Guest house with a rich history

In Nordmaling in northern Sweden, the inn tradition lives on. Here, food, lodging and fresh horses at the station have been offered since the 1630s. And even to this day, Levar Hotell & Gästgiveri welcomes you with set tables and fresh made beds. 

  • Levar Inn was for a time the largest inn in Västerbotten.

  • The grand building of Levar Hotell & Gästgiveri with vertical siding painted white was originally intended as a residence. Built in 1827 at a crossroads in Nordmaling (population 2,500) between Umeå and Örnskuoldsvik in Västerbotten. The builder was the Rev. Jonas Arctaedius, who was later fined for copying the royal Rosendal Castle on Djurgården in Stockholm on a smaller scale.
    The two-story castle-like building still stands out in the Västerbotten coastal landscape, with its veranda, red trim and upper balcony with high arched windows leading to a spacious lounge.
    In the village of Levar, which is now part of Nordmaling municipality, long distance travelers have been offered food, lodging and rested horses since 1635. Toward the middle of the 19th century, the inn rights were tied to the priest Arctaedius's eye-catching building, which for a time was the largest inn in Västerbotten. In 1875 alone, 1,300 carriages left from here.
    Among the guests who stayed overnight were kings Charles XI and Oscar II as well as Carl von Linné. It is also said with certainty that after a royal visit, a maid later gave birth to a child with an unknown father.
    When steamboat traffic along the coast developed, the railway reached the county, and car and bus traffic increased. This meant an obligation to shelter travelers gradually became less necessary around the turn of the century. But the hotel in Levar survived, and 13 years ago Erik and Erika Sjöström bought the landmark building.
    “We had always liked the house and bought it sight unseen after a previous owner went bankrupt,” Erik says as we sit down at white tablecloths in the dining room, looking out over snow covered loggias and frozen sun loungers under the pergola.
    “And,” he and Erika assure us in unison, “even though we were more than a little blue-eyed, we have never regretted it in the slightest. But if we had inspected the building and thought a little more before everything was finalized, we might have backed out even before the contract was signed.”

  • Among the guests who stayed overnight were kings Charles XI and Oscar II as well as Carl von Linné.

  • Full time hotel owners
    It was full throttle from day one. But combining their respective jobs – Erik as a geo-ecologist and Erika in social services – turned out to be ineffective, there simply wasn't enough time and energy for everyone and everything. Instead, they resigned from their regular jobs to focus full-time on the hotel.
    Previous owners lacked the funds needed for proper maintenance, so constant emergency measures went to save the aging building. And from day one the food had to be cooked and the beds made.
    “We employed a lot of people and were open all the time, seven days a week, every evening, even though no one in Nordmaling went out for dinner on a weeknight,” says Erika, looking tired. And despite an average of 85 lunch guests, it never turned a corner. In addition to a high workload and poor profitability, an inherited heart condition for Erik meant a radical change of direction after a while.
    “We slowed down, reduced the number of staff dramatically, stopped serving lunch and switched to only breakfast and orders with table service,” he says. Along with theme nights.
    Now they work as hard as they can and also manage to sleep well at night. They prepare all the food themselves, “and we are good at cooking,” they assure us. The couple likes to choose Norrland ingredients, preferably locally purchased. Sausages and herring are often made in-house, butter and cheese and other things that are needed are purchased from local wholesalers.
    Room by room, they've renovated, wallpapered and furnished the house with generous beds and fluffy duvets. Erik is a painter's son and has really enjoyed restoring the former glory of the walls and ceilings. The result is detailed, warm and cozy, with wallpaper you notice and beds that feel right.
    The eight rooms in the main building have been named after guests who visited the inn. The two kings and Carl Linnaeus of course, but also local Katarina Nordin who at the turn of the last century, with dubious results, was the first in Nordmaling to serve ice cream. Biologist and fish scientist Peter Artedi, who is said to have been a disciple of Linnaeus, also has a room named after him.
    The large lounge upstairs, the Red Salon, has high ceilings, mirrors on the walls and red medallion wallpaper, velvet sofas and royal portraits. The tables in the dining room all have white tablecloths with vases full of fresh and monogrammed china at the place settings. Original ceiling paintings from 1912 remain well preserved above, and the shelves along the wall reveal Erika's interest in wine, with many examples taken from selected vineyards in Italy.

  • The eight rooms in the main building have been named after guests who visited the inn. The two kings and Carl Linnaeus of course, but also local Katarina Nordin who at the turn of the last century, with dubious results, was the first in Nordmaling to serve ice cream.

  • Seaside addition to Levar
    After a tour, we get in the car for a short trip to Järnäsklubb clubhouse where the county's first pilot station was established in 1725. It was closed in 1967 and in 2011 was bought by the Järnäs Village Association. A few years later, the pilot house, with its three individually decorated rooms and a well equipped kitchen, had been renovated and now functions as a seaside addition to Levar Hotell, framed by smooth cliffs, driftwood and an endless and ever-changing Baltic Sea.
    Upstairs, comfortable armchairs and a vast view await in the pilot's observation tower. Outside the door, a partially snow covered path leads to the cliffs surrounding the cabin, past sparse pine trees and round stones, down toward a swell that thrashes against the pebbles of the beach.
    Erik and Erika rent out the pilot house and offer summer guests this different experience close to a morning swim.
    “A good complement to the hotel," comments Erika before we return to Levar, the oldest village along the old Coastal Road past Nordmalingsfjärden inlet.
    The evening is enhanced by homemade sausage and a devout tasting of a Sicilian red wine. It is Erik and Erika who together prepare the evening's Italian buffet. Attention to detail is important. Nothing can be left to chance. First cheeses and cold cut charcuterie. Then mini pizzas on sourdough topped with rainbow salmon or air-dried sirloin and blue cheese, followed by various pasta dishes with tiramisu for dessert, all accompanied by freshly baked focaccia and three well chosen wines.
    The next day we meet in the kitchen with the morning sun, friendly chatter and the pleasant clatter of utensils and pots. “I love coming here in the morning, to open the door and smell the aroma in the kitchen, and we have great fun when we work together,” confirms Erik who, as it turns out, is celebrating his birthday.
    A grandchild calls and congratulates him. The family is constantly present, the children, all with names starting with E - Elis, Elize, Eskil and Elias - as well as the extra children Joel and Ninja, have all tried their hand at different jobs at the hotel.
    At Christmas they close the hotel. Then family and friends fill up the rooms to be together and enjoy Christmas dinner and casual breakfasts under the crystal chandeliers in the dining room.
    “That time of year it's almost like living in a fairy tale,” Erika confirms while making sure the egg yolk and mascarpone marry before the evening's dessert goes into the fridge.

  • The large lounge upstairs, the Red Salon, has high ceilings, mirrors on the walls and red medallion wallpaper, velvet sofas and royal portraits.

  • Mats Wigardt
    Photo: Michael Engman

  • The grand building of Levar Hotell & Gästgiveri

  • Things to do in Nordmaling:

  • Visit
    Olofsfors bruk. One of the country's best preserved mill environments. Building maintenance shop and exhibitions. https://olofsforsbruk.nu/en/the-mill/
    Tallbergsbroarna. Three railway bridges from three eras built 40 meters over the Överälven River. https://visitnordmaling.se/en/listing/tallbergsbroarna/
    The salmon tunnel in Fällfors. At the top of the Lögde River is Sweden's first salmon tunnel, 230 feet long and built in 1992 to bypass the Fällforsen waterfall.

  • Experience
    Järnäsklubb's fishing village and lighthouse.
    Lögdeälvsleden trail, a 50-mile (90 km)-long hiking trail with shelter and overnight cabins.
    Öreälvsleden trail, hiking trail along the Öreälven River.
    Kronörens-Drivören Nature Reserve. Here the flat and rocky Kvarken Coast meets the rocky and hilly high coastline of Höga Kusten. Kvarken = the narrow region of the northern section of the Baltic, the Gulf of Bothnia separating Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea.
    Torsmyran Nature Reserve. Extensive bog, easily accessible from the E4.

  • Accessibility may be affected by season, rain or snowfall and weather in general.
    For more info, see: https://visitnordmaling.se and www.visitumea.se.