Stadthalle, hotel with zero energy consumption – Enjoying lavender fragrance in Vienna's green oasis

“Zero energy consumption may not sound so sexy. It doesn't matter, we still have someone new in bed every night.”

This is written at the entrance to the Stadthalle boutique hotel in Vienna. And how do they manage to do it? What makes this hotel different from all other hotels in Vienna, maybe even all those you've had the opportunity to visit so far?

If your heart is “green”, which is the guiding principle of Stadthalle, this place is an ideal choice for you. If not, after visiting this hotel, you will start taking care of your environment a bit more. You will certainly find it startling that a complex system such as a hotel can be 100% energy efficient, while you as an individual cannot exactly boast the same.

Green facades, plants in hallways, a magical garden surrounded by greenery, authentic vintage items which fit perfectly into the environment, a kind staff... all this is only a part of this hotel's charm. Stadthalle is located only five minutes away from the Westbahnhof hub, from where you can quickly reach any one of Vienna's many highlights.

Hotel Stadthalle is celebrating the 35th anniversary of this family business this year, but also 10 years since it began operating as a “passive house”, a facility with zero energy consumption.

– Michaela Reitterer inherited the hotel from her parents in 2000. It had 40 rooms and there was only one building. The situation was not great at the time and she really wanted to change something, to change the hotel completely. An opportunity presented itself when a neighbor said he was willing to sell the building next to it. The facility was bought and it only remained to be seen in which direction to develop the hotel – Maria Leifer of Stadthalle says for eKapija.

As the hotel industry is very dynamic today and as you always have to be very innovative and authentic, the owner of Stadthalle wanted to present a whole new concept. The decision to make it a “green hotel” was not made randomly.

– To the family in which the owner of the hotel, Michaela Reitterer, grew up, taking care of the environment has always been very important. She therefore incorporated that principle in the hotel's operations. At the very beginning, it wasn't easy. Banks were skeptical as to the feasibility of the whole thing, whether guests would want to come to such a hotel. However, as you can see, she persevered and we now have a successful Stadthalle hotel.

The hotel now has two buildings and 79 rooms, operates as a “passive house” and has zero energy consumption.

– This means that we are capable of producing our own energy. We have around 130 m2 of solar panels on the roof for hot water, 93 m2 of solar panels for electricity and our own heat pump for water. With all these resources, we are able to produce our own energy throughout the year – Maria Leifer says.

The sustainability concept doesn't end there. The hotel uses recycled cloths from all over Austria and there are no mini-bars in rooms. As our interviewee says, this allows them to reduce the emission of carbon-dioxide by 21 tons.

– This is also good when it comes to communication with our guests. They come down to our bar, they talk to the staff and we have first-hand information about their impressions and suggestions. The guest is always the most important and we want our guests to feel at home here. This is one of our missions. The other one, of course, is to be 100% sustainable – our interviewee says.

They truly are 100% sustainable at this hotel – green in every way. The rooms feature organic biocosmetics, the menu includes organic apples, whereas the hotel's bar offers a fully organic breakfast. The hotel's roof features the largest lavender field in Vienna. Each year, lavender is picked and used to make soaps, essential oils, fragrant powder packages and similar gifts for guests. There are also special Lavender Package offers.

– In addition to lavender, we have our own beehives on the roof. We make fully organic honey that we serve for breakfast. In 2015, we decided to offer a 100% organic breakfast to our guests. We have changed our network of suppliers entirely and are more oriented to getting domestic and local products. This is a great challenge for us, especially when it comes to seasonal food – Maria Leifer says.

As she says, sustainability and care for the environment go into every decision made in the hotel. The economic aspect is important as well, of course, as there are 30 employees at the hotel, whose needs also have to be taken care of, but there's no giving up on the principle of sustainability.

– We only use LED lights. Some are old, but we won't change them until they stop working completely. We often buy things from people that they no longer use, find a place for them in our environment and give them a new life that way – our interviewee says.

Hotel Stadthalle is preparing something new for the next spring.

– Within the SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals initiative of the UN, we will renovate 17 rooms, with each one being given a theme which will promote sustainability. We want as many people as possible to understand why this principle is important and we believe that we will bring this whole concept closer to our guests this way.

Launching one such project is not easy itself, but obstacles also keep occurring later, in running the hotel.

– Austria has very strict regulations and laws. It often happens that we have a certain idea, but can't implement it. For example, we wanted to have wind turbines on the roof, which would enable us to produce energy, but we couldn't do so, as it is not allowed. Sometimes the finances are a problem, as you want to do something, but then realize that it costs a lot. There's the idea and the desire, but no way of realizing it. You then have to seek compromises – Maria Leifer says for eKapija.

Another problem are climate changes. In Austria, as in the whole world, summers are getting hotter.

– There's no air conditioning in rooms. Instead, there's a constant stream of fresh air which circulates through rooms. This should have been enough, but Vienna is having increasingly hot summers. We are now looking for a solution for air conditioning in our rooms. I know that the most simple thing would be to install AC devices, but we don't want to do that. In line with the very idea the hotel is based on, we want to find an ecologically sustainable solution, not a quick one – Maria Leifer points out.

Another project the hotel is working on is Zero Waste Austria.

– We aim to use as little plastic as possible and we recycle, but our goal is also not to produce much waste. That's why we have initiated the Zero Waste Austria project with our partners, within which we aim to provide some basic guidelines for all hotel owners. We thereby want to help them be more sustainable and to reduce the amount of waste they produce. This is a great way not just to preserve the environment, but to reduce costs as well – Maria Leifer points out.

Hotal Stadthalle has also received numerous acknowledgments, and when asked how cost-effective it is to launch and run this kind of hotel, our interviewee says:

– In this business, the most important things are to have a good idea and to be persistent. It's important to believe in what you do and success will come, maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will come. Fear of failure probably prevents people from experimenting and initiating such projects. However, if you believe in what you do, your energy is transferred to others as well, your guests. If you are authentic, it's easy to reach other people. The business then grows and develops, just like a plant.

That it is the story behind the success of Hotel Stadthalle, a green oasis in the heart of Vienna.

Dragana Obradovic

Grad Beč | Međunarodne kancelarije – Beograd

Stadt Wien - Grad Beč

Hotel Stadthalle Vienna

Stadthalle Vienna

Michaela Reitterer

Maria Leifer

green hotel

zero energy consumption

Zero Waste Austria

SDGs initiatives

The sustainable development goals UN