Successful GSTC audit and renewal of Sustainable South Tyrol Level 3

Sustainability is a team effort

A certification can be verified from the outside. Bringing it to life requires an entire team.

Our Green Team brings together expertise from across the hotel. Franz oversees strategy, certification and our carbon accounting, while Laura coordinates measures, reporting and communication. Mrs Gerti is responsible for purchasing and supplier relationships, Mrs Christine for the garden, room teams and laundry, Mr Mair for engineering and resource management and Mrs Gabi ensures legal compliance and manages essential records.

Sustainability, however, is put into practice by every department. Department heads test new solutions in day-to-day operations and develop standards together with their teams. More environmentally friendly cleaning products, for example, were first tested by the relevant departments to ensure they were genuinely suitable for everyday use. Within housekeeping, clear standards govern the use of water and cleaning products as well as waste separation. In the restaurant, our sommelier Peter makes a point of giving smaller South Tyrolean wineries a place alongside more established names, helping them gain greater visibility.

Our purchasing principles provide guidance throughout the hotel. Alongside price and function, they consider origin, longevity, repairability, packaging, resource consumption and social standards. They apply across the kitchen and restaurant, beauty department, housekeeping and room teams, administration, marketing, engineering and building projects.

Around 60 of our most important suppliers have also received a concise version of these principles and have shared their own sustainability programmes with us. This creates a dialogue that goes beyond individual orders and encourages both sides to keep developing.

What has value deserves a future

Sustainability can also be seen in how long objects remain in use and what happens when they no longer suit the hotel’s current design concept.

After renovations, many pieces of furniture find a new purpose in our staff residence. Others are donated where they can continue to serve a social purpose. Last year, we gave well-preserved furniture to the Eden care home in Merano. It now brightens the staff break area and offers employees a welcoming place to pause and recharge.

This principle is particularly visible in the new Junior Suites Labers. Their solid-wood furniture was made around 30 years ago and is of exceptional quality. It also represents a style that many of our guests have valued for years. Families in particular associate these rooms with familiar holiday memories.

Our long-standing joinery partner Brida carefully removed the furniture, sanded it, refinished selected pieces and then reinstalled it. This approach was more involved and more expensive than stripping everything out and starting again. For us, however, it was the right decision. The furniture was far too good to discard, and the rooms were too closely connected to the history of our hotel for everything familiar to disappear.

At Hohenwart, moving forward does not necessarily mean beginning again from scratch.

Regional connections and culture brought to life

For us, regional cuisine means making provenance visible and keeping relationships alive. Wherever possible, we use seasonal ingredients and work with businesses from the region. Our lamb comes from our own Gsteier mountain farm, while herbs are grown in the hotel garden. Juices, syrups, chutneys, compotes and many other products are prepared in-house. Eighty per cent of our wine list comes from South Tyrol.

Regional sustainability, however, does not end with food. It also means creating space for local culture, craftsmanship, knowledge and stories.

We regularly invite South Tyrolean producers to Hohenwart, including wineries, distilleries, gin makers, chocolatiers and producers of South Tyrolean speck. During tastings, they introduce their products and speak about their work in their own words. On other occasions, we visit farms, wineries and production sites together with our guests.

Guided cultural and historical walks through Merano, Bolzano or, this year, Salorno tell the story of South Tyrol in the places where it unfolded. When sharing local customs and traditions, we do not simply want to present facts. We want to explain authentically why they matter to our region and to us.

In 2025, Hohenwart hosted works by the Schenna artist Judith Klotzner as well as a literary evening. In 2026, we are once again creating space for regional voices and ideas with further readings by South Tyrolean authors and an exhibition by the local label Rockverliebt. The formats change. The idea behind them remains.