Our guests claim that it sits in the walls.
Personally, I think the feeling is largely about people and the warmth they spread. As I write this, I am sitting in my room looking out over Baggensfjärden.

It is the end of January and the sun is peeking gently on the other side of the bay. There is 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 Cooperative Association and Vår Gård became a training farm for the cooperative's employees. Tens of thousands of people came here for courses. They were taught things they needed in their jobs, and things they needed to function as people. The first principal here was called Harald Elldin. He let people learn about aesthetics, art and culture alongside efficiency and sales. Thought they would both feel better and do a better job if they felt a meaning, a context and a connection to the story.

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 as well as a strong connection to history.
Yes, because what is it that actually creates the soul of the hotel?
The people you meet there. It's the girls at the reception who smile at you.
The confectioner who has put his 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 will be proud when we are named Meeting Place of the Year by Swedish Möten, and receive five stars and kind reviews from guests on Tripadvisor. But I am even more proud when Iréne, who has worked in the restaurant for over 40 years - and has actually retired - comes in in the morning and puts on her apron with a smile on her face. No longer because she has to, but because she wants to. I think that Iréne is happy at Vår Gård .

Outside the window, Saltsjöbaden slowly wakes up. I walk down towards the lobby, past one of my favorite paintings; Endre Nemes' "Spå i card". In the reception, Laleh's 'A moment on earth' is played. I am proud of the people who work at Vår Gård . Above us. There is a warmth here. A soul.

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

Kadi Upmark, CEO of Vår Gård