Das Tyrol is more than just a hotel – it is a place for a "colourful mixed audience", run by hotelier Helena Ramsbacher and her team to provide guests with an unforgettable stay.
Falstaff: Ms. Ramsbacher, how would you describe the unique style and atmosphere of "Das Tyrol", especially in comparison to other hotels in Vienna?
Helena Ramsbacher: The hotel is my extended living room, as I live in the hotel myself. For this reason, I look at the hotel the way I look at my own home. The tableware, the fabrics, the art collection and the furniture are all chosen to enrich and shape my own life. And I share all of this with my guests. The atmosphere is always created by the people in a place. So my staff play an equally important role, because they also see the hotel with passion and joy and not just as a job.
When you come back to the hotel in the middle of the lively city centre, you are immersed in the private and intimate atmosphere of the hotel, which is exclusively available to our guests.
To what extent does "Das Tyrol" reflect your personal values and ideas of hospitality and hotel management?
I grew up in the role of hotel host and hospitality is in my blood, so to speak. My staff and I love doing what we do. And our guests feel that too; our hotel exudes joie de vivre and warmth. Professionalism and the central location in the heart of Vienna only add to this.
You have had your main residence on the top floor of the hotel for 25 years. What is it like to see new faces in your home every day?
Every day in my home, I mainly see familiar faces – my employees − who have been with me for 20 years. Of course, there are also many regular guests and many new faces, because we are a hotel with a diverse international clientele. It is always a great pleasure to get to know new people and to gain an insight into their feelings about Vienna and our hotel.
The location of the hotel is excellent, especially for travellers who come to Vienna because of their love of art. But what will certainly please these people even more are the many pictures from your art collection, which turn "Das Tyrol" itself into a small museum. How do guests perceive this art in the hotel?
With the Museums Quartier, the Albertina, Albertina Modern and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in the immediate vicinity, we are a small museum in the art district, so to speak. All the pictures in the hotel and in the rooms are original works of art that I have collected for over 25 years and have always shared with our guests. Each of these pictures is an expression of the joy of life and the encounter with other people, including artists, and their emotions.
In 2018, you renovated the hotel and took measures in keeping with the times. What was important to you back then?
We renovated the hotel from the ground up in 2018. But we also maintain the hotel every year so that our guests think it has just been renovated. We placed particular emphasis on sustainability during the renovation.
Small, individual and personal – but many people also associate a boutique hotel with luxury. What does luxury mean to you, and how is it tangible in the hotel "Das Tyrol"?
Luxury is space. You always have a seat here because the hotel is only accessible to hotel guests. But luxury also stands for the best products such as bread and pastries, homemade jam or coffee. Luxury means having employees who are happy and enjoy their work. Our small but exquisite private spa is a retreat for every guest and can be booked individually. Not only can you relax there, but you can also watch our colourful pets in the seawater aquarium − I would also consider that luxury. And finally, in a cosmopolitan city like Vienna, luxury also means getting water of the best drinking quality from the tap.
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