– The hotel will put the city on the international map

Wood Hotel Bodø will have 177 rooms and 32 apartments.

Budo:

On the 1st of May this year, Kenneth Stensland (34 years old) started as manager at the Wood Hotel in Bodø. Although the hotel won’t open until next spring, bodøværing is already well underway with planning for the log hotel, which will have 360-degree views of the city with a unique location in Rønvikfjellet (see photos of the hotel at the bottom of the page).

– The Wood Hotel will be a great addition to Bodø, and I’m sure the hotel will put the town even more firmly on the international map, Stensland tells Hotellmagasinet.

We meet the citizen of the city in the café of his house on Walking Street. The 34-year-old is full of energy and commitment. It hasn’t been long since he quit Comfort Hotel A stone’s throw away to take over as Senior Project Manager at Bouchart.

Inspired by Hemsedal

The hotel, which is operated by Strawberry by Nordic Hotels & Resort, will have 177 rooms, ranging from standard suites to large two-bedroom suites, as well as family rooms. In addition to 32 apartments and meeting and conference facilities on the first and seventh floors with a capacity of 180 people.

According to the plan, the hotel will be completed in April next year. This will be the chain’s fourth hotel in the city. The apartments will also be rented out, and will be available as family rooms, suites and deluxe rooms.

Stensland says he spent a lot of time learning about the project.

– It’s a very interesting process. Although most of it had been set before I came, I managed to get past some of the concepts. There will be a large focus on food and beverage on the first and seventh floors. At the top, on the eighth floor, there will be a swimming pool and a wellness section with dining. We are developing swimming pool project and activity show outside the hotel. He says smiling, there are so many exciting things going on.

Where did you get the inspiration to develop the concept?

– I visited recently Ferry Resort in HamsidalAnd I think what they’ve done is very interesting. I’m very curious and interested in this industry in general, and I write things down if I find something interesting when I travel.

– What do guests and employees get with you as a manager?

– Although I am very impatient and restless, I am incredibly dedicated. I love being around the hotel and contributing wherever needed.

international attention

The management organization will consist of seven people, and in a short time these and other positions will be advertised. In total, Stensland estimates that about 90 employees are needed in various job proportions.

– I receive weekly inquiries from those who want to work in the hotel and from those who are getting married. There is a lot of interest in general, also from abroad. He says we have already sold sets to international guests.

Kenneth is a trained child and youth worker who dreamed of becoming a flight attendant. He applied for the profession but was not accepted.

Alternatively, learn about the hotel room industry, the Clarion Collection Grand Pudu. Here he gained a lot of confidence.

– At that time, there were almost no hotel rooms in the city, the conditions were harsh. A lot has happened since then, he smiles.

Much has been written and said about the many hotel beds available in Bodø. And soon there will be more…

– Wood Hotel is something new and different. He adds that I have a deep belief that this concept will continue.

I learned a lot in Oslo

In 2013, he was named Employee of the Year at former Nordic Choice Hotels, and was named Employee of the Year for the entire chain the following year. She gave blood to the teeth.

Kenneth moved to Oslo to study Hotel Studies at University College Christiania at the same time he was working at the former Royal Christiania, now The Hub. Here he met Robert Holan And Andre Schreiner.

He later worked for two years as a sales manager at the same hotel.

– I’ve learned an incredible amount from them, and I use much of what I learned from everyone involved during the opening of The Hub almost daily in my work with Wood Hotel. It wasn’t until I left Oslo that I realized how much I had learned.

This summer he spent three weeks in Indonesia.

– Be safe. Next year, says Kenneth Stensland, there will be no three consecutive weeks of vacation.