The Vann Hotel near Goteberg, Sweden sits on the edge of a fjord (easily one of the most spectacular natural landscapes on the planet).  It’s name is derived from an old Bohuslän word for water.  Bohuslän is a Swedish province in Götaland (also known as Goteburg or Gothenburg if you are on google maps).

At the Vann it is all about the water.  It has a spa that features 6 pools (various temperatures and including a ‘forest’ and ‘flower’ pools).  The fjord that it flanks is a marine conservation area.  You can borrow sea kayaks to explore and you can go crabbing. The hotel also organizes mussel and oyster fishing trips as well as classes to cook and eat the harvest.

The hotel has a long history of being various other things. Once a farm, it has also been a shelter for so-called ‘naughty girls’, a prison, and a union school.  And now it is a beautiful spa hotel.  It is deeply connected to the land that it resides on.  One of the dominant interior colors is purple, which reflects the beautiful heather that grows nearby.

The Vann is designed by Sweden’s leading contemporary architects, Gert Wingårdh.  The hotel is also a natural part of a nature reserve Gullmarsfjorden.

A visit here is an adventure of its own – but there is also a nice collection of other sites to see nearby.

Nearby:

The Gothenburg Botanical Garden

(Swedish: Göteborgs botaniska trädgård) is located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is one of the largest botanical gardens in Europe.

Trädgårdsföreningen

This Horticultural Society is one of Europe’s best-preserved 18th century parks. There is a huge rose garden and an elegant glasshouse for Palms that was built-in 1878.

Kosters Trädgårdar Långegärde 

It’s an island (which by default means is it is very cool) – but it is also a permaculture garden and training ground with lots of classes and programs to learn about sustainable living.

If you are going to go – check out this website too — there are some great adventures to be enjoyed in Sweden.