From the Life of a Hotelier

When does a host's WORK WEEK actually begin?

To me, it's perfectly clear: on SUNDAY.

And it often doesn’t start on my own, but together with our daughter Lenia. Because on Sundays, we have WHITE SAUSAGES at HUBERTUS —and Lenia loves white sausages. Quite the opposite of her brother Kilian: He prefers to sleep in. So we get to enjoy our own laid-back father-daughter moment.
After the early-morning meeting with the team, we sit together at the high tables, munch on our white sausages, and agree completely on at least one thing:
HÄNDLMAIER MUSTARD is a must.

There isn't much time to linger afterward, though. Because, especially during the summer months, our first group activity with our guests is already waiting for us on Sundays: HIKE & BIKE.

My father Karl or I are always looking for a new route to take. Most of the time, we start by biking toward a HUT and then take a detour from there to one of the surrounding MOUNTAINS. Sometimes we head up the Siplinger, sometimes the Feuerstätterkopf, and sometimes the Riedberger Horn.

Which tour we choose depends on the weather, our fitness level, and, of course, our guests. After all, it’s not the greatest elevation gain or the longest distance that makes for a successful day. Much more important are the time we spend together, the CONVERSATIONS along the way, and—most importantly—a cozy stop at a mountain hut.

On some Mondays, I even get to experience our breakfast from our guests' perspective.

On the first Monday of every month, I invite six employees to our traditional TEAM BREAKFAST. It’s a gathering with no agenda, no key metrics, and no operational tasks.

Instead, we share our LIFE STORIES with each other: Where are we from? What did we do before we came to HUBERTUS? What matters to us, and what makes us who we are?

Especially in a large hotel, we run into each other every day without always really knowing who the PERSON behind each task is. Breakfast together creates SPACE for that. And sometimes, you hear stories from coworkers that you probably would never have heard otherwise.

For me, the interaction with our guests is always particularly intense on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Then we’ll open the door to TRAUBELS SPEISS for about an hour and a half. It’s a small, rustic room with a low ceiling, so taller guests should make sure to duck their heads in time.

Perhaps it is precisely this special ATMOSPHERE that makes our restaurant such a personal place. It’s set slightly apart from the rest of the hotel’s hustle and bustle. For a moment, the worries and fast pace of the world can STAY OUTSIDE.

Together, we sample products from people and businesses that we know personally, appreciate, and enjoy. These include special balsamic vinegars from Robert Gierer, a good glass of wine, and cheese from the Sibratsgfäll Alpine Dairy, which regularly wins the “Golden Käsmandl” award at the cheese competition in Wieselburg.

But really, it's less about what's on the table.

It's all about what happens AROUND THE TABLE: conversations, questions, stories, and encounters. For me, revenue is secondary on these evenings. What matters most is the personal CONNECTION between guest and host.

After dinner on Tuesday, there's one more item on the program that holds very special EMOTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE for me.

Together, we’ll take the bus up to SPICHERHALDE, about 400 meters above sea level from our hotel. The Vögel family has been spending every summer there on the alp for more than 72 years.

She takes care of about 36 COWS and more than 100 CALVES.
For anyone who isn't familiar with the term: calves are young cattle.

From the Alpe, we look out over the Balderschwanger Valley and watch as the sun slowly disappears behind the mountains. The Vögel family often takes extra time to tell our guests about life and work on the Alpe.

How is cheese actually made? How much work goes into a single wheel? And why is alpine farming so important for our landscape, our CULTURE, and our region?

On evenings like these, food suddenly becomes something VALUABLE again—something that represents people, animals, craftsmanship, and a great deal of daily work.

On Wednesdays, we don't head out into the mountains—instead, we go DEEP INSIDE the HUBERTUS.

Then I take our guests on a TOUR OF THE HOUSE. Originally, 45 minutes were set aside for this. However, I can say from experience that I practically never manage to finish it in that time.

Most of the time, we're on the road for an hour and a half or even longer. But it's never gotten boring so far.

We take a look around the kitchen, discover the STORIES behind our dining rooms, and tour various rooms and suites. I show our guests where my father’s bedroom and children’s room used to be, and we head up to our newly renovated Adlerhorst Suites.

But a hotel is more than just the beautiful rooms our guests see every day.

That’s why WEG also takes us behind the scenes to the pool facilities, the basement, and to the hardworking angels in our laundry room. There, we can see just how many hands, machines, and processes are needed to ensure that, in the end, your stay feels effortless and natural.

And sometimes our guests even learn things they’ve probably never thought about while on vacation. For example, that their stay contributes about 30 cents per night toward our grease trap.

After all, that's also part of a real BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK.

On three Thursdays this summer, things will get especially lively.

Provided, of course, that the weather in Balderschwanger cooperates. Experience shows that the odds are about 50-50.

At our SUMMER NIGHT FESTIVAL, we celebrate in Traubel's garden, in the shade of the old chestnut tree that has been watching over our house for decades.

Our head chef, Kristian Knölke, and his team prepare special dishes on the GRILL. Fellow winemakers pour their wines, brewers bring their beer straight from the tap, and new CONVERSATIONS spring up time and again among the tables.

It’s not meant to be a stuffy gala. Instead, we’ll celebrate the way we like to celebrate: with good food, special people, a relaxed atmosphere, and lots of JOY OF LIFE.

On Friday, I'll be heading out into NATURE again.

We meet at 9:15 a.m. for our group hike. I often don’t decide on the route until just before we set out. I check the weather—and, of course, take a quick look at the guests as well.

Sometimes it's nice to go on a longer, more athletic TOUR. Other days, a shorter ride is just the thing.

When the weather is mixed, the Quelltuff Trail or the WASSERWANDERWEG in Hittisau are good options. If conditions are good, you might head up to the Riedberger Horn, the Gelbhansekopf, or the Siplinger.

The selection of trails around Balderschwang is virtually endless. But here, too, the destination isn't the most important thing.

Hiking together often leads to particularly open CONVERSATIONS. Maybe because no one is sitting at a desk. Maybe because there’s no set seating arrangement. Or maybe simply because it’s easier to talk about many things when you ’re all walking in the same DIRECTION together.

Traubels Speiss will open once again on Friday evening.

Different guests, different stories, and a new atmosphere. Sometimes the group is larger, sometimes smaller. Every evening is different and develops its own unique DYNAMIC.

The group hikes, the evenings at Traubels Speiss, or our in-house excursions are the visible part of my job.
The part our guests experience. However, I spend almost more time at my DESK. There, I deal with investments and financing, strategy development, performance reviews, construction projects, and countless decisions that drive the business forward in the long term.

Daily rounds through the hotel: identifying bottlenecks, determining which team member needs a little more ATTENTION, acting as a “firefighter” here and there to put out fires, and much more.
On top of that, I hold various VOLUNTEER POSITIONS: from the local council to the tourism advisory board, all the way to training the next generation of professionals in our industry.

Being a host, therefore, means much more than simply guiding guests through the mountains. It means taking on RESPONSIBILITY for our business, for our employees, and for the future of HUBERTUS.

Then comes SATURDAY.

Ever since our kids started school, this day has been my regular DAY OFF. And it would take a lot for me to give it up.

Because despite all my PASSION for our hotel, for our guests, and for the many special encounters throughout the week, this is also part of my life as a host:
Making a conscious effort to set aside TIME for the people who are most important to me personally: my FAMILY.
My wife Sabrina, our son Kilian, our daughter Lenia, and me.

And we enjoy this time together to the fullest:
—sleeping in, gardening, taking trips around the area, and visiting friends.
Or sometimes just staying home for a whole day.
And doing nothing.

And that's how MY WEEK ends.

And on Sunday, it starts all over again. Probably with Lenia, a white sausage, and a generous helping of Händlmaier mustard...