Villa Fjordhøj - a place to find peace - host article

Villa Fjordhøj - a place to find peace...
It smells like homemade food - like a scent of childhood memories from grandma’s great Sunday dinners - when I enter the big, beautiful villa, located in Skælskør, with the garden ending by the fiord. The rooms with the high ceilings are in shadow. Beautiful old furniture in the large living room creates a feeling of coziness and offers a warm welcome. All windows are facing the garden and the fiord. What a place…

I am looking for Lis. Try the office a little sign reads - or call this phone number. I choose to follow the faint clinking sounds, coming from the basement. They lead me to the kitchen, where I carefully ask for Lis - my hostess for the day. There are no signs of whims, when I meet Lis over the fruit that is being peeled, cleaned and fixed down in the underground rooms, where the nice smells have origins. I have to help here, Lis says. Have a cup of coffee, then I will come. We return to the garden living room - a mix of an orangery and a living room - with its small mansion windows and cozy round form. Lis starts to tell about the amazing house, merchant Lotz built for his family in 1916, and how the family lived in the mansion until he sold it in 1952.

The place was bought by Sorø County, who made it into a common convalescence home.

April 1, 1994, Villa Fjordhøj is bought by Ina and her friend. They wanted to create an accommodation with soul, heart warmth, and spaciousness. And for the couple, it was not important if everything was new and shiny - no - it was about the soul; about being in cozy and healing surroundings. After a couple of years, Ina was alone, but chose to continue their common project.

Lis was hired to cook and do wellness treatments back in 2011. A lot of food and treatments were done, but also the operational task, Ina used Lis for. Ina quickly found out that she had found her replacement.

Ina slowly retired from the work at the accommodation, and Lis took over the responsibilities, until Ina retired in 2014. Ina and the board then chose Lis to officially take responsibility for the operation of the place. The first few years, she had to work even harder to get things running again, but Lis succeeded in turning the development for the better, and today she has 7 employees at Villa Fjordhøj.

Now, four years after Lis took over the operations, the place is up and running. A good deal of learning from back home about how to cook everything from the bottom, and a job is driving coordinator helps Lis to stay on track as “captain” at Villa Fjordhøj - among a great intuition, will power, and a deep wish to create happiness around her. Lis loves her job and daily takes up the challenge of running the place. She is happy going to work every single day.

Villa Fjordhøj is now a combined course refugium, health resort, and hotel. A place to pull the cords from the busy every day and just be yourself. If you expect modern hotel facilities, find something else. Villa Fjordhøj is decorated with antique furniture, cozy corners, and lots of soul warmth - and televisions in the rooms are deliberate deselections. Here, the nature, quietness, and contemplation are in focus.

16 rooms are available in the main building - bath and toilets in the hall - and 7 newer rooms with own bathrooms. A lovely mix of single- and double rooms.

By the fiord at the end of the garden, you will find a private jetty and a Finnish sauna, which is heated with wood to around 90 degrees. There is also an “elver bath” in the garden - a large wooden bathtub with built in fireplace, which - on order - is heated to 40 degrees. You can also find two sea kayaks with life wests. You can rent these, if you want to see Skælskør from the sea side.

A wide range of treatments are offered - done by a local network of professionals. Must be booked in advance.

Villa Fjordhøj’s kitchen is a whole chapter for itself. Local, ecological commodities - and a portion of love - is used, when the food is cooked. The chef decides the menu. Wishes for vegetarian/vegan food is also accommodated. If you arrive as a wellness guest, the stay is all inclusive, but you can also just drop by, get a bed for the night and the breakfast included. Right now, a team of 20 people are about to get in on the buffet.

I wish, I was a guest at Ville Fjordhøj…