Artist's impression of the planned casino hotel in Norway: low stone and dark timber buildings on a fjord shore beneath a sheer cliff, a waterfall falling to one side Artist's impression of the long table in the stone hall, steam rising from bowls under warm lamps, windows onto the fjord Artist's impression of the steam kitchen, with large copper pots, clouds of steam and wooden boards

A resort in development · Ryfylke, Norway

A Casino Hotel in Norway, Planned Around One Long Table

Kumlegard is a planned resort beneath a sheer cliff on a Ryfylke fjord, built around a steam kitchen and one weekly supper at a single long table. The opening date is to be announced.

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Artist's impressions. Layouts, areas and finishes may change during construction.

The idea

What casino resorts today could learn from a shared table

Kumlegard is planned as a casino hotel in Norway that starts somewhere unexpected: in the kitchen. The site is a narrow shelf of land in Ryfylke, where a fjord runs deep and dark between walls of rock, a waterfall drops straight into the water and there is just enough room for low buildings of grey stone and dark timber, pressed against the foot of the cliff. Nothing has been built yet. What follows is the plan.

Most resorts are organised around a lobby, a pool or a gaming floor. We would rather build this luxury resort in Norway around a table. In the long stone hall there will be a single table seating sixty, and once a week everyone staying at Kumlegard will be invited to sit at it together, guests and staff side by side. The steam kitchen behind it, with its big copper pots, will be as much on view as the fjord outside the windows. It is where the day will begin and where the evening will end.

The name points the same way, as the Thursday table below explains. In this part of Norway, potato dumplings have long been a Thursday dish, and a resort named after a farm kitchen should, we think, keep something of that rhythm: slow mornings, shared work, one dish passed down a long table. The plan is for a five-star hotel in Norway with rooms, two restaurants, a spa by the water and an entertainment and gaming lounge, subject to licensing. They will simply be arranged around the kitchen rather than the other way round.

Artist's impression of a detail of the resort: wet grey stone wall, a copper handle and a single drop of water
Artist's impression of the planned resort seen from the water: stone walls, a wooden quay and the cliff rising above
The resort as planned, seen from the fjord.
  • Planned 48 rooms, suites & houses
  • Planned 2 restaurants
  • Planned 1 000 m² spa
  • Planned one table for 60

One evening a week

The Thursday table: potatoes in the morning, everyone at seven

Thursdays Planned

In western Norway, potato dumplings have traditionally been served on a Thursday. Kumlegard plans to turn that habit into a weekly supper for the whole house. In the morning the kitchen will grate potatoes by hand, and guests who want to will be welcome to come in, take an apron and help. Through the afternoon the big copper pots will come up to a simmer and the stone hall will fill with steam. At seven, everyone will sit down together at one long table: guests, cooks and the people who looked after the rooms that morning. Kumle is the local word for the potato dumpling; gard means farm. It is a local tradition, kept simply, and it will be the evening the rest of the week is built around.

Artist's impression of the stone hall with one long table running its full length, benches, ceramic bowls, steam rising and windows onto the fjord
Artist's impression of hands grating potatoes into an enamel bowl on a wooden table
Morning: grating by hand.
Artist's impression of large copper pots on the stove in the steam kitchen, with steam and wooden skimmers
Afternoon: the copper pots.
Artist's impression of a steaming bowl of potato dumplings with butter and a piece of cured lamb
Evening: served at the long table.

A Thursday at Kumlegard

  1. Grating

    The kitchen opens its doors early. Potatoes are grated by hand at the long workbench, and anyone staying at the resort will be welcome to pull up a stool.

  2. Shaping

    The dumplings are shaped by hand, one at a time, with plenty of talk and no hurry. It is the part of the day guests are most likely to remember.

  3. The pots go on

    The copper pots come up to a gentle simmer and stay there all afternoon. Steam drifts through the kitchen and out into the stone hall.

  4. Doors open

    The hall doors open, candles are lit and the long table is laid for sixty. Staff finish their shifts and find their places alongside the guests.

  5. Everyone sits

    Dishes are passed hand to hand down the table. There is no choosing from a list: everyone shares the same supper, and it lasts as long as the conversation does.

  • A local tradition, kept simply

    No reinvention and no theatre. The Thursday supper will follow the way it has long been done in the region, with the same dish for everyone.

  • Cooked here, never sold

    The dumplings will be made in the resort kitchen for the table and nowhere else. Nothing leaves the kitchen to be sold or taken away.

  • Everyone at one table, guests and staff

    There will be no top table and no second sitting. Whoever is in the house on a Thursday evening eats together.

We will ask about dietary needs before you arrive.

Artist's impressions. Layouts, areas and finishes may change during construction.

Stay

Planned rooms, suites and houses

Six kinds of room are planned, from a compact room for two facing the fjord to a house of its own on a terrace in the cliff. It is luxury accommodation in the quiet sense of a fjord hotel: grey stone, dark timber, copper, linen and wool, and a window onto the water in every room.

  • Artist's impression of the Fjord Room, with a wide window onto the fjord and the cliff opposite

    The Fjord Room is planned as the quietest way to stay at Kumlegard: a compact room for two with one wide window framing the water and the cliff opposite. The bed will face the view, so the first thing you see in the morning is the light moving on the rock. The bathroom will be finished in dark local stone, with a deep basin and a walk-in shower, and a linen armchair will sit by the window for reading or simply watching the weather come up the fjord. Wool throws in moss and oat, oak floors and copper lamps will keep it warm on grey days.

    Planned area 29 m² Designed for 2 guests

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    • Artist's impression of the Fjord Room bed facing the window
    • Artist's impression of the Fjord Room bathroom in dark stone
    • Artist's impression of a linen armchair by the Fjord Room window

  • Artist's impression of the Waterfall Room, with a window facing the falls

    Set on the side of the resort nearest the falls, the Waterfall Room will have a deep window seat facing the white water, with a wool blanket and cushions for long evenings. You will hear the waterfall before you see it. The shower will be lined in dark slate, and a small terrace will open straight onto the spray, so on a windy day expect a fine mist on the railings. Inside, the palette stays calm: grey stone, dark timber, copper fittings and linen. It is designed for two guests who would rather listen to the water than to a television.

    Planned area 33 m² Designed for 2 guests

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    • Artist's impression of the window seat with a wool blanket in the Waterfall Room
    • Artist's impression of the dark slate shower in the Waterfall Room
    • Artist's impression of the Waterfall Room terrace in the spray of the falls

  • Artist's impression of the Kitchen Loft under warm timber beams above the kitchen

    The Kitchen Loft will sit under the roof above the steam kitchen, with warm exposed beams and the smell of baking drifting up in the mornings. There will be a bedroom tucked under the rafters, a second sleeping area for two more guests and a corner with a table and a small wood-burning stove, a good place for cards on a wet afternoon. The bathroom will have a bath set beneath a roof window. Designed for up to four guests, it is the room for anyone who wants to be close to the Thursday table and the first to know when the pots go on.

    Planned area 55 m² Designed for 4 guests

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    • Artist's impression of the Kitchen Loft bedroom under the rafters
    • Artist's impression of a table and small stove in a corner of the Kitchen Loft
    • Artist's impression of a bath beneath a roof window in the Kitchen Loft

  • Artist's impression of the Steam Suite with its own private steam room

    The Steam Suite is planned around its own private steam room, built in the same grey stone and copper as the spa below. A generous bedroom will look out across the fjord, and a separate sitting room with a daybed will sleep a third guest. The bathroom will have a deep bath, a rain shower and warm stone floors. The idea is simple: steam in the evening, cold air on the balcony, then a long rest before supper. Everything will be finished in dark timber, linen and wool, with low copper lamps and no screens in the steam room itself.

    Planned area 70 m² Designed for 3 guests

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    • Artist's impression of the private steam room in the Steam Suite
    • Artist's impression of the Steam Suite bedroom
    • Artist's impression of the Steam Suite bathroom

  • Artist's impression of the Quay Suite built out over the water, with steps down to the quay

    Built out over the water, the Quay Suite will have a living room at the level of the fjord and its own steps down to the resort's wooden quay, where a small boat can tie up. There will be two bedrooms, a sauna with a window onto the water and a long table of its own for quiet suppers. For guests looking for a boutique luxury stay with the fjord almost at their feet, this is the one to watch. Expect the sound of water under the floor, light off the waves moving on the ceiling and, on still days, the cliff reflected in the windows.

    Planned area 86 m² Designed for 4 guests

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    • Artist's impression of the Quay Suite living room at water level
    • Artist's impression of the quay and a small boat outside the Quay Suite
    • Artist's impression of the sauna in the Quay Suite

  • Artist's impression of the Cliff House, standing alone on a terrace in the cliff

    The Cliff House will stand apart from the main buildings on a natural terrace in the rock, reached by a stone path and a flight of steps. Inside there will be a great hall with an open fireplace, a dining table for six, three bedrooms and a kitchen of its own. A terrace will run the full width of the house above the fjord, with the waterfall in view along the rock face. It is designed for a group of up to six who want the privacy of a house of their own, with the resort's kitchen, spa and Thursday table a short walk away.

    Planned area 180 m² Designed for 6 guests

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    • Artist's impression of the great hall with a fireplace in the Cliff House
    • Artist's impression of the dining table for six in the Cliff House
    • Artist's impression of the Cliff House terrace above the fjord

Dining

A steam kitchen to rival the top casino resorts in Scandinavia

Two restaurants are planned, both served by the same kitchen: steam, copper and a wood-fired bread oven, with shared table dining on Thursdays and quieter evenings the rest of the week.

Artist's impression of the planned restaurant, with stone walls, wooden tables and windows onto the fjord

The restaurant

The main restaurant will run along the fjord side of the stone hall: plain wooden tables, grey stone walls and tall windows onto the water. Cooking will be seasonal and regional, built on what the fjord, the farms on the slopes and the kitchen garden can supply: fish from the fjord, lamb from the hills, root vegetables, berries in late summer. Plates will come to the table simply dressed, and the pace will be unhurried. Breakfast, lunch and supper are all planned, and a second, smaller restaurant will open onto the quay in the warmer months.

Artist's impression of the larder, with cured lamb hanging from the beams, plain unlabelled jars and sacks of potatoes

The larder

Behind the kitchen will be a cold larder of the old kind: cured lamb hanging from the beams, sacks of potatoes, rows of plain jars of preserved fruit and pickled vegetables. Curing, drying and preserving will be part of the kitchen's work through the year, so that the long winter months are cooked from what was put away in the autumn. Guests will be welcome to look in on a kitchen tour; nothing from the larder will be packed up to take home.

  • Artist's impression of potato dumplings with melted butter and mashed swede

    Potato dumplings, butter and swede

    The Thursday dish, served with melted butter and swede from the kitchen garden.

  • Artist's impression of fjord trout with dill

    Fjord trout with dill

    Trout from the fjord, cooked gently and served with dill and new potatoes.

  • Artist's impression of a dessert of rhubarb and cream

    Rhubarb and cream

    Early-summer rhubarb, soft and sharp, with cold cream.

Artist's impression of bread fresh from the oven on a wooden peel beside a floured table

The bread oven

A wood-fired oven will stand at the end of the kitchen, and the day's bread will come out of it before breakfast: dark loaves, flatbread and, on Sundays, something sweet. The bakers will work at a long floured table in view of the hall, and guests who are up early will be welcome to watch the first loaves come out on the wooden peel.

Entertainment

The entertainment and gaming lounge

Subject to licensing 18+

A hotel casino lounge is part of the plan, but it can only happen if the law allows it. Land-based casinos are not currently licensed in Norway: casino games and gaming machines are offered only by the state-owned Norsk Tipping, which holds the exclusive right, and betting on horse racing is run by the Norsk Rikstoto foundation. Kumlegard's gaming lounge will therefore open only if Norwegian law permits it and the necessary licence is granted. If it does, the aim is not to be the top casino resort in the region but a hotel with a casino in it: a calm, well-run room with good light, good chairs and a fair game.

Artist's impression of the planned hotel casino lounge, with dark timber, green baize tables, copper lamps and windows onto the night, empty of people
  • Artist's impression of the poker room: a card table with plain chips and no people

    Poker Room

    A quiet room with a few tables, green baize and good lamps, planned for card games at an unhurried pace.

  • Artist's impression of a roulette wheel in close-up, the numbers softly blurred

    Roulette

    A single wheel in its own alcove of dark wood and copper, run by trained dealers.

  • Artist's impression of the gaming salon: understated machines set into wooden niches with a soft glow

    Gaming Salon

    A small number of gaming machines set into timber niches, kept low-key and well away from the main rooms.

  • Artist's impression of the private salon, with a fireplace, armchairs and a single table

    Private Salon

    A private room with a fireplace, armchairs and one table, for small groups by prior arrangement.

  • 18+ only Entry for adults aged 18 and over.
  • ID at the door Photo identification will be checked on entry.
  • Dress code Smart casual throughout the lounge.

The lounge will be entirely separate from the kitchen, the shared table and the family spaces, with its own entrance.

18+ Play will be for entertainment only, with no promotions. If gambling stops feeling like play for you or someone close to you, Hjelpelinjen offers free, confidential help.

Spa

Steam, stone and cold water from the falls

As befits a spa resort in Norway, the spa is planned as a sequence rather than a list of treatments: steam, then cold water, then rest, repeated as often as you like. It will be cut into the rock at the foot of the cliff, in the same grey stone as the rest of the resort, with copper taps, wooden benches and windows onto the fjord.

Planned About 1 000 m² across the steam rooms, pools and rest rooms.

  1. SteamWarm stone and slow, heavy steam.
  2. ColdFjord air or water from the falls.
  3. RestWool, linen and a view of the rock.

The cold plunge beneath the waterfall will open only under the resort's safety rules and when the water level allows, and it will close whenever conditions are not right.

  • Artist's impression of the steam room, with stone benches and copper taps

    Steam room

    Stone benches, copper taps and a slow, heavy steam.

  • Artist's impression of the heated pool above the fjord, with steam rising from the water

    Warm pool

    A heated pool above the fjord, steam lifting off the water on cold mornings.

  • Artist's impression of a stone plunge basin beneath the waterfall, filled with cold water

    Cold plunge

    A stone basin fed by the waterfall, open when the water level allows.

  • Artist's impression of the rest room, with daybeds, wool blankets and a window onto the cliff

    Rest room

    Daybeds, wool and linen, and a window onto the cliff.

Gatherings

Gatherings in the stone hall

The Stone Hall, with its timber trusses and tall windows onto the fjord, is planned for weddings, family celebrations, company retreats and small conferences. Candles, long tables and food from the steam kitchen will do most of the work; the rest will be planned with you once the resort has an opening date.

Artist's impression of a banquet in the stone hall under timber trusses, with candles on long tables
  • Artist's impression of a reception on the wooden quay at dusk, with lanterns and set tables

    Receptions on the quay

    Lanterns along the wooden quay and the fjord turning blue at dusk, in the warmer months only.

  • Artist's impression of the Copper Room, a meeting room with a long table and a view of the fjord

    The Copper Room

    A boardroom with one long table, good light and a view straight down the fjord.

  • Artist's impression of a ceremony set out on a stone terrace above the water, with no people

    Ceremonies on the terrace

    A stone terrace above the water for small ceremonies, when the season and the weather allow.

Planned capacities

SpaceTheatreBanquetBoardroomReception
The Stone Hall180130—220
The Long Table—60—80
The Copper Room——16—

Planned Project figures, subject to change.

Ceremonies on the stone terrace and receptions on the quay will be possible only in the warm season and when the weather allows.

Groups staying at the resort will be able to join the Thursday supper together, but it will stay what it is: a shared supper at the long table, not a banquet with its own menu.

Dates cannot be confirmed until the opening date is known, and there are no rates to share yet. If you are already thinking about a gathering, write to us and we will keep you in mind.

Write to the events team [email protected]

The region

Ryfylke: cliffs, waterfalls and deep water

Ryfylke is the fjord country inland from Stavanger: sheer rock walls, waterfalls that drop straight into the sea, green slopes grazed by sheep and small boats moving between the cliffs. A Ryfylke hotel should, we think, leave most of the talking to the landscape.

  • Artist's impression of a sheer cliff above the fjord, with cloud below its edge

    Cliffs

    Rock walls rising straight from the water, often with cloud below the edge.

  • Artist's impression of a tall waterfall falling from the cliff straight into the fjord

    Waterfalls

    Falls that drop from the rock into the fjord, loudest after rain.

  • Artist's impression of sheep grazing on a green slope above the water, between stone walls

    The slopes

    Green slopes, old stone walls and sheep grazing high above the water.

  • Artist's impression of a small boat on the fjord between walls of rock

    On the water

    The fjords seen from a small boat, low down between the cliffs.

Artist's impression of an illustrated map of the Ryfylke fjords, drawn without any text
  • Stavanger
  • Ryfylke
  • The fjord
  • Project area — exact location to be announced
Illustrative map, not to scale.

Getting here

The nearest large airport is Stavanger (Sola). From there, the journey will continue by road and ferry into the fjords. Distances, journey times and transfers are to be announced, together with the exact location.

Paths on the cliffs are steep, the weather changes quickly, and in winter some routes are closed.

Gallery

A few details of the place as it is imagined: steam, stone, wool and water.

  • Artist's impression of steam rising from a large copper pot with a copper ladle

    Steam over the copper pot

  • Artist's impression of the resort at dusk, with lit windows beneath the cliff and still water

    The resort at dusk

  • Artist's impression of stacked enamel bowls and folded linen on a wooden table

    Bowls laid for Thursday

  • Artist's impression of a waterfall running over mossy rock

    The falls up close

  • Artist's impression of a folded wool blanket and a ceramic cup on a stone ledge

    Wool and warm stone

  • Artist's impression of the edge of the wooden quay over still, dark water

    The quay at still water

  • Artist's impression of potatoes and a grater in an enamel bowl on a wooden table

    Morning potatoes and grater

  • Artist's impression of sheep between stone walls on a green slope above the fjord

    Sheep above the fjord

Artist's impressions. Layouts, areas and finishes may change during construction.

Questions

Questions about the planned resort

Straight answers about what is planned, what is not, and what depends on a licence.

Not in the usual sense. Land-based casinos are not currently licensed in Norway. Casino games and gaming machines are offered only by the state-owned Norsk Tipping, which holds the exclusive right, and betting on horse racing is run by the Norsk Rikstoto foundation. Kumlegard is a project in development, and its entertainment and gaming lounge is subject to licensing.

No. The resort has not been built and reservations are not open. You can join the interest list, and we will write when there is news and when reservations open. Joining is not a booking and creates no obligation, and you can leave the list at any time by writing to [email protected].

The kitchen and the table, more than the gaming floor. Kumlegard is planned around a steam kitchen with big copper pots, one long shared table on Thursdays, and a setting beneath a sheer cliff with a waterfall falling into the fjord. The lounge, if it is licensed, will be one quiet room among many rather than the centre of the house.

An entertainment and gaming lounge is planned, but it will open only if Norwegian law permits it and the necessary licence is granted. Until then it is part of the plan, not a promise. The idea is a hotel with a casino rather than a casino with rooms attached: one calm room for adults aged 18 and over, separate from the rest of the resort.

A weekly shared supper. In western Norway, potato dumplings have traditionally been served on a Thursday, and Kumlegard plans to keep that local tradition. The kitchen will grate potatoes in the morning, guests will be welcome to come in and help, and at seven everyone will sit down together at one long table, guests and staff alike.

No. Nothing from the kitchen will be sold or packed to take away: the dishes will be cooked for guests at the table and nowhere else. We do not publish cooking instructions either. The Thursday table is about sitting down together, not about taking a dish home, and nothing on this website is offered for money.

The opening date is to be announced. Kumlegard is still in development: design, permits and construction all lie ahead, and each stage can change the timetable. People on the interest list will hear from us as soon as there is a date, and again when reservations open.

In Ryfylke, on a fjord in south-western Norway, at the foot of a sheer cliff with a waterfall nearby. The exact location is to be announced. The nearest large airport is Stavanger (Sola), and the last part of the journey will be by road and ferry; distances and transfers are also to be announced.

Very differently. This is an editorial comparison only; there is no connection between Kumlegard and either property. Large destination casino resorts tend to be built around gaming floors, shows and scale. Kumlegard is planned the other way round: a small fjord hotel built around a kitchen and a shared table, with room for gaming, subject to licensing, as one quiet corner among many.

Artist's impression of the fjord at dusk, with the warm windows of the resort beneath the cliff

Interest list

Be first in line to book a casino hotel stay

Reservations are not open yet.

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