Growing in the crisis: hoteliers with heart and blood

Relais & Châteaux

For 66 years, the members of Relais & Châteaux have been promoting the diversity of the world's cuisines and protecting local heritage. The association now includes 580 exclusive hotels, 19 of which are in Germany and 11 in Austria, and more than 800 restaurants around the world. In 2020, they were all severely affected by the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 - but they would not be full-blooded hoteliers and restaurateurs if they had not faced up to these challenges: Over the "Corona summer" of 2020, hygiene measures and standards have been established that make safe travel and relaxation at Relais & Châteaux possible. Guests appreciate this and it fits in with the high standard of the hotels in the predestined locations and their individual, personal management. Changes have also taken place among guests. Florian Moosbrugger, Maître de Maison at Post Lech, remarks: "Our guests take much more time to eat together than they used to. It's almost celebrated and the time spent at the table is much longer than before." In many hotels, the otherwise popular buffet-style breakfast has been dispensed with and served à la carte instead. This has been well received, says Egon Haupt from Hotel Schloss Seefels: "Guests see this service as a luxury and a real enhancement of the food on offer. The internal process now works so smoothly that there will no longer be a buffet even after Corona." Guests also got to know the resorts in summer in a completely different way: not overcrowded, quiet and relaxing. Those who didn't come showed their devotion to their favorite hoteliers in a different way: jams and other little things were ordered from the online stores to bring the vacation feeling home. In this respect, it was worthwhile for hoteliers to make major investments to give guests a feeling of safety through strict hygiene concepts. And even if things are a little quieter now, the members of Relais & Châteaux are not idle: Suites and restaurants are being renovated (Schloss Seefels) and even entire wellness departments are being redesigned (Gut Steinbach). So the hoteliers are ready when 2021 hopefully starts again with a somewhat more normal vacation planning. Let's look forward to it!