The Hotel Director Who Wants to Make Ramsalt the City’s Signature Destination

Yngve Skog Rodal has arrived in Bodø and at Quality Hotel Ramsalt.
With experience from across the Norwegian coast and a clear vision for the future, he’s setting his course toward 2026.

– I’ve been welcomed as if I’ve always belonged here. That does something to you,” he says, letting his gaze drift across the hotel lobby.

At the end of the table sits Morten Jakhelln, owner and board member — as focused on people as he is on square meters. He’s the one who has followed the hotel from an idea on the drawing board to a beating heart of the city. For him, the change of director means more than just a new name on the door.

–We’re very happy to have Yngve on board. He sees the bigger picture and has a warmth that’s contagious, he says, letting the words hang in the air for a moment before the conversation moves on.

Logistics, Flow, and Culture Shock

Yngve’s story begins on the island of Frei, just outside Kristiansund. He laughs as he recalls his childhood dream – not of driving the garbage truck, but of standing on the back of it. Maybe that was the start of his sense for logistics and his joy in making things run smoothly.

In 1989, he arrived at Hotel Continental in Oslo as an apprentice – a transition he describes as a culture shock that made him grow up fast.

– From a small island to the Theatercaféen. It was like changing languages overnight, but I learned quickly,” he says with a smile.

What followed was a life at sea – years aboard Hurtigruten, responsible for food and beverage operations across eleven ships, and later as project manager for new vessels like Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen.

He’s seen what genuine hospitality can mean for a coastal town, and how a tourism product turns to gold when people pull in the same direction.

– I’ve been to so many places that I feel I have the coastline under my skin. I want to use that experience here in Bodø,” Yngve says.

When People Feel Proud

The plans for Ramsalt rest not just on routines and budgets – but on people. That’s why Yngve has started with something simple yet essential: sitting down with every employee, listening, and building trust.

– The hotel can be as beautiful as you like, but without the right people, it will never be great. When people feel proud, guests can sense it immediately.

Food and meeting places will be part of the hotel’s signature. He speaks warmly about everyday quality – the kind that doesn’t shout, but is reliable, generous, and steady. About the pergola facing the quay, which will soon be brought even more to life, and about the building itself breathing with the city.

– We’re going to deliver well every single day. And we’ll create places where people truly meet – for real,” says Yngve.

Outside the windows, the city continues to build its new seafront at Ramsalt. Yngve has seen harbors all along Norway’s coast, but he pauses when describing the approach to Bodø, with everything now rising along the waterfront.

– What you’ve achieved here is bold and visionary. It lifts the entire first impression of the city.

Morten nods. For him, the hotel was a necessary heartbeat in the new district. Without people, there is no pulse – and without a pulse, good projects fade. Ownership, for him, is about more than concrete and steel.

– Our job is to make things possible. We invest and adjust along the way, but it’s the people in the building who create pride. That’s why we care so deeply about the team, says Morten.

A Clear Goal

The conversation drifts naturally toward ambitions — concrete ones. A clear target has been set, something everyone can point to. By 2026, they want Quality Hotel Ramsalt to be named Hotel of the Year within the Strawberry chain.

Yngve smiles as he says it, as if the goal is already visible in the way people move through the hallways.

 – The whole house is behind it. We’ve made up our minds. 

But the goal is about more than a plaque on the wall. The two envision a hotel that continues to welcome the people of Bodø as much as its visitors — a place that becomes the natural meeting point before concerts, after work, and on weekends.

– We want the people of Bodø to feel that this is their house — and for guests to leave saying, ‘That was Ramsalt – you have to experience it.’”

They speak of collaboration as the foundation. Festivals and live music. The new sauna and bathing facilities in the harbor basin. Partners like Rampen, all pulling in the same direction. And the city’s nature, waiting just outside the door.

– Bodø has real momentum right now. We have the European Capital of Culture experience behind us, and an area that’s still growing. I’ve come to a well-run hotel — now it’s about carrying on the legacy that Kine Willumsen built, using it wisely, and building step by step. She and I are actually quite similar — we both love pace, energy, people, and progress, Yngve says with a smile.

Morten looks at the image of the hotel, imagining new projects and features that will continue to elevate the whole — not more of the same, but additions that make the Ramsalt experience even more complete.

–More meeting places, better flow between the buildings — maybe even a crossing over Sjøgata that ties everything closer together. We aim high because Bodø deserves it, says Morten.

Heart in the Operation

It’s easy to hear that Yngve’s heart lies in the day-to-day running of the hotel. He describes the hotel business as something perishable — what you didn’t sell yesterday, you can’t sell today. It demands presence, pace, and precision.

He returns to the childhood image of standing on the back of the garbage truck and laughs.

– Logistics are at the core. Guests should have a seamless experience, and we should make it easy for them to make the most of their day, says Yngve.

Between him and Morten lies a clear, shared understanding of what creates real value. It’s not a single big idea that makes the difference, but many small adjustments all pointing in the same direction. Companies holding their Christmas parties at the hotel might want to stay a little longer when the lobby shifts into evening mode. A saxophonist on the staircase can be the difference between ending the night — or letting it last another hour.

– It’s the sum of small details that makes people stay — and come back. That’s how ambition becomes more than just a number in a plan, says Yngve.

He and Morten talk about memories that travel home in people’s luggage — stories told long after they’ve returned.

– That’s what makes it fun. We’re not just selling beds — we’re giving people a story, says Yngve.

Morten lets that become the day’s final word.

– When pride, hospitality, and collaboration pull in the same direction, we lift not only the hotel, but Ramsalt, the city, and the region. We need to stop competing locally and start thinking bigger, as one united destination. If we can achieve that, Salten can be just as strong as Helgeland. When we stand together, we have the power we need. That’s when Bodø and Salten become a place people choose — again and again,” he concludes.

Facts about Yngve Skog Rodal

• Grew up on the island of Frei, outside Kristiansund.
• Began his career as a waiter apprentice at Hotel Continental in 1989.
• Worked in the cruise industry and spent over twenty years with Hurtigruten, responsible for operations and food & beverage management, as well as leading newbuild projects such as Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen.
• Served as project manager and hotel director in Stokmarknes before moving to Bodø.
• Now the General Manager at Quality Hotel Ramsalt.
• As a child, he dreamed not of driving the garbage truck, but of standing on the back of it – a fitting start for someone who’s always had a passion for keeping things running smoothly.