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Hotelier of the Year 2019 Election

VOTE FOR SEPP!

Our landlord Josef "Sepp" Schwaiger is a hotelier and host with passion and is always there for his guests with total commitment. For his tireless efforts, Sepp has been nominated as "Hotelier of the Year" by the trade magazine Rolling Pin. And once you're in the top three, you naturally want to win.

Hotelier aus Leidenschaft

Growing up in the family business Gasthof Eder in Maria Alm, Josef Schwaiger, the oldest of five children, "breathed hotel air" from an early age and internalized the processes in the hotel business. After graduating from high school, Josef Schwaiger first embarked on a different career path, which was also to have a lasting impact on his career: After various internships in the construction industry, he studied architecture and gained practical experience in project management at an architectural company.

At the same time, he continued to cultivate his passion for tourism and the hotel industry. After an apprenticeship as a professional bartender, Sepp went on to study at the MCI (Management Center Innsbruck), specializing in "Business Management in the Tourism & Leisure Industry". After completing his studies, he returned to his roots to join the family business at the local Gasthof Eder in Maria Alm, initially as assistant to the management.

In 2008, Josef Schwaiger took over his parents' business as owner and managing director of Eder Hotels GmbH and converted the 29-room inn into a 72-room lifestyle hotel in the four-star superior category with a wellness area. He benefited from both of his educations: On the one hand, Sepp was able to use his architectural skills while keeping the requirements as a hotelier in mind. And although the structural conditions at the location in the middle of the village were a challenge, the visionary created a hotel from the traditional house that combines the grown values with modern components in a characteristic way.

Armed with the experience of the hotel conversion, Josef Schwaiger followed up in 2018 with the newly built Hotel SEPP according to his architectural ideas. Here, the passionate hotelier has ventured down a completely new path and created a hotel that is second to none - always with the guest's well-being in mind and the motto "together in the thick of it". And even though both hotels pursue completely different concepts and ideas, Sepp's signature, his attention to detail, his high standards of hospitality and the realization of a very special attitude to life can be felt in both establishments.

In parallel to his professional commitment, Sepp has been active in an honorary capacity since 2012 as a tourism board member of the Hochkönig region, as a member of the supervisory board of the mountain railroads, as a municipal representative and second mayor of Maria Alm.

And if you still need a little inspiration, just take a look behind the scenes in our film: