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LOFOTEN

Snøhetta unveils stunning Lofoten hotel

Another day, another mind-blowing building from Oslo architects Snøhetta. The firm last week unveiled the first images of the Lofoten Opera Hotel, which will snake over a rocky outcrop on the far-west of Norway's Lototen islands.

Snøhetta unveils stunning Lofoten hotel
The Lofoten Opera Hotel. Photo: Snøhetta
The hotel will loop around an inner courtyard, offer views of the Norwegian Sea in several directions, while providing sheltered space in its centre. 
 
"The location is spectacular; sunny, right in the middle of majestic landscape elements, but at the same time connected to already populated areas and shielded harbours," the company said on its website. 
 
"The form creates an inner and outer space, and enhances the site’s inherent potential of an architectural expression," it added. "The organic form protects and opens at the same time."
 
The 11,000 square-metre building will house several hotels and apartment complexes, spa facilities, seawater basins, hiking resources and an amphitheatre.
 
It is expected to cost as much as 400m kroner ($66m) to build, with work expected to start later this year. 
 
The complex is designed to cater to extremely wealthy tourists who have increasingly been choosing to holiday in Norway. 
 
 

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TRAVEL

‘Out of this world’: Norwegian beach named ‘best in Europe’

Haukland Beach on the island of Vestvågøy in Lofoten, in the north of the country, has been named best beach in Europe by travel publication Lonely Planet.

'Out of this world': Norwegian beach named 'best in Europe'
Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash

Haukland Beach on the island of Vestvågøy in Lofoten, in the north of the country, has been named best beach in Europe by travel publication Lonely Planet.

The beach beat out stiff competition from the likes of Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Denmark to bag first place.

 
 
 
 
 
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Despite summer temperatures in Lofoten only averaging the mid-teens and the water at its warmest only ever reaching a spine tingling 15° Lonely Planet were smitten with the beach.

“Haukland Beach is out of this world, with spiky granite peaks thrusting above creaming sands and sapphire seas. The water is chilly, but you’ll be itching to jump in all the same,” the article said.

 
 
 
 
 
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Such high praise is nothing new to Huakland beach as it has previously been named Norway’s finest beach and also the world’s most beautiful.

Deputy mayor of Vestvågøy municipality, Anne Sand, is not surprised that the beauty spot has received the accolade.

 
 
 
 
 
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“It is about the contrasts in nature, the high mountains and the green mountain sides. Then you have the beautiful beach among all this, it could not be nicer,” she told state broadcaster NRK.

When asked what makes the beach stand out from its competition, she said that it was the unique location.

“Many of them are similar, but Haukland stands out and becomes something special- precisely because you find it in the arctic circle,” she said

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