The town plan also had set guidelines concerning the buildings' appearance. The design, in relation to the type of building, number of stories and shape of the roof was all determined by the regulation architects. In consideration of fire safety, a law was instated where builders were obligated to build in either brick, stone or concrete in the town centre area - which the Havly Hotel is an example of. The Havly Fishermen's Inn was opened in 1955 and was built and run by the Interior Norwegian Seamen's Mission. Since then the building has changed owners and has been converted into a standard hotel operation.

The Interior Norwegian Seamen's Mission runs the Evangelist operations and welfare work among the fishermen and seamen. Previously the mission had many fishermen's inns along the coast, all with the universal name Havly. The inns had a meeting hall, café, reading room, bathrooms, mail- and telephone service, and some ran a standard boarding house.