Family owned for 4 generations

Great-grandmother and great-grandfather, Brita & Per Eikum, were pioneers in their field, started small and brought tourism to Eikums Hotel, as it was called at the time.

They started the hotel in 1919, and the very first tourists at the hotel were English, and the biggest attractions were then, as now, the Jostedalsbreen glacier and the Sognefjord.

Grandmother and grandfather - Ella & Sigmund Kjos -Wenjum, carried on the legacy of Ella's parents. Sigmund was a taxi owner and horseman, while Ella was a hotel hostess. The name was changed to Eikum Gjestgiveri, due to the hotel law.

Mother and father -Aud & Birger Kjos-Wenjum, moved home to Hafslo after graduating in 1967, and took over Eikum Gjestgiveri in 1977, and now changed the name to Eikum Hotell again, because Birger had a trade certificate, and was then licensed to have "Hotel" in the name of the hotel.

Birger worked at Smestad Hotel in Oslo, and then attended the Norwegian Hotel School in Stavanger. Aud was a housekeeper at Hotel Continental in Oslo, and later at the KNA hotel in Stavanger.

Ståle-the owner of the day-has a broad and varied background in the hotel industry. He has worked at Eikum Hotell during all his vacations, and after business school he spent a year studying cooking at Luster Vidaregåande Skule, before becoming an apprentice at SAS Scandinavia Hotel in Oslo. Here he was joined by Lars Erik Underthun, silver winner of the Bocuse d'or in 1991, as manager. Ståle received his apprenticeship as a chef. He then gained experience in Germany, where he worked as a chef at the Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel in Hamburg. 

After a year in Germany, he started at the Norwegian Hotel College in Stavanger, on the "Hotel Administration" course. In addition to his studies, he worked at the Radisson SAS hotel in Stavanger and Jans Mat- og Vinhus. During his summer vacation from the Norwegian Hotel College, he was General Manager at Hafslo Gjestehus for two summers. After his stay in Stavanger, he was employed as a chef at Trescher Schwatzwald Hotel in Titisee, Germany, before starting as a receptionist at Storefjell Høgfjellshotell on Golsfjellet.

Ståle also worked extra in the restaurant at Pers Hotel in Gol, while he was employed at Storefjell Høgfjellshotell. Ståle started working full-time at Eikum Hotell in 1998, and took over the running of the hotel in 2000.