Ever­y­body’s dar­lings: Insights and reflec­tions

We have recently published the holiday homes that were par­ti­cu­larly popular among our readers last year and our “Best of UA” had a huge amount of visitors!
The ranking was made in four cate­gories and we have spoken to the hosts of the four houses that are on top of each category and we found a common thread: 2020 was  — despite ever­y­thing — a wise teacher to all of them.

Thank you Ana-Dina and Sebastian for this little chat! 2020 has been a very chal­lenging year — but it has also pro­vided the time and space to pause and look at things from a new per­spective. What insights did you carry with you to implement in the new year?

“Less is more”. A much quoted but rarely ful­filled promise. Maybe this is because we too often focus on the unessential when it comes to ‘less’.

During the lockdown we understood how much the Ansitz stands for the opposite. It is about hap­piness in small things, about the simple joy of life, the intimate feeling of com­munity and safety and the unspec­ta­cular but powerful dece­le­ration in and with nature. Not having to do any­thing, but still being able to do a lot, brings a sense of freedom and pro­vides utmost rela­xation for body and mind. Hohenegg is a place where you can just be, without the urge to pretend or to represent yourself com­pe­ti­tively in any way. You can simply enjoy some time off in harmony with yourself, your loved ones and nature, free from any sense of remorse. Our intention is to con­tinue to treat the house and its sur­roun­dings with the respect and dedi­cation that we have tried to cul­tivate from the very beginning.

Peace and seclusion, lots of nature and a very kid-fri­endly accom­mo­dation that wel­comes dogs too — what do your guests par­ti­cu­larly app­re­ciate about the Ansitz from an archi­tec­tural point of view?

Ulti­m­ately, the secret of the Ansitz is based on the magical aura of a sun-drenched clearing sur­rounded by unspoilt nature. We have aimed to convey this sense of safety yet great freedom in the interior as well. The gene­rosity of the indi­vidual units, each with its own strong cha­racter, mirrors the external setting at a smaller scale, so to speak.

Down-to-earthness and authen­ticity were of primary rele­vance to us — both with regard to the raw mate­rials and the fur­nis­hings. We carefully unco­vered the his­to­rical sub­s­tance, such as the ori­ginal “knitted walls” made of solid beams in the shingle house dating back to 1724, and com­ple­mented them with modern, tim­eless design. Straight­forward and honest, without exag­ge­ration or special effects. If you are looking for austere ele­gance, you have come to the wrong place.

Our intention was to create a place of nost­algia with the warmth of a nest. A place that invites you to spend long evenings at the old inn table or by the fire­place, embraced by the sur­roun­dings, the shelter of the forest. We are pas­sionate hosts and have designed the Ansitz with a lot of passion and attention to detail so that everyone — whether as a couple, with children or the extended family — feels per­fectly at ease and can unwind in this holiday home.

Vir­gilia, you are one of our youngest hosts and achieved great result with your house! What new insights did 2020 offer you in order to implement in this new and hop­efully more serene year?

It is in hard times that we learn the most and dif­fi­culties are the quicker way to evo­lution. In 2020 I had the occasion to spend much more time with my family, here in Liguria, attending my uni­versity classes from home. At first, it was con­fusing, but then, accepting it, it turned out to be the perfect moment to discuss about new needs, new ways of living and tra­velling and how we could adapt to those and interpret them in our own way. We had the time to take care of the house, to work on how to make our guests feel even more welcome, safe and loved (even if wearing a mask), to carefully learn and follow the rules, even if that meant to give up on some of what we were used to. It was like starting all over again, even if my family has been working here for more than 20 years. We learnt that it is pos­sible to transform our holiday house in a office-away-from-home, that it is necessary to adapt to unex­pected can­cel­la­tions by col­la­bo­rating to find a common solution, that a little message or a basket of fresh vege­tables on the front door can be the most helpful thing. It is the little things that make you feel at home. In this last year our guests were fun­da­mental in this process and, thanks to this new challenge, we can now call many of them friends: we asked to share with us a list of advices at the end of their stay, and very often we ended up sitting tog­ether with a bottle of wine, sharing tips and chatting about archi­tecture.

“Eremo” is the Italian word for “her­mitage”. You sit high above things here and escape the hustle and bustle of the world. Why do you think Italy was an unex­pec­tedly popular desti­nation in 2020 (during the period in which there were no travel rest­ric­tions), despite the Corona crisis?

Here at the Eremo we were really lucky, because being up here in the middle of the crisis allowed us to keep on working and to enjoy a walk amidst nature anytime we wanted. I escaped from Milan to stay here with my family: the situation in Milan was obviously very dif­ferent. I think what made Italy so popular during the summer season of 2020 was the pos­si­bility to go on holiday in a nearby place which you can reach within just a few hours of driving with your own car and all of a sudden you are sur­rounded by his­to­rical cities, wild land­scapes, beaches and the sea and enjoy good food in an inspiring setting. Many of our guests had a travel plan with dif­ferent stops all around the country. Italy has a manifold regional richness, even if you move just a few kilo­metres further you’ll find each time some­thing new to dis­cover. Moreover, I think many tra­vellers per­ceived Italy as a safe place to go, because of our expe­rience with the virus, since we have been the first to face it. And then, Ita­lians have an innate warmth of heart that imme­diately makes you feel in good hands. Many guests, when cross border regu­la­tions were still unsure, just called me to ask how we were doing and to emphasise that hey would have rushed to come and finally have some sun, some hap­piness, some good time as soon as the doors would have been open again. We are so gra­teful for all this love: it gave us the courage to stay strong and keep on dre­aming and bring a new project on its way!

Dear Anja, dear Erwin, what are your obser­va­tions con­cerning the past year that you will be taking as an inspi­ration for 2021?

The world has turned upside down and we have learned to be humble and to hold on more strongly to values such as family and reliable employees, health and the little hap­piness.
We have also been able to expe­rience that our holiday concept — living in the midst of nature, in privacy, cosy and cared for — has never been more right and important. Being there for our guests in order to create just the right ambience for rela­xation and meaningful expe­ri­ences is the most valuable and vital aspect for us as hosts and for our staff — also in this new year.

You have been a partner of Urlaubs­ar­chi­tektur since the very beginning and are abun­dantly rewarded with great guest comments. Many homeowners and hote­liers worry about ” bothering” guests when asking for written feedback on the holiday expe­rience. What do you recommend to your col­le­agues, what to the guests?

You don’t have to dance at all wed­dings (German proverb which means you don’t need to be present ever­y­where). For us, it is important to find the appro­priate “stage” which allows us to present our project and that suits with our own phi­lo­sophy. We rea­lised from the very beginning that com­bining archi­tecture and tourism is the right way for us. Jan Hamer anti­ci­pated this very well with the “invention” of Urlaubs­ar­chi­tektur and we are walking along this common path with great con­fi­dence and delight.

Due to the very per­sonal contact with our guests, we get into a more private con­ver­sation with each of them already at the ape­ritif or at check-in and get a sense of their inte­rests and (often uns­poken) wishes. On departure, we let our guests know that we would be pleased to receive a comment on our entry page on URLAUBSARCHITEKTUR, and we also invite them by e‑mail to do so after departure. To support the hotel with a per­sonal feedback is a kind “foot­print” and a signi­ficant tes­timony and helps others in their travel decision!
Espe­cially in these extremely virtual times, we notice how crucial the direct con­nection to guests is. When we feel uncer­tainty in between the lines, we pick up the phone. Only by talking directly to guests they can determine whether they feel in good hands with us. Despite all the digi­ta­li­sation, we should respect our intuition!

Dear Kristin and Daniel, what insights did the chal­lenging 2020 offer you that are worth adopting for this new year, too?

This year was cer­tainly very special and will remain in our memories for a long time. We have learned how important it is to have a place that we can use to retreat in tur­bulent times. Opening such a place to our guests is very important to us. A place where they can create their per­sonal refugium to relax and recharge their bat­teries. The mind gets a break from the stress and anxiety of having to juggle ever­y­thing in life at the same time here. Here you can take a well deserved pause in order to regain your strength and crea­tivity.

A long walk by the sea, a coin­ci­dental, intri­guing con­ver­sation or a breath­taking work of art can make us reflect, unwind and bring us back to life. We will be extending this concept in the coming season: We are planning a new seating area in the garden with a fire place and views over the coun­tryside, we will inte­grate a vinyl record coll­ection into the house and cooperate with an expe­ri­enced wine importer in order to introduce excellent wines from all over the world to our guests. We have been working on many other ideas during the lockdown, so stay tuned for more to come!

You chose to publish your house on URLAUBSARCHITEKTUR in a very uncertain phase in terms of travel and your courage was well rewarded! What is your expe­rience with the UA guests so far?

We are more than thrilled with the positive feedback about the house. Many guests wrote us very per­sonal mes­sages. We are very pleased that our concept and the archi­tecture are so well received. We are hosts with heart and soul and are looking forward very posi­tively to the upcoming season.