Our history

Egersund is Rogaland's second oldest town, but is still not an old town in a European context.

The first buildings in the area that is now the city centre were built in the 17th century, but it wasn't until the end of the 18th century that the outline of a city emerged. Nevertheless, the city has a rich history of ups and downs, catastrophic fires, the emergence of a varied business community, infrastructure and communications.

The hotel's history begins with Herman Danielson's opening of Hotell Jæderen in early 1878. One of the first major events he hosted was when the opening of the Jærbanen railway was celebrated in Egersund with breakfast at his hotel on 27 February 1878. Around 1880, Hotel Jæderen was one of three major hotels in the town. In May 1896, there was a major fire in the neighbourhood, and Hotel Jæderen was badly damaged - more by water than by fire. The damage was so extensive that the building was declared a total loss, and Danielson took the opportunity to erect a new building, more suited to modern hotel operations than the old one. At the same time, the hotel changed its name to Grand Hotell.

Grand Hotel was opened in 1897, with the address Johan Feyers gate 3. Herman Danielsen died not long after the fire, and his widow continued to run the hotel until Michael Gorritzen bought it and took over operations in 1909. The hotel had electricity from the day Egersunds Elektricitetsverk started production in 1905.

In 1912, the hotel was bought by Astrid Iversen, who ran it until 1918, when it was sold at a voluntary auction.

In 1922, the previous hotel owner went bankrupt and the manager of the Victoria Hotel, the enterprising Olufine Skjæveland, took over the building. After a necessary refurbishment, she reopened the Grand Hotel in April 1923. Three years later, at Easter 1926, the hotel was hit by fire, a fire that killed two people and destroyed the building. But it wasn't long before a new brick building was erected, and by early 1927 the hotel was up and running again. The hotel gained a good reputation and was often fully occupied. The hotel underwent some minor extensions and standardisations in 1934 and 1935. Many small and large events were celebrated at the hotel. During the occupation, the German commander requisitioned the hotel and set up his headquarters there. Olufine Skjæveland, who was known as a pleasant and skilful hotelier, managed the business until her death in 1958.

The hotel, which was briefly known as Eiger Hotell, is now owned by Grand Hotell AS. In the mid-1990s, the company bought Storgaten 12, restored the building and incorporated it into the hotel. The restoration was so carefully carried out that the hotel was awarded both Eigersund's Architectural Protection Prize and the Association for the Protection of Ancient Monuments' Protection Prize in 1995 in recognition of the work.

In 1997, the Johan Feyers gate 1 property was purchased. This is where Hotel Carl was once located. The building was demolished and a new building was completed in 2005, adapted to the existing buildings in the neighbourhood. The Grand Hotel's façade facing Johan Feyers gate is an illustrative expression of different architectural approaches and style eras: restoration architecture represented by the dragon and Swiss style of the 1880s in Storgaten 12, the funkiness of the 1930s in Johan Feyers gate 3 and the adaptive architecture of the 2000s in Johan Feyers gate 1).

Recently, several neighbouring houses have been purchased and - with a careful, antiquarian hand - rebuilt and incorporated into the Grand Hotel as it stands today. In June 2013, a department opened with 22 new rooms, an auditorium, boardroom and group rooms. Elements from the old buildings have been incorporated into new furnishings and many unique details. For example, the carpet is made from recycled fishing nets and the meeting tables are made from sawn timber from the old bakery.

In 2015, we expanded with a further 20 rooms in three buildings and now offer a total of 100 rooms. In this process, there has been a close dialogue with the conservation authorities. Our philosophy has been to preserve the old and genuine as far as possible and emphasise these elements. The focus has been on protection. We took care of laminated timber and used this as interior walls against bathrooms in the hotel rooms, we have made furniture from laminated timber from 1895 that was in the outer wall that had to be re-insulated. We found old nautical charts from the early 1800s to the end of the 1800s that were used as insulation on the outer walls. They have been on board the ships of shipowner Theodor Nordaas. These are now decorating the walls. "We've been keen not to have cheap copies, but rather to think new and modern.

In early 2019, the ground floor of Storgaten 12 was rebuilt and in March of the same year we were finally able to open Eigra kitchen & bar, a new eatery and meeting place for both hotel guests and locals.

Source: Egersund City History Encyclopaedia

In connection with the hotel's 140th anniversary, a book was written about the hotel, called «The city and the hotel, Grand and Egersund». Read the book when you visit us. If you want to take it home with you, you can buy a copy at reception.