Our guests say it's in the walls. Personally, I think the feeling is largely about people and the warmth they spread.
As I write this, I'm sitting in my room looking out over Baggensfjärden. It's the end of January and the sun is peeking gently across the bay.

There's a story here at Vår Gård . The beautiful old houses were built by industrial magnates like Thiel and Wallenberg over a hundred years ago. A few decades later, they were bought by the Swedish Cooperative Association and Vår Gård became a training center for the cooperative's employees. Tens of thousands of people came here for courses. They learned things they needed in their jobs, and things they needed to function as people. The first principal here was Harald Elldin. He let people learn about aesthetics, art and culture alongside efficiency and sales. He believed that they would both feel better and do a better job if they felt a sense of meaning, a context and a connection to history.

An incredible amount has happened at Vår Gård since then. But almost a hundred years later, I think that this is exactly how I want to work with my colleagues here in Saltsjöbaden , to feel meaning and context and a strong connection to history.
Yes, because what really creates the soul of the hotel? The people you meet there.
It's the girls at reception who smile at you. The pastry chef who has put her hand to the pastry you eat at coffee. The gardener who has planted the flowers in the flowerbed, and the baker who has kneaded the bread.
Of course I'm proud when we are named Meeting Place of the Year by Svenska Möten, and receive five stars and kind reviews from guests on Tripadvisor. But I'm even prouder when Iréne, who has worked in the restaurant for over 40 years – and has actually retired – comes in in the morning and ties her apron on with a smile on her face. No longer because she has to, but because she wants to. I think Iréne enjoys being at Vår Gård .

Outside the window, Saltsjöbaden slowly waking up. I walk down to the lobby, past one of my favorite paintings; Endre Neme's "Fortune Telling". In the reception, Laleh's 'A Moment on Earth' is playing. I am proud of the people who work at Vår Gård . Over us. There is a warmth here. A soul.

"Of course I am proud when we are named Meeting Place of the Year by Svenska Möten, and receive five stars and kind reviews from guests on Tripadvisor."

Kadi Upmark, CEO of Vår Gård