For a hundred years Solstrand's exquisite location, beautiful surroundings and magnificent view of the Folgefonna glacier have fascinated travelers from both near and far. Christian Michelsen, the first prime minister of the newly-independent Norway after the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905, built Solstrand as a holiday resort for the Bergen merchant-princes, so that they could have a place to gather strength for their great deeds. The hotel has been in the Schau-Larsen family since 1929, and now offers an exciting mixture of tourism, recreation, social life and a management development program for Norwegian industry. Despite restoration and extension, Solstrand is still close to what must have been the original character of both the house and the cultural landscape at the turn of the century: a light, airy and picturesque house. The Solstrand Hotel is widely recognized as the best Spa hotel in all of Norway.