Singer’s Gäste-News Spring, summer & autumn 2017
A SUMMER FESTIVAL FOR THE SENSES
Dear Guests and Friends, At the Singer Sporthotel & SPA, we’re looking forward to summer holidays jam-packed with walks in the fresh mountain air, Alpine meadows filled with flowers, shimmering mountains, our SPA’s invigorating herbal treatments, brand new offers, Alpine romance, lots of family relaxation, and tempting summer delicacies from our wonderful kitchen. Come and discover a new Singer experience.
Your hosts, Florian, Christina and Gerti Singer
Spring, summer & autumn 2017
Singer’s Gäste-News
10 good reasons
FOR TAKING A RELAXING ALPINE HOLIDAY IN BERWANG
1. SPA deluxe at Singer’s SPA 2. Singer’s Alpine Relaxation Garden 3. Hiking, hiking and more hiking 4. Magnificent mountain biking 5. Alpine golf with 9- to 27-hole courses Enjoy the beauty of nature...
6. Lidos, lakes and adventures for young and old
1. SINGER’S SPA DELUXE Dive into the unique Alpine SPA pleasures of Singer’s three-storey SPA building – 1,800sqm of pure bliss!
7. The glamour and romance of world-famous attractions 8. Culinary enchantment
Singer’s reading tip: our SPA beautician Gabriella tells all on page 4.
9. Festivals and customs –
2. DISCOVER NATURE The mountains surrounding the Singer Sporthotel & SPA offer great variety as well as bucolic charm. Their natural treasures are encapsulated in our 10,000sqm Alpine Relaxation Garden where guests enjoy the sun and wonderful views.
10. Love in the mountains
Singer’s Highlights
Follow your heart...
Singer’s nature tip: our SPA team takes guests on weekly flower and herb walks exploring the biodiversity and healing powers of Berwang’s Alpine flora. 3. MASTER THE MOUNTAINS With 300km of marked footpaths and mountain trails, the Berwang Valley is one of Tyrol’s finest walking regions – great for families with young children and equally brilliant for Alpine athletes. Across the Tyrolean Zugspitz Arena, more than 150 different routes spanning 500km are available to the outdoor pursuits enthusiast. Trails lead to stunning destinations like the top of the Thaneller, the Roter Stein or Abendspitze mountains in the Lechtal Alps, the Zugspitze – Germany’s highest mountain – and to the summit of the Mieming Range.
SPA – runs on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, while in the high season it operates every day except Tuesdays – from 9am until 4.30pm. Singer’s hiking tips: we highly recommend the new Grünwaldquellenweg trail that leads to the Heiterwang Hochalm. And why not join our guide, Gerd, on an exploration of Berwang’s mountains. See our weekly active programme for details. NB: collect hiking pins with your smartphone! Tyrolean Mountain Joy 25 May to 15 October 2017
• 7 nights indulgence half board for the price of 6 • Seasonal fruit basket & Singer’s skin care set in your room on arrival • 1 x Alpine power facial (50mins) • ‘Roter Stein’ SPA ritual (approx 130mins) in Singer’s Private SPA Suite (as a couple or on your own) • 1 x Alpine hike with our guide • 1 x free return journey with the Sonnalmbahn cable car per person from €942 per person
However, if you’d like to get to the summit faster than your feet can take you, the region’s cable cars do the job! Singer’s cable car tip: during the low season (25 May – 01 July and 03 September – 08 October 2017), the Sonnalmbahn – next door to the Singer Sporthotel &
4. MAGNIFICENT MOUNTAIN BIKING Challenging single tracks, a freeride trail, leisurely cycle routes, hike & bike, short Alpine pasture trips, history-themed rides along Via Claudia Augusta, and crossing the Alps on a bicycle – we may not have reinvented the wheel, but in Berwang we’re doing our bit to ensure your holiday runs smoothly. The Tyrolean Zugspitz Arena is ISO-certified, approved by the German Association for Technical Inspection (TÜV), and a Mountain Bike Holidays ‘Approved Bike Area’.
Spring, summer & autumn 2017
Singer’s Gäste-News
Approved: mountain biking in Berwang
Singer’s cycling tip: touring around the mountains is particularly good fun on an electric bike – available for hire at reception! 5. ALPINE GOLF AT ITS FINEST The 9-hole Tiroler Zugspitz golf course is 12 minutes from our hotel. Other golf courses accessible in 40 minutes or less: • Garmisch-Werdenfels (30mins), 9-hole, par 72 • Mieming (40mins), 27-hole, par 72 • Garmisch-Oberau (40mins), 18-hole, par 72
8. CULINARY DELIGHTS The enjoyment of good food is a major preoccupation in Berwang, and especially so at the Singer Sporthotel & SPA. Our Chef ’s exquisite culinary creations for Singer’s Tiroler Stube have been rewarded with a Gault&Millau toque and two Falstaff forks. Plus, they are accompanied by Singer’s wine cellar’s exceedingly fine wines. The summer’s highlight: enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner on Singer’s terrace as you take in the magnificent mountain views! Singer’s mountain hut tip: four mountain huts within one- to three-hour walks are perfect for soaking up the sunshine, and tucking into really good food. 9. FESTIVALS AND CUSTOMS Summer events in the Tyrolean Zugspitz Arena:
04 June
24 June
Berwang Vintage Tractor & Classic Car Show
Midsummer Bonfires
21 to 23 July
23 September
Singer’s Oktoberfest
10. SAVOUR TOGETHERNESS AND YOUR LOVE FOR THE MOUNTAINS... Arrive, breathe in, and enjoy – each other, the mountains, Singer’s Private SPA Suite, the delectation of your taste buds, skin and heart. Singer’s romantic tip: enjoy a candlelit dinner by the pool, a picnic by the Rotlech river or breakfast in the mountains – let us arrange everything for your time together! Romantic Summer Nights’ Dream
Zugspitz Trail Run Challenge 2017
Tiroler Zugspitz golf course Singer’s golf tip: let us book your tee times at the golf courses listed above. In addition, you benefit from a 20% green fee discount at the Tiroler Zugspitz golf course where you can also complete the golf ability licence course. NB: the 13th Singer’s Golf Cup takes place on Saturday 08 July 2017! New: this year, benefit from our superb 2- or 4-night Singer’s Golf Cup offers. 6. LIDOS, LAKES AND ADVENTURES Lakes Blindsee, Mittersee, Plansee and Heiterwanger See are only a few kilometres from the hotel. Berwang’s Bärenbad forest swimming pool, zoo and petting zoo, climbing forest, mountain scooters, summer tobogganing and many adventure paths offer plenty of fun for young and old adventurers, scientists, tigers and water rats. Afterwards, it’s time to relax with Singer’s SPA for kids... 7. ASTOUNDING ATTRACTIONS! • Highline 179 – ‘The world’s longest rope suspension bridge’ • Ehrenberg Ruins (10mins) • Ludwig II of Bavaria’s royal palaces (3 of them within 45-minute drive) and so much more! The natural and cultural attractions around the Singer Sporthotel & SPA are truly sensational – but if you yearn for even more, it just takes 1.25 hours to get to the Olympic city of Innsbruck. Alternatively, Garmisch and Füssen offer outstanding shopping opportunities. Singer’s tip: Ludwig II of Bavaria’s three royal palaces are always worth a visit. We can book your tickets and guided tours, just give us at least two days’ notice.
Singer’s Oktoberfest
Bärige Woche ‘The best week of the year in Tyrol’s most beautiful mountain village’
25 May to 15 October 2017
• 4 nights indulgence half board • Bouquet of roses in your room on arrival • Romantic SPA ritual for two in Singer’s Private SPA Suite (approx 130mins) • Picnic in the mountains – organised by us for you • Private candlelit dinner with Champagne aperitif from €697 per person
17 to 24 September 2017
• 7 nights indulgence half board • Starlit walk with headlamps • Guided walks with a range of culinary highlights in our mountain huts • Guest Party in the village square with musical accompaniment by Musikkapelle Berwang • Culinary Tour of Berwang • Trip to Highline 179 • Oktoberfest at Singer Sporthotel & SPA on 23 September • Many more highlights... Stay 7 nights for free admission to the Culinary Tour, the Guest Party and all trips (worth €60). Additional food & drink not included. from €889 per person
Z-ticket: you r active card!
From free cab le car rides to discounts at m any of the reg ion’s top attractions – you’re better off with a Z-ticke t! Find out mor e at www.hotelsing er.at Note: you can purchase your 3- to 13-day Z-t icket at the hotel.
Spring, summer & autumn 2017
Singer’s Gäste-News
Feel the beauty of nature – discover the beauty of you
OUR BEAUTICIAN GABRIELLA SHARES HER BEAUTY AND WELLBEING ADVICE, AND TELLS US ABOUT HER DREAM JOB AT SINGER’S SPA. Tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you decide to become a beautician and pedicurist, and why? Gabriella: My name is Gabriella Hosp, I was born
in 1965, and have been a beautician and medical pedicurist for over 30 years. At school, we were introduced to the idea of beauty as a career, and I just knew that this was for me. After a break to look after my children, I returned to Singer’s SPA in the winter of 2012/2013, where I work every Monday to Friday afternoon. What do you particularly enjoy about your work at Singer’s SPA? Gabriella: Just take a look around: who wouldn’t
enjoy working here?! Theresa [SPA Director Theresa Gerlach] and I always say that we’ve chosen the most beautiful place in the world to work in. Every single treatment room offers a view of the mountains, and we use nature’s gifts to adorn and decorate our lovely SPA. I also love the variety. In addition to facials, I give our guests body exfoliating treatments and wraps, manicures, pedicures and – my favourite – SPA massages such as the Alpine herbal massage. Are you more of a summer or winter person? Gabriella: Definitely spring! The first herbs and
flowers peep through the snow in early spring, and you can start to hike to some of the summit crosses again. It’s my favourite season. Gabriella, you’re 51 years old, and you look so fresh and dewy! What’s your secret, and what beauty advice would you give our guests? Gabriella: Thank you for the kind compliment, but
did you really have to mention my age? [laughs]. My recipe for staying young is: get outside and exercise every day, maintain a positive mindset, and use the right skincare products. This slows things down, and allows the odd treat to be forgiven – I adore chocolate! I always tell our guests – and my children – that good cleansing is crucial. Pores need to be clarified morning and night. Even the best cream is useless if it can’t penetrate the skin. In my family, cleansing milk for dry skin, cleansing mousse for oily skin, and, when we’re in a rush, Caudalie’s micellar water are absolute must-haves! So, you use the same products at home and at work? Gabriella: Of course, I’m right at the source, so to
speak! I prefer to test new skincare lines on myself and my daughters so I can share my experiences with the guests and give them recommendations that are sound. Which are your favourite products, and what’s your husband’s attitude to skincare? Gabriella: There isn’t one single product that I could
call my favourite, as I like to give my skin the tailormade care it needs. In winter, Anti-rougeurs by Piroche is indispensable – I apply it under a supermoisturising day cream before going skiing. In the summer, I rely on Caudalie’s suncare cream. It replaces all my usual day care products and leaves no residue. My eldest daughter always has some Rosalpina Fluid Mixed Skin by Piroche in her bag, and our youngest is a big fan of Caudalie’s Foaming Cleanser and their Purifying Mask. These products are helping her sail through puberty. My husband
also has a favourite line: Tyrolean shale oil by Tiroler Steinöl. He’s very athletic and likes to apply their skin tonic before and after exercise to prevent cramp and sore muscles. He also carries a bottle of Tiroler Steinöl body milk in his sports bag. Imagine you were on holiday at the Singer Sporthotel & SPA: how would your perfect day go? Gabriella: I’d be the first down to breakfast, and the
last to leave! I’d skip the early morning exercise class, and instead join our guide, Gerd, on a summit hike. After a selfie at the summit cross, I’d make it back to the hotel for a herbal sauna – it’s not too hot, but does wonders for body and soul. After a couple of saunas, my lovely colleague will be on hand to give me a soothing calf massage, and if there’s time before dinner, I’d enjoy a pampering Alpine Power facial. One last question: what changes and developments in the beauty industry have you noticed in recent years? Gabriella: Natural ingredients aren’t new, but guests
are becoming increasingly conscious of green issues, and prefer products with healthier, natural constituents over chemicals. Also, many places have jumped on the bandwagon of microdermabrasion, high frequency facials and skin needling. At Singer’s SPA, we prefer to use our hands. There isn’t an ultrasound electrode, needle or wand that can read the skin like our fingers via the sense of touch. The other thing that has altered beyond recognition is our target group. All our clients are different: we have gentlemen who want to treat their hard-working hands to a manicure, their wives who opt for anti-ageing treatments, and grandparents in search of a really good medical pedicure. Even children who use the double room SPA Suite with their mums love to come and be pampered.
‘If you’re happy where you are, you can’t help radiating harmony. That’s something I can transmit to our guests here at Singer’s SPA. I always look forward to meeting our guests!’ Autumn Holidays Special 30 September to 15 October 2017
• 5 nights indulgence half board for the price of 4 • Children 9 years and under stay for free in their parents’ room – including children’s menu 50% reduction on published prices for children over 9 years • A family walk through the Biligwald forest • 3 hours in the Kletterwald Bichlbach climbing forest for the family • Daily morning exercise for the whole family • Family SPA time for 1 parent and 1 child in the SPA Suite • SPA treatments for Mum, Dad, the little princess and the little sportsman Family package for 5 nights e.g. Abendspitze studio: 2 adults and 2 children (up to age 9) €1,594 Rainberg standard double room: 2 adults and 1 child (up to age 9) €1,266 Additional charge for each child over 9 €216
Singer’s Gäste-News
Spring, summer & autumn 2017
Florian Singer – passionate hotelier
BY FRED STEINACHER, LONG-TIME NEWSPAPER EDITOR, MARKETING PROFESSIONAL & EVENTS MANAGER acquired an enviable reputation over many decades, will master today’s challenges and go forward, true to the review in the Guide: ‘The Singer family has transmitted its passion for the hotel industry from generation to generation, and this is palpable everywhere, even in the smallest details.’ A conversation with Florian Singer is satisfying, because everything he says clearly reflects how things are done at this hotel, and in this environment – out on the terrace overlooking the church tower. For him and his team, providing guests with excellence is not merely an objective, but an obligation. He aims to offer holidaymakers in the region and at his hotel a superb home away from home with Tyrolean hospitality. Florian Singer knows what he is talking about. Many years abroad learning his trade taught him ‘how lovely it is back in Berwang in Tyrol’. Because there’s no place like home...
O
nce upon a time, a TV production team found itself stumped when someone asked, ‘Where are Berwang and the Hotel Singer?’. Not anymore! Today, many people know that the prestigious Relais & Châteaux Singer Sporthotel & SPA is located in the centre of the Tyrolean Zugspitz Arena’s highest village. It’s an idyll at 1,336m above sea level, in the heart of Berwang, surrounded by stunning mountain scenery, and run by a man who was born to laugh. Florian Singer clearly enjoys being the third generation of his family to have taken on the honourable task of managing one of the world’s finest hotels together with his wife Christina.
He has never regretted joining his parents’ business after spending four years abroad (Hôtel Le Meurice in Paris, Sonnenalp in Vail, Colorado, followed by the Relais & Châteaux Hotel Certosa di Maggiano in Siena, and finally at The Dorchester in London): ‘I always knew that I wanted to become a hotelier because I love looking after guests; nothing beats seeing them leave with a happy smile, and knowing that they will come back.’ Putting vision into action...
Strong words, honest, compelling, visionary. This is understandable from a hotelier who doubles as the joint head of the cable cars (with Gernot Falger), and who has cogitated the next steps in the hotel’s development for a long time. His motto is carpe diem Fred Steinacher (seize the day). And that’s precisely what Hospitality: tradition and future he does! The current plans for the hotel’s As soon as you meet Florian Singer, you feel infrastructure improvements provide both a as if you’ve known him for a very long time. basis and capital for the future of both ski resort Although only 35 years old, his eyes reveal experience, and Singer Sporthotel & SPA. competence and a sense of purpose as well as warmth. ‘We see ourselves as a ski resort for generations; many One senses that the 4-star superior hotel, which has people who learnt to ski here when they were youngsters
return with their own children. It’s a tradition that we wish to nurture and preserve.’ The close relationship between hotel and slope – perfect ski-in & ski-out, so to speak – is as relevant to realising the young hotelier’s dreams as is the ski area’s identity as the perfect slow-paced resort, ideal for beginners, families, returners and leisurely skiers. And the Thanellerkarlift’s upgrade and extension won’t do any harm either.
Singer’s Gäste-News
Spring, summer & autumn 2017
INTERVIEW
A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS AT SINGER’S! A new era for Singer Sporthotel & SPA is due to begin in the 2017/2018 winter season. Florian Singer talks to us about pioneering spirit, progression, more comfort for his guests, ski resort news, and his dreams for the future... The designs for the area around the umbrella bar and the ski-in & ski-out area are finished. What are the planned changes and improvements? Florian Singer: We aim to optimise the Singer
Sporthotel & SPA’s existing resources by refreshing the golden thread that runs between the hotel, the piste and the existing umbrella bar. The benefits are that by shifting things up one level we create an additional indoor dining area – the Sonnen Stube – and an outdoor S-Lounge, which replaces the umbrella bar and offers direct, same-level access to and from the slope, ‘ski-in & drink-out’ as it were! We are also adding another sun deck as well as an inconspicuous, logistically more efficient delivery entrance. Completion is planned for the 2017/2018 season. Looking back, we can see that there have been major investments in the hotel on an annual or biannual basis. Is this going to continue? Will there ever be an end to it? Florian Singer: An end is never in sight in the
hotel industry, because you have to keep investing and adapting to make sure your finger stays on the pulse. The project for 2017-2019 follows a master plan, which, when completed, will require fine-tuning; so, there will still be plenty to do after completion!
Developments are also afoot in the ski resort itself: the ageing Thanellerkarlift is due a makeover. When can we expect work to start, and what are the plans? Florian Singer: The mountain offers such great
skiing for anyone, be they children, beginners or
SINGER’S 2017-2019 PROJECT AT A GLANCE Eastern extension • Ground floor (approx 300sqm): – New storage facilities, plant rooms and refuse room – WC facilities for the new outdoor bar – New delivery entrance for unobtrusive, more efficient logistics – Additional cold stores and a walk-in freezer • First floor: – Additional indoor dining area: Sonnen Stube – Ski-in & drink-out: the S-Lounge, a new outdoor dining area with direct access to the slope on the same level as Restaurant 1928 (replaces the existing umbrella bar) – An additional sun deck adjacent to Restaurant 1928
NOTE: leisure skiers, so we’ve been thinking that refurbishme nt and getting to the top should be as much fun as construction works will skiing down. Assuming that all regulatory only be unde rtaken durin requirements are met and permits are in g the spring an d autumn place, work is due to start in 2018. The shoulder sea sons when th plan is to install a six-seater chairlift or e hotel remain s shut, so even a ten-passenger gondola. avoiding any How do you imagine things will be in inconvenien ce to 2030? our guests. Florian Singer: By then the hotel will have
Plus: • New heating system • Refurbishment of existing WCs, additional disabled WCs and a baby changing room • New staff changing rooms and WCs • 4 additional rooms in the staff house • Improvements in and around Singer’s SPA • 3 or 4 additional, 50sqm garden suites • Renovation of 15 bathrooms • Refurbishment of 11 rooms including bathrooms • Conversion of 4 double rooms and 2 single rooms into 40-45sqm junior suites • Upgrade of 4 more rooms and corridors
passed its centenary, and I’ll be nearly 50 [laughs]! I hope that our 4-star superior hotel will still be one of Tyrol’s best hotels, and that we will be enjoying the pleasure of looking after our guests as much as we do now. I read somewhere that Florian Singer’s dream is to fly a passenger aircraft! Is that still an aspiration? Florian Singer: Absolutely [laughs]! But
only once everything in the region and the hotel are running perfectly, and I finally have the spare time to study for my pilot’s licence...
Imprint: Singer Sporthotel & SPA | Singer Family | 6622 Berwang | Tyrol | Austria | Tel +43 5674 8181 | Fax +43 5674 8181 83 | E-Mail office@hotelsinger.at | www.hotelsinger.at © www.marketing-deluxe.at Photos: Singer Sporthotel & SPA, Felder Images, Fotografie Michael Huber, Tourismusregion Tiroler Zugspitz Arena, Piere Etienne Vincent