Årslev Kro has a long and exciting history behind it

The story begins in 1825, when Christopher Sørensen built Aarslev Krogaard. At that time, the inn was on the other side of the road and was originally built as an agricultural farm, named after Herregården Årslev Vestergård. After Silkeborgvej was established in the 50s, Årslev Kro was built on its current site, which then belonged to the inn.

In Krogaarden's last lifetime, it had the nickname Tappernøve Kro, when it was rumored that the host often occasionally pimped the barrel a little too closely. The story goes that on Aarslev Krogaard there was a ford that you had to cross when you wanted to take the old Silkeborgvej. The innkeepers at Aarslev Krogaard went down and tuned up to the water by the river when they discovered that they had had well-heeled guests visit. When the guests could not wade over, they turned around and continued the feast at the inn. They were cunning old crooks.

The old inn's travel stable is today at Harlev Møllegaard with Hjerl Hansen.

1859

In 1859 S. Hesselund bought the inn. He had been a gold digger in America, but now wanted to try his hand as an innkeeper. In the books, S. Hesselund is described as an enclosed and silent man, which meant that many stories about his person were told in the area.

After several changes of ownership, in which several honored persons owned the inn, it was bought in 1888 by J. Chr. Pedersen who was an innkeeper at Årslev Kro for 22 years.

1910

In 1910, Albert Kjeldsen bought the inn. A. Kjeldsen had owned the inn for a while, when it was still called Aarslev Krogaard and was on the other side of the road - before the establishment of the new country road 'Silkeborgvej'. It was A. Kjeldsen who then gave the old inn the name Aarslev Krogaard.

A. Kjeldsen took over the new inn several years later, in 1910 and was now for the second time owner of the inn in Aarslev. At that time, the inn offered old Danish cosiness and old Danish food such as omelettes with schnapps. There was a dining room with an adjoining small living room behind it, where there were beds made up of white sheets and red duvets so that they were ready for the road users who needed a rest.

The carriage gate was the characteristic of the inn with its specific location that made it as easy as possible for road users to drive into the inn. It is described that "with an almost imperceptible jerk in the reins or the steering wheel, you drive in through the gate instead of driving further out on the road, and you are there - at Aarslev Kro.". A. Kjeldsen made sure, just one month after the takeover, that the inn was given Royal privilege.

Årslev Kro became one of the last truly privileged inns when a new Licensing Act was passed in 1910. However, Kjeldsen only managed to get the permit ready a few months before. The lifelong grants granted at the time were not withdrawn again, but most of them have, of course, since ceased to change ownership. To this day, the inn is one of Denmark's royal crown inns.

In Fremmedbogen, which A. Kjeldsen had been lying at the inn in his time, showed that the inn had many kinds of guests. Everything from singer, sculptor and fiddler Giuseppe Werrechia to grinder, stonemason and the disabled. Especially grinders and potters came in their time many of the inn. It turned out that you once had a room in the gate to the grinder. There was nothing but a bed in the room, not even a washbasin. They had to save the bed themselves when they went in the morning. The room cost only 25 øre per. night, so the world could not be demanded. The price was later set up to 50 øre per. night and eventually the room was completely shut down.

1960

Christen Søndergaard Pedersen bought Aarslev Kro in 1960. Søndergaard was of old cross family. His tip - and great-grandfather and grandfather ran Tambohus Kro by the Limfjord between Oddesund and Thisted. His father owned Halvrimmen Kro between Aalborg and Fjerritslev. Søndergaard himself had sworn never to become an innkeeper, as he simply hated inns. It turned out that he grew up with a father who was in the inn and a mother who was constantly in the kitchen, while he himself was required to wash 300 glasses.

His career did not go the way of the family until his 52nd year in 1960, when he just became an innkeeper of Aarslev Kro. Until then he was in manufacturing, later in Salling in Aarhus and then he threw himself into travel with tobacco and wine.

One day his sister called and asked if he knew about Aarslev kro, which Søndergaard did. The inn could be bought cheaply, said the sister, and Søndergaard and his wife did so at a mature age. Søndergaard was also very happy with the inn, because it was "cozy and proper", as he himself described it.

Søndergaard restored the inn immediately after the takeover in 1960. Again 2 years later, he spent half a million kroner on expanding the inn with i.a. a twice as large and more modern kitchen, 2 large function rooms and seven new toilets.

Søndergaard and his wife lived in Risskov and think it was too far to drive home every night, which resulted in him buying the land up to the inn. Here they wanted to make a villa, but were told that there would be no building permit until 1964. It was at this time that he decided to buy the farm directly opposite the inn - the old Aarslev Krogaard. 23 acres of land belonged here, of which 7 of them were a lovely forest area with its own river and trout.

It was on this plot that the old inn buildings stood until the year 1933. Søndergaard and his wife arranged themselves in the farmhouse and as soon as they could get permission to build, they decorated the motel in the barn building. Behind the farmhouse and barn building, there was a 6 acre country campsite right up to the forest. The rest of the land was leased out to Bønløkke's at Lyngbygaard.

Since Søndergaard stopped working as an innkeeper in 1972, there have been many owners of Aarslev Kro. In 1992, the inn smoked under duress and was taken over by the creditors' association. Here Hans Jørgen Jepsen bought the inn. Hans Jørgen had owned the inn back in 1972 and sold again in 1987. When he bought the inn at a forced auction, he got the inn very cheaply.

In the meantime, modernization and construction had taken place, but despite this, Hans Jørgen bought the inn at a cheaper price than he had given for the inn in 1972. He sold the inn in 1995 and it has since been owned by Steen Stenstrup, Investeringsforening under Actus, Helnan and now Danske Hoteller, which bought the inn in 2013.

In 2003, the motorway from Århus to Herning opened, and alongside the E45 North / South motorway, Hotel Årslev Kro was then located as one of Denmark's most central meeting places.

Today, the inn has 78 motel and hotel rooms, 6 function rooms, 5 group rooms and an a la carte restaurant.

Large and small parties, courses and conferences are held and the restaurant is well attended by both resident guests at the hotel and outside visitors.

Although the inn has been modernized by several rounds as well as its now central location, the inn arms over the idyll of an older country inn, where cosiness is paramount and where old pictures of the inn's past hang on the walls of the reception and restaurant.