It’s an honour to be based in a historic building dating from 1894. That’s why we take such pleasure in looking after it, filling it with guests and a warm atmosphere, and bringing people together.
Through all its years, renovations and transformations, the station building has always been there for travellers and visitors to Lillehammer. In the early days, it welcomed wealthy families from the capital who spent their summers on farms in the area. It also served as a guesthouse for passing travellers and for seasonal visitors coming for their winter and Easter holidays.
In the 1970s, a new bus station was built, and buses became an even more important way to travel. As mass tourism and car travel grew, Lillehammer, with its town, its mountains and not least the Maihaugen open-air museum, became an increasingly popular destination.
A café and restaurant opened at the railway station to serve travellers. In the 1980s, Lillehammer emerged as a contender to host the Winter Olympics, and was eventually chosen to host the 1994 Games.
This brought new plans for the station area, and in 1993 a modernised travel centre opened, complete with a new youth hostel, service offices and a travel agency, all under one roof.
As travellers’ needs changed in the 2000s, the travel agency, café and hostel went out of business. In 2005, we took over and began running what is today Stasjonen Hotell and Hostel. The premises were extensively renovated at the time, including the rooms, the breakfast room and both floors.
Just two years later, we were named one of the best hostels in the world by Hostelling International. This inspired us to make major improvements to how we operate, and to introduce our first quality management system, HIQ.
After five years, the property owner, Rom Eiendom (Bane NOR), decided to renovate the entire building, and we were invited to take part in both the planning and the work itself.
In late autumn 2011, we welcomed new and returning guests to a brand-new café, breakfast room and reception in the old station building.
Today, we are a hotel and hostel with 35 rooms, 90 beds and our own café with 80 seats.
We knew the business would need to grow, and that our spaces would need to be expanded, renovated and refreshed to keep up with our guests’ needs and expectations.
In 2017, we opened new meeting rooms and staff facilities, along with a much-improved range of services. We had long wanted to grow our courses and conferences, and with the new spaces in place, that ambition finally became a reality.
We were fortunate to make it through the pandemic without closing for a single day. The experience brought us closer together as a team. We launched several major organisational and marketing projects, and saw first-hand how well we work together towards shared goals.
Building on that foundation, the last few years have been our best ever.
At the end of 2024 and into 2025, we completed our latest renovation. It gave us another conference room, a new meeting suite for up to 50 people, and our own restaurant with seating for 120 guests.
Over the years, we’ve made a point of working with local businesses, suppliers and craftspeople. We’re proud of how well that has worked.
Our reception, café and restaurant have all been newly renovated. We planned the project ourselves, with valuable help from RAM Arkitektur, Biri Møbler and Storkjøkkensenteret Lillehammer.
Reuse and local materials have been guiding principles throughout the project. Biri Møbler redesigned our seating areas using wool fabric from Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik (GU), and built a new designer sofa in the same materials. The new roman blinds and cushions were sewn in GU’s own workshop. The reception desk fronts are reused, and Rustfrie Bergh AS, a stainless steel specialist in Dokka, made all the benches, counters and fixtures in the café.
Many guests have noticed the iconic green tiles around the fireplace and on the wall. They are the only thing we deliberately sourced from abroad, imported from Italy. The floor and the counter front, on the other hand, are clad in Oppdal slate, laid by local craftsmen and masons Delphin & Klashaugen AS.
We’re especially proud of the art and decor. We’ve paid tribute to local artist Liv Blåvarp, and the light fixture in the restaurant was designed and made by Roger Gundersen Design.
Our breakfast buffet is new, yet old. We reused existing counters and surfaces, just as we did in the reception, adding only a few new drawers and handles.
We’d also like to thank our other valued partners: Ment, Visit Sjusjøen, the Pilgrim Path and Maihaugen.
All painting was carried out by local master painter Ragnvald Moe, electrical work by Lillehammer Elektro, and plumbing by Ramsøy.