Storfjord Hotel review: A Scandi fantasy that's spitting distance from a distinctive-looking Art Nouveau fishing town

Storfjord Hotel is a hush-hush, hill-top retreat about an hour inland from Ålesund, south-west Norway’s Art Nouveau fishing town, and it delivers cosiness and quietude in spades.

It’s the full Scandi fantasy: a cluster of classic Norwegian log cabins with chimneys made out of Jenga-stacked stones and grass growing on the roof.

Birch and pine forests stretch in every direction and, out front, sheepskin-swathed Adirondack chairs come with front-row views of the Hans Dahl scenes of the fjord that gives the hotel its name.

In the communal living room, which smells of wood smoke and pine, you’ll hear the crackle of embers glowing in the fireplace. And in every nook, there are plush, tartan sofas or leather wingback chairs to curl up in with a birch cider and a tome borrowed from the communal bookshelf.

The 30 rooms and suites are snug, lined in pale pine and wool, with fireplaces that flicker to life at the push of a button and balconies that frame nothing but forest and fjord. The best one to book is the suite above the main living room, from where you can spy on the goings-on on the fire-warmed terrace below before turning in with a glass of apple brandy.

With a wealth of farms and a wild larder on its doorstep, Storfjord’s food is, unsurprisingly, outstanding. Mornings start with a breakfast buffet of still-warm sourdough and local staples, such as dill-flecked salmon gravlax and caramel-like brown cheese. Lunches and dinners change with the bounty of the season and include everything from local lamb with baked beets and pan-fried Brussel sprouts, to snap peas and monkfish from the nearby coast. You’ll want to pair it with the apple cider from the neighbouring 1,000-year-old Skarbø farm, where it is pressed exclusively for the hotel.

On some evenings, guests gather in the lavvo, a giant traditional Sámi tent pitched between the trees a short walk away from the hotel, for forest-to-table dinners of brisket and root vegetables cooked over open flames.

Days here unfurl like a choose-your-own-adventure game. There are forest trails for easy walks and tougher treks tracing Storfjord’s hilly spine. E-bikes stand ready by the main lodge and the hotel can arrange kayak excursions on the fjord or helicopter tours deeper into the Sunnmøre Alps that roll to the horizon. A wood-fired sauna and hot tub help ease weary limbs and there’s a spa therapist on call for Swedish massages make knotted muscles melt. At sunset, you could take the boat to the hotel’s seafood-centric sister restaurant, Sjøbua, in Ålesund’s postcard harbour, where fishing boats still dock with their metal bellies full of the day’s catch.

If you’re feeling a tad more ambitious, 62°Nord, Storfjord Hotel’s tour operator-arm, can map out multi-day road trips by race bike or in one of the resort’s whisper-quiet electric Porsche Taycans. These include stops at sister hotels deeper into Sunnmørsalpene (the Sunnmøre Alps).

However, there’s no shame in simply staying put — wrapped in a woolly blanket, and soaking in those soul-soothing views.

Rooms at Storfjord Hotel start from 4090NOK (about £307) on a bed and breakfast basis. Visit the 62°Nord website for more information and to book.