Cosy, tasty, earthy!

Sounds like a slightly dusty traditional house – but the Landhotel Stern is far from that. Very far, in fact. Because hotel owner Rene Föger combines contemporary sustainability with perfect enjoyment in a unique way. And as a pioneer, he shows how winter holidays in the future will also work away from large ski resorts and hip party places: in spectacular harmony with nature.

No matter where you look at Landhotel Stern – you will find sustainability at every turn. And yet it doesn’t feel at all like doggedness and a raised finger that wants to admonish us to please live a little more environmentally consciously.

Cosy here means not only cosy, but also cheerful and sociable. And the pleasure that Rene Föger and his family have in living sustainably is something you can feel quite authentically here.

In a traditional house, the first place to go is, of course, the dining room. But you won’t find any fillets or lobster here.

With Butz and Stingl
Regional and seasonal products are the order of the day. We consistently cook what nature, the farmers and the local producers can provide; preferably according to grandma’s recipes. So we only serve daily specialities, which are often simply placed in the middle of the table.

Guests can choose ‚earthy menus‘ and are then served old Tyrolean recipes with 100 % regional products. The days of fixed menus and filet pieces are over. Instead, everything that is edible and promises pleasure is used in the star kitchen – with ‚Butz and Stingl‘.

Taking responsibility for nature, the region and people is in the DNA of the Landhotel Stern. And Rene Föger continues to follow this path consistently – not to say radically.

Discounts for rail travellers
Those who travel to their holiday in Stern by environmentally friendly train get a 5 percent discount – including pick-up at the station. No one has to do without their usual mobility on holiday. The hotel offers free mountain bike rental, and e-bikes and even an electric car are available for rent.
Rene Föger is serious when he says that everyone can drop their CO2 pounds here. With many measures, he reduced the CO2 emissions in the house by a third from 2010 to 2013.

In 2012, Landhotel Stern was still the only climate-neutral hotel in Austria. Since then, it has been raining prizes for the courage and perseverance of the Föger family: 2020 Trigos Tirol, or ‚Platinum‘ from tripadvisor as an eco leader.

And the hotelier is convinced that there is still a lot to be done. By 2025, he wants to be 75 percent self-sufficient in energy – with the help of photovoltaics, energy storage and the expansion of local woodchip heating. Until that is achieved, Föger is taking care of compensation in other ways. So far, he has paid 15,000 euros into the international climate protection project and the local project fund.

Comfort and experience without compromise
No – at the Landhotel Stern, no guest has to sacrifice comfort and cosiness for the sake of CO2 awareness. A sauna and – from July – the indoor eco-pool Sternentaucher are also compatible with living sustainability.

By the way, no one at Landhotel Stern experiences the fact that living and managing in harmony with nature offers action and fun as intensively as the children. Whether it’s feeding the deer with Grandpa Toni, going on a torchlight hike, or riding a pony through the winter landscape – who needs brightly coloured plastic castles in indoor adventure worlds?

By the way, sledging is very popular in Obsteig and of course you can also try your first glides on skis. No one has to worry about the little ones. The Grünberg skiing area is small, fine and manages without any hustle and bustle.

That’s where it’s coming from
‚We don’t just want to be climate-neutral – we want everyone to be able to live our philosophy,‘ says hotel owner Rene Föger, ‚the staff, the suppliers and the guests‚.

By the way, they can now be quite sure where the schnitzel and potatoes on their plates come from. This is ensured by the new initiative, which Agrarmarketing Tirol is leading and which was launched under the title ‚Da kommt’s her‘ (That’s where it’s coming from).

In future, even more Tyrolean restaurants will voluntarily indicate on their menus where the food used in their kitchens comes from. This primarily concerns meat, eggs, milk and dairy products, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, deer and fish.

Many consumers want to be able to make decisions based on quality and origin not only when shopping every day, but also in the restaurant.

There is no question that this information has long been on the menu of the Landhotel Stern. And Rene Föger hopes that the idea of dakommtsher.at will be taken up by many innkeepers.

Conscious consumers are increasingly demanding this transparency, and establishments that provide information about the origin of their food will soon have a competitive advantage over others. Ultimately, it is also about strengthening regional cycles. Because sustainability succeeds above all when many are involved and everyone wins.

Further links:

• Familien-Landhotel STERN
• Initiative ‚Da kommt’s her‘ (in German only)

The Familien-Landhotel STERN is a member of the Green Filming database Marketplace Tirol. There you will find products and services from regional and sustainable Tyrolean companies that can be useful for your film production.

Moreover, the Familien-Landhotel STERN is a Tyrolean success story. Lebensraum Tirol Holding, in cooperation with its subsidiaries (Tirol Tourist Board, Standortagentur Tirol and Agrarmarketing Tirol), brings special companies, projects, initiatives and people before the curtain. What they all have in common is that they play a pioneering role and act as role models for sustainability and responsible business. They contribute to the sustainability of the Tyrolean economy, society and environment and encourage the dissemination of sustainable change concepts. You can find more success stories here (in German only).