Spanningen Casino Resort is Norway's most exclusive casino resort — a granite-and-glass sanctuary set above a working fjord, where high-stakes gaming, sky-suite living, and Nordic fine dining exist inside one uninterrupted evening. This is not a casino with rooms attached. It is a casino resort built as a single composition.
Spanningen takes its name from the old Norwegian word for tension — the pull before a decision is made, the held breath before a card turns. It is a fitting name for a property that began, in 1898, as a modest fjord-side trading post where timber merchants and herring captains settled accounts over cards after the boats came in.
For nearly a century the building changed hands quietly — a customs office, a shipping agent's warehouse, a dance hall during the brief interwar boom in coastal tourism. It was not until 1994 that the Spanningen name was formally attached to the property, when a small consortium of Bergen hoteliers restored the original stone façade and opened the fjord's first licensed gaming room in the old warehouse hall. That single room, with its eleven tables and a view of the water through iron-framed windows, is still preserved today as the Founders' Room, and it remains the emotional center of the entire casino resort.
The resort as it stands now — the granite gaming hall, the two dining towers, the suite wing cantilevered over the water — was completed in phases between 2011 and 2019, guided by the same principle that shaped the original trading post: build for the people who are actually here, not for a postcard. Every material choice, from the smoked oak paneling to the hand-laid slate on the casino floor, was selected to age the way a fjord does — slowly, and better with weather. That philosophy is why guests consistently describe Spanningen not as a casino with a hotel bolted on, but as a genuine casino resort, a single destination where gaming, rest, and appetite are treated as one continuous experience rather than three separate businesses sharing a car park.
Today, Spanningen Casino Resort operates under a full Norwegian gaming concession, employs just over 900 people across the property, and welcomes guests from across Scandinavia, the UK, and continental Europe who are drawn as much by the setting as by the tables. It is, by most independent measures, the only true casino resort of its scale between Bergen and Trondheim, and it intends to stay that way.
The casino floor at Spanningen Casino Resort is arranged as a sequence of rooms rather than one open hall — a deliberate choice that lets the noise of the slot terraces stay separate from the quiet concentration of the high-limit salon. Every table is dealt under Norwegian Gaming Authority licence, with limits posted openly at each pit.
Single-zero wheels only, dealt on hand-stitched Nordic wool layouts. Our lowest-limit tables sit beside the fjord windows; our high-limit wheel is set apart in its own alcove.
Six-deck shoe with early surrender on select tables, plus a single-deck salon reserved for members of the Fjord Club. Dealers trained through our own three-year academy.
The Founders' Room hosts our commission-free baccarat tables in the original 1994 gaming hall, beneath the restored iron windows overlooking the fjord.
Fourteen felts running Texas Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha nightly, with a monthly headline tournament that draws players from across the Nordic circuit.
One of only two live craps tables licensed in Norway, kept deliberately at a single table so the pit always feels like an event rather than a commodity.
Four soundproofed salons for private play, each with its own dealer team, sommelier call button, and a direct lift to the suite wing above.
The slot terrace runs the length of the casino floor's western wing, arranged in curved banks so no machine faces directly into another guest's line of sight. Denominations run from one krone up to our high-denomination room, where a dedicated host circulates through the evening. Every cabinet is serviced weekly and audited quarterly against Norwegian Gaming Authority standards — a level of housekeeping that guests notice even if they can't name it.
Membership to the Fjord Club is by play history and invitation, structured across three tiers — Stone, Iron, and Aurora — each unlocking a deeper layer of the casino resort that isn't visible from the public floor.
Priority seating at any table, complimentary valet, and access to the members' dining room overlooking the water.
A dedicated host, use of the private salons at reduced minimums, and standing reservations at Fru Lyng and Kullsvart.
Full run of the top-floor lounge, a private helicopter transfer allowance from Bergen, and first call on the Founders' Room for private events.
The dining programme at Spanningen Casino Resort was built around a simple rule: nothing on the plate travels further than the fjord itself. Our four restaurants share a single kitchen brigade of 74 and a cellar of just under 40,000 bottles, but each room has its own identity, hours, and reservation line.
Our flagship room, seating just 28 guests a night around an open charcoal hearth. The nine-course tasting menu changes with the boats, built entirely around the day's cold-water catch, foraged coastal greens, and cellared root vegetables.
Named for the heather that lines the ridge above the resort, Fru Lyng is our steak and seafood grill, built around a dry-ageing room visible from the dining floor and a raw bar stocked directly from the fjord's own oyster beds.
A tribute to the site's original 1898 trading post, this all-day brasserie serves the casino floor directly, staying open around the clock so no hand at the tables ever has to wait for a meal.
Perched atop the suite wing with an unbroken view down the fjord, Aurora is where the casino resort's evening usually ends — a low-lit room built for winding down after the tables, with a cocktail programme built around Nordic spirits and bitters distilled on site.
The suite wing cantilevers thirty metres over the water on the resort's northern face, so that every category of room — not only the top tier — keeps a working view of the fjord rather than the car park behind it.
42 sqm, floor-to-ceiling glass facing the water, a soaking tub positioned to catch the northern light, and direct lift access to the casino floor two floors below.
78 sqm across two rooms, a private sauna, and a standing arrangement with the Fjord Club concierge for same-day salon bookings on the casino floor.
An entire 210 sqm corner of the wing, built above the original 1898 warehouse hall, with a private dining room, a dedicated butler, and its own discreet entrance to the private salons.
Rather than chase stadium-scale headliners, Spanningen Casino Resort built a single, acoustically treated 480-seat theatre designed for the kind of act that rewards proximity — jazz trios, chamber orchestras, mentalists, and late cabaret.
A rotating variety bill of vocalists, illusionists, and a resident house band, running through to just past midnight so the room empties straight back onto the casino floor.
A visiting string quartet or chamber ensemble performs a single 70-minute programme, followed by a reception in the Founders' Room.
A televised final table staged in the theatre itself, drawing the strongest field of any tournament on the Nordic circuit.
Beyond the theatre, the resort's entertainment calendar spreads across the property: a late DJ set at Aurora Sky Bar most weekends, an informal piano residency in the Founders' Room on quieter weeknights, and seasonal outdoor events on the fjord-facing terrace through the short Norwegian summer. Guests of the Fjord Club receive advance booking windows for every ticketed performance, typically ten days before public release.
Taken together — the floor, the four dining rooms, the suite wing, and the theatre — this is the case for calling Spanningen a genuine casino resort rather than a casino that happens to have a hotel attached: every part of the evening was designed against the others, so that a guest can move from a hand of blackjack to a dry-aged ribeye to a jazz trio to a fjord-view suite without ever leaving the same considered building.
Spanningen Casino Resort is owned and operated by Spanningen AS, a Norwegian company registered and headquartered on the fjord where the resort itself stands. We hold a full gaming concession from the Norwegian Gaming Authority (Lotteritilsynet) and operate under Norwegian corporate, employment, and consumer-protection law.
Spanningen AS
Fjordveien 12
5741 Aurland
Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
Organisation number: 921 447 630
Spanningen AS was formed in 1994 by a small consortium of Bergen hoteliers to restore a derelict 1898 fjord-side trading post and open Norway's first licensed gaming room inside it. Over three decades, that single gaming room grew — carefully, and in stages — into the casino resort that stands on the site today: a licensed gaming floor, four restaurants, a 211-key suite wing, and a 480-seat theatre, all owned and operated under the same company.
We remain, deliberately, a single-property company. Spanningen AS does not franchise the Spanningen name, does not operate a loyalty network across other properties, and does not license its gaming floor design to other operators. The casino resort you read about on this site is the only one that carries our name.
Spanningen AS operates under gaming concession NO-LT-2011-0447, issued and renewed by Lotteritilsynet, the Norwegian Gaming Authority, and is subject to regular audit of its gaming floor, cash handling, and responsible gambling procedures. Our finance and compliance functions report to a board that includes two independent, non-executive directors with no operational role in day-to-day gaming.
Spanningen AS employs approximately 900 people directly across the resort, including our own three-year dealer academy, which trains and certifies every dealer who works our tables. We do not use agency dealers on the main gaming floor.
Whether you're booking a suite, requesting a private salon, or reaching our support team about an existing reservation, the fastest route is the form below. Fjord Club members should use their dedicated host line instead of the general reservations desk.
+47 57 63 00 00
reservations@spanningen.no
Open daily, 08:00 – 22:00 CET
+47 57 63 00 11 (members only)
concierge@spanningen.no
support@spanningen.no
We acknowledge every written complaint within two business days.
rg@spanningen.no
Our on-site responsible gambling officer is available every evening the casino floor is open.
Spanningen AS, Fjordveien 12, 5741 Aurland, Norway
This Privacy Policy explains how Spanningen AS ("Spanningen", "we", "us"), the operator of Spanningen Casino Resort, collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data belonging to guests, prospective guests, website visitors, and members of our Fjord Club programme.
Spanningen AS is the data controller for personal data processed in connection with the operation of Spanningen Casino Resort, our website, our reservations systems, and our on-property gaming, dining, and accommodation services. Our registered office is Fjordveien 12, 5741 Aurland, Norway.
We process personal data to verify your legal age and identity before granting access to the casino floor, to fulfil suite, dining, and theatre reservations, to administer the Fjord Club programme, to meet our obligations under Norwegian anti-money-laundering and gaming legislation, to monitor for signs of gambling harm, and to communicate with you about your reservations or enquiries. Where we rely on your consent, such as for marketing communications, you may withdraw that consent at any time.
Depending on the activity, we rely on the performance of a contract with you (a reservation), compliance with a legal obligation (identity verification, anti-money-laundering checks, CCTV retention under our gaming concession), our legitimate interests (fraud prevention, service improvement), and, where applicable, your explicit consent (marketing, optional profiling for tailored offers).
Identity and financial records connected to gaming activity are retained for the period required under Norwegian gaming and anti-money-laundering law, generally five years from the date of the relevant transaction. CCTV footage from the casino floor is retained for 90 days unless required for a longer period in connection with a specific investigation. Marketing data is retained until you withdraw consent or, absent activity, for a maximum of three years.
We share personal data with the Norwegian Gaming Authority and other competent authorities where legally required, with payment processors and identity verification providers acting on our behalf under data processing agreements, and with IT and hosting providers who support our reservations and website systems. We do not sell personal data to third parties.
Where a service provider is located outside the European Economic Area, we ensure an appropriate safeguard is in place, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, before any personal data is transferred.
Subject to Norwegian and EEA data protection law, you have the right to request access to, correction of, or erasure of your personal data, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to request a portable copy of data you have provided to us. Requests can be sent to privacy@spanningen.no and will be handled within one calendar month.
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data we hold, including encrypted storage of financial data, restricted staff access to identity records, and regular security review of our reservations and website systems.
Questions about this Privacy Policy can be directed to privacy@spanningen.no or to Spanningen AS, Fjordveien 12, 5741 Aurland, Norway.
This policy sets out how Spanningen AS meets its obligations under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, and how we use cookies and similar technologies on this website.
If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, request that inaccurate data be corrected, request erasure of your data where no overriding legal obligation requires us to keep it, object to processing based on our legitimate interests, request restriction of processing in certain circumstances, and receive your data in a portable format. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with Datatilsynet, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, or your local supervisory authority.
If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what categories of personal information we collect and for what purpose, the right to request deletion of personal information we hold about you, the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (Spanningen AS does not sell personal information), and the right to non-discrimination for exercising any of these rights. Requests can be submitted to privacy@spanningen.no and will be verified before being actioned.
This website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate correctly, remember your preferences, and understand how the site is used. We group cookies into three categories:
On your first visit, you are shown a cookie banner allowing you to accept all cookies, reject all non-essential cookies, or customise your preferences by category. You may change your preferences at any time by clearing your browser's stored site data, which will re-trigger the cookie banner on your next visit. Most browsers also allow you to block cookies entirely through their own settings, though doing so may affect certain website functions.
Where we use third-party services such as analytics or payment processing on this website, those providers may set their own cookies under their own privacy policies. We select providers who offer GDPR- and CCPA-appropriate data handling terms.
Analytics and preference cookies are retained for a maximum of 12 months, after which they expire automatically and, if you continue to visit the site, are reset.
For any question about this policy, or to exercise a right under GDPR or CCPA, contact privacy@spanningen.no. EEA residents may also contact Datatilsynet directly; California residents may contact the California Privacy Protection Agency.
These Terms of Use govern your use of this website and your engagement, as a guest, with the services offered by Spanningen Casino Resort, operated by Spanningen AS. By using this website or making a reservation with us, you agree to be bound by these terms.
Access to the gaming floor at Spanningen Casino Resort is strictly limited to guests aged 18 and over who present valid government-issued photo identification at entry. Spanningen AS reserves the right to refuse entry to the casino floor, or to any part of the resort, to any individual unable to satisfactorily prove their age or identity.
Suite, dining, and theatre reservations made through this website or our reservations desk are subject to availability at the time of confirmation. A valid payment card is required to guarantee most reservation categories. Cancellation and no-show terms are disclosed at the time of booking and vary by suite category and season.
All play on the casino floor is subject to house rules posted at each table or machine, and to the rules and limits published by the Norwegian Gaming Authority. Spanningen AS reserves the right to bar any individual from the gaming floor for conduct that disrupts other guests, breaches house rules, or raises reasonable suspicion of cheating or collusion.
This website is provided for the purpose of informing prospective guests about Spanningen Casino Resort and facilitating reservations. You agree not to use the site to submit false information, attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of our systems, or reproduce substantial portions of this website's content without written permission from Spanningen AS.
The Spanningen name, logo, and all original text, design, and imagery on this website are the property of Spanningen AS and may not be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written consent.
To the extent permitted under Norwegian law, Spanningen AS is not liable for indirect or consequential losses arising from your use of this website or your visit to the resort, except where such liability cannot be excluded by law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
Use of the casino floor is subject to our Responsible Gambling policy, including self-exclusion and deposit or loss-limit tools where applicable. See our dedicated Responsible Gambling page for full detail.
These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of Norway, and any dispute arising from them falls under the jurisdiction of the Norwegian courts, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer protections available to you under the law of your country of residence.
We may update these Terms of Use from time to time to reflect changes in our services or applicable law. The date at the top of this page indicates the version currently in effect.
Spanningen Casino Resort is built around the idea that an evening at the tables should be one part of a full, considered experience — never the whole of it. We take our responsibility to protect players seriously, and this page sets out the tools, limits, and support available to every guest.
Every dealer, host, and floor manager at Spanningen Casino Resort completes responsible gambling training as part of our own three-year dealer academy. Our floor staff are trained to recognise signs of distress or loss of control at the table, and are authorised to discreetly involve our on-site Responsible Gambling Officer at any time, without requiring the guest to ask first.
Gambling can become harmful when it starts to affect a person's finances, relationships, work, or mental health. Common warning signs include spending more time or money than intended, chasing losses, borrowing to fund play, or feeling anxious, irritable, or preoccupied between visits. If any of this sounds familiar, either for yourself or someone close to you, we encourage you to speak with our Responsible Gambling Officer, available on the casino floor every evening we are open.
In addition to the tools available directly through Spanningen Casino Resort, independent support is available at no cost through Norway's national problem gambling helpline, Hjelpelinjen, at 800 800 40, and online at hjelpelinjen.no. International guests may also contact Gamblers Anonymous or an equivalent national service in their home country.
Gambling by anyone under the age of 18 is strictly prohibited at Spanningen Casino Resort. Photo identification is required at the entrance to the gaming floor, and staff are trained to challenge any guest whose age is in doubt, regardless of how busy the floor is.
rg@spanningen.no, or speak to any host on the casino floor and ask for the Responsible Gambling Officer directly. All conversations are handled confidentially.