Special Feature
Silence is luxury: Reading to Relax in the Austrian Alps
What makes The Lesehotel a “reading hotel”?
Hallstatt Hideaway Mountain – Lesehotel is a private reading sanctuary in Upper Austria with over 12,000 books. Guests regularly come to stay because they enjoy a tranquil environment up in the mountains. The concept of the hotel is to create spaces where our guests can choose to enjoy their privacy while taking a break from their hectic lives.
Our guests typically stay with us as they want to engage with books in ways that may not be feasible in their daily routines. As you walk around the hotel, you will find books on shelves along the staircase, in communal areas, and inside each guest room. This provides a framework for guests to fully recharge physically while staying at our mountain hideaway hotel.
To extend the reading experience, we built a vertical library that covers four floors. The central staircase filled with books is a source of inspiration and it is stocked with all types of books: non-fiction, bestsellers, literary classics and some well-loved favourites, and in different languages.
Our guests love our book bar, a mobile side table that our guests can use to carry the books they are reading and move around different locations in the hotel. It is also equipped with other useful items like a water bottle, stationery, a reading lamp and even reading glasses.
To expand our collection we reached out to different book publishers who now regularly contribute their latest bestseller books. And every guest room here at the Lesehotel is named after a publishing house.
In the dining rooms, we have cookbooks on the tables and sometimes we create an activity where hotel guests can pick a recipe, and our chef will help prepare the dish for everyone.
What is social design, and how does that relate to the hotel?
As an economist and scientist, my areas of interest are varied and span across different topics related to Health Management, Life Design, and Building a Culture of Innovation. Through my research, I’ve explored societal changes and their impact on the way we live. There will be upcoming changes in work-life culture (eg. remote working is now becoming a norm), and new recreational needs are already emerging, requiring the industry to rethink vacation offerings.
For our twenty-room hotel in the mountains, I focused on social design aspects, evaluating current offerings in the hospitality industry, particularly in the Salzkammergut region. Rather than constructing another spa or wellness hotel, I aimed to prioritize small-scale tourism.
People need places of retreat that simultaneously take them out of everyday life and lead them into inner peace. Reading can help reduce stress and it is the only activity with which you bring your brain to silence. Scientific research shows that when you read complex texts, and your brain has to focus, then your body goes into a deep relaxing mode.
“In our hotel, the books find the people – there is no systematic way to how we arrange the books.”
Dr. Silke Seemann, Founder and Owner of Hallstatt Hideaway Mountain Lesehotel
Guests often talk about how a particular book found them at just the right moment in their lives. These chance encounters have the potential to be life-changing, offering insights and perspectives that resonate on a profound level.
As guests cast their gaze upon the captivating views of Lake Hallstatt and the Dachstein glacier, it is so easy to simply sit and enjoy being present in the moment. Wanting to disconnect while on holiday, is what many of our Lesehotel visitors desire, and we often get longer-stay guests or solo travellers staying here to rest and recharge.
What brings you joy?
I am filled with an indescribable sense of joy when I witness special moments of connection and transformation. I always encourage the staff at the hotel do our best to deliver an extraordinary experience for our guests and the positive reviews we have received speak volumes. Many of our guests have become regular visitors and we even have one couple who returned back to the hotel to share that they made a “Lesehotel baby”!
I try to merge our natural environment elements with modern needs. We prioritize innovation in our operations and find new ways to impress our guests, paying attention to their comfort and convenience.
First and foremost, we’ve invested in high-speed fiber internet, making Lesehotel the only hotel in the area with such connectivity. This allows guests to work remotely from the heart of nature.
We intentionally designed spaces to offer alternative work environments complemented by breathtaking natural vistas. The natural surroundings of our hotel up in the mountains have seen us welcoming a diverse array of guests, including book authors coming for the week to write and scientists who need to spend extensive time reading their research papers. Many are captivated by the tranquil atmosphere our hotel fosters, providing a sanctuary for inner peace and focused productivity.
I am extremely proud of our modular concept room design where our hotel guests can move the furniture (even our beds) around to suit their preferences. Everyone has unique ways of how they read a book. Some want to lie in bed while they read, or others want to sit by the window where they can look at the picturesque scenery outside. Our “Plug and Play” is a smart bed equipped with built-in speakers and it reads out the text. This specially designed bed was built for our guests who want to lay in bed while enjoying a unique audiobook experience.
Understanding our guests’ preferences and cultural nuances has been key to our success. For example, we have books in various languages such as English, French, Chinese, Korean and of course German!
We have a lean team of six employees so instead of having kitchen staff, we decided to partner with a nearby five-star hotel to help prepare fresh meals every day. This ensures our guests enjoy meals prepared by skilled chefs, without adding extra workload on our staff in the kitchen. Guests can opt to have their gourmet breakfast anytime of the day, in the communal dining area, in bed or at their favorite place in the house or garden. Options for vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian are available.
We’ve implemented a system that uses AI to suggest tasks for our employees, ensuring they can rotate responsibilities seamlessly and operate with a degree of autonomy. To incentivize them, they can paid more if they select the less popular tasks like cleaning.
Placing books on each table encourages discussions and shared experiences among guests, enhancing the overall social atmosphere. I’ve observed almost all our guests prefer quiet mornings at breakfast, and during dinner, many get seated together for lively conversations and shared meals. This inclusive approach ensures that all guests, regardless of their solo or group status, feel welcomed and engaged throughout their stay.
Dr. Silke Seemann is a dynamic multi-hyphenate whose diverse experiences and passions converge in her extensive career spanning consulting and research to teaching and writing. She is an entrepreneur, hotelier, economist, and the list continues. Driven by a profound curiosity and diverse educational pursuits, she has cultivated a unique perspective on leadership, communication, and innovation. As an entrepreneur, she integrates these insights into her holistic approach to systemic consulting, education, and hospitality ventures, shaping a legacy of transformative impact. Currently with her team, Dr Seemann manages four different hotels in Hallstatt.
About Hallstatt Hideaway Mountain – Lesehotel
Nestled in the picturesque heart of HALLSTATT in Upper Austria, Lesehotel has a private garden, shared reading lounge, and restaurant. It has a secluded location in Bad Goisern, with picture-perfect views of Hallstatt Lake, surrounded by towering mountains and lush forests, making it an ideal setting for hikes or countryside exploration.
Steeped in history dating back to prehistoric times (800–450 BC) which is over 2800 years ago, Hallstatt boasts quaint cobblestone streets, historic churches, and colorful alpine houses. Many tourists come to see the Hallstatt Salt Mine, one of the world’s oldest salt mines, and more recently, its close resemblance to the fictional kingdom of Arendelle in Disney’s Frozen animation movie have drawn more visitors. Even fans of movies of James Bond “Spectre” and “Spring Waltz” Korean drama are drawn to the Salzkammergut mountain region in search of filming locations. The ease of access to visit neighboring towns like Bad Aussee, Altaussee, and Bad Ischl, where the summer residence of the Habsburg monarchy still stands today, and popular for its thermal spas. Visitors to the Lesehotel can simply bask in the natural beauty surrounding the hotel, which is a great base for exploring the mountainous and culturally rich Salzkammergut region. For more about The Lesehotel, click here.
Image credits – Hallstatt Hideaway Hotel
