skjelle ran the farm Skjelle farm down in Sel and while also running a at the same time they had a summer farm at Høvringen.They were the ones who in their time received the first guests in their summer farm in Høvringen. Unfortunately, Ole died early, and Mari was left alone with six children. Of these children, Ola took over the operation of Skjelleseter and started professional operations. Among the first overnight guests were the lords of the upper class in London around the 1850s. Lord Charles Henry Spencer Garvagh had several stone huts built, including the Garvagh hut on Gråhø and Ljosåbua which is 1348 meters above sea level just off the path between Høvringen and Rondvassbu, and the Høgloft hut, 1200 meters above sea level, south of Illmannhø.
Ola
Ola Skjelle married Ruby Andersen Fevolden. They had a son, Olaf, who is now 92 years old. Ruby unfortunately died when Olaf was only 1 year and 3 months during an operation at Lillehammer hospital. She was only 23 years old. Ola remarried in 1936 to Kitty (Kristine Margrethe Pavels-Aabel) and had a son Sæmund in 1937. Ola and Kitty ran Skjelleseter for many years.
Sæmund and Beret
Sæmund married Beret Bakken in 1964. Together with Olaf, Sæmund and Beret ran the hotel until our time and, i. In recent years, with help from the children Gro, Guri and Ola. It was planned that Ola would take over the operation, but he died in a tragic traffic accident on Høvringen at only 32 years old. With the help of Arvid Møller, the family has published a book about the historical history of the hotel. It is for sale at the hotel under the name: "På Høvrings vakre sæterstul ..."
On New Year's Day 2014, the current hosts, Monica Halvorsen and Rune Vedvik, had a dream - we wanted to run a hotel! With a simple search we found Høvringen høgfjellshotell, which was for sale. The dream of running a hotel was still distant, but we packed our skis and warm clothes and traveled to the mountains.
It was love at first sight when we arrived at Høvringen. The warm atmosphere, the historic buzz, the coziness and the interaction between the Skjelle family, the staff and the guests - not to mention the mighty nature - took our breath away.
On the drive back to Tønsberg, it was difficult to talk about anything other than the old hotel, where operations would have to be shut down over time if no one wanted to take over. We decided to invest in this, money but mainly time and passion. We had no experience with hotel operations, but the dream and motivation to preserve the coziness and atmosphere of the hotel was great. We invested everything, and in May of the same year we took over the operation of the hotel.
We got off to a good start, when in 2014 we got a contract with Skanska Norge AS, which was responsible for the development of the Rosten power plant. From 2017, there has again been "normal" operation at the hotel, with summer seasons and winter seasons. The period with Skanska provided capital that ensured that improvements could be made at the same time as the authentic spirit of the times in the various wings was preserved. Upgrading and maintenance is a continuous process that goes hand in hand with the goal of maintaining the pleasant atmosphere and awareness of that history. In the first years, the upgrading of the electrical system, piping and hot water tanks was a priority, in addition to the installation of heat pumps, a new freezer and the upgrade of the wireless network to a fiber network. Recently we started upgrading rooms. New windows have been installed in most of the rooms, and in some rooms the carpet has been removed, and exchanged with new laminate floors. In most rooms we have replaced mixer taps and installed new showers. We also carry out general maintenance of common areas on an ongoing basis. Everything to make the hotel “koselig”!