The Highest-Altitude Sacher Hotel – Seefeld, Tyrol

Alpin Resort Sacher Seefeld – Tirol

…this is how we write and name ourselves from now on at the former ASTORIA Resort at 1,200 m – making it the highest-altitude SACHER hotel in history.

"In 1950, my parents Fritz and Hilde Mauthner acquired this unique hotel in the Tyrolean mountains in Seefeld. Out of my parents' love and passion, after many years of intensive conversion work, expansion and refinement, grew the luxury resort that was awarded the greatest distinction of all just a few days ago:

ALPIN RESORT | SACHER | SEEFELD – TIROL.

The SACHER is one of the few family-run luxury hotels that not only meet international standards but actively help to shape them, thereby leading the way in the industry. Over the past 25 years I was able to make a substantial contribution to this development, before handing the hotels in Salzburg and Vienna over to my children in 2015. That is why I am especially proud today that the ASTORIA Resort, so closely tied to my family's history, is becoming part of the even larger Sacher hotel and restaurant family.

Unlike in city hotels, at the ALPIN RESORT SACHER you can enjoy impressive and largely unspoilt nature. In winter, Seefeld offers countless opportunities to recharge your energy and strengthen your resilience through outdoor activities in the healthy, fresh air. Afterwards, our SACHER spa team looks forward to offering your body complete relaxation – whether through massages, body treatments or beauty treatments. Treat yourself, too, to some time out in our expansive and multi-award-winning wellness area, one of the finest in all of Europe. Together with director Anton Birnbaum and his team, I look forward to welcoming you back with us very soon, when we can say: A WARM WELCOME TO THE ALPIN RESORT SACHER!"

"I am deeply grateful that I am able to take this step. My thanks go above all to my parents and to my uncle Helmut Nussbaumer, who guided the ASTORIA Resort for 27 years with great affection and outstanding commercial expertise. And of course I would also like to pay my respects to all the team members whose hospitality has motivated so many guests to return to the ASTORIA again and again. Last but not least, I would like to thank those responsible for tourism in Seefeld, who have been so positively disposed towards 'the Viennese' over all these years."

Dkfm. Elisabeth Gürtler

The story began with a cake

In 1832, the apprentice chef Franz Sacher created a chocolate cake at the court of the imperial Prince Metternich that was still moist even days later. To this day, this outstanding recipe remains the basis of every Original Sacher-Torte. In 1876, Eduard Sacher opened the Hotel Sacher opposite the Imperial and Royal Court Opera in Vienna. In 1892, following Eduard Sacher's death, his widow Anna Sacher continued to run the hotel, turning it into the best-known and most successful hotel of the Imperial and Royal Monarchy. In 1934, the Gürtler and Siller families took over the hotel after a bankruptcy and began writing a new chapter of success. In 1952 the Siller couple died childless, whereupon the hotel passed into the sole ownership of the Gürtler family. In 1988, Peter Gürtler acquired the Österreichischer Hof, the only grand hotel in the city of Salzburg, and in 2000 his wife Elisabeth renamed it Sacher Salzburg. In 2010, Elisabeth Gürtler and her two children Georg and Alexandra bought the Hotel Bristol Vienna, which will continue to be managed by Marriott as part of the Luxury Collection until 2037. In 2020 and 2021, the comprehensive renovations of the Sacher hotels in Vienna and Salzburg were completed; both luxurious houses rank among the most beautiful in Europe. In 2022, the former Hotel ASTORIA Resort in Seefeld became part of the Sacher family: the ALPIN RESORT SACHER SEEFELD-TIROL is another milestone in the unique family history of the Sacher luxury hotel brand.

A piece of the monarchy at the Sacher

The original recipe for the Sacher-Torte is regarded as one of the best-kept secrets there is. What the Sacher makes no secret of, however, is that the highest quality and exceptional luxury are the recipe for its success – and have been since 1832.

The hotels also enjoy their fine reputation because the Sacher brand is readily associated with the glittering Imperial and Royal Monarchy.

Understandably so, for the Sacher brand is represented in those three Austrian federal states in which the imperial house had its residences: Vienna, Salzburg and now Tyrol as well. For the "Holy Land", as Tyrol is often called, two Habsburgs were particularly formative: firstly Emperor Maximilian I, one of the most popular Habsburgs, for whom Tyrol was a refuge and a special place of recreation; and secondly Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and sovereign prince of Tyrol, who not only built the famous Ambras Castle but also brought his celebrated art collection to Tyrol.

No wonder, then, that since the 2019 refurbishment the two restaurants in the former Hotel ASTORIA have borne the names "Der Max" and "Salon Ferdinand" — anticipating the family's most recent decision: "Sacher goes West".

The Sacher has described its tradition as "passing on the fire, not worshipping the ashes."

The Sacher brand expands into resort hospitality

The former ASTORIA Resort in Seefeld looks back on a tradition spanning more than 70 years. Elisabeth Gürtler, today's owner of the hotel, lived here and learned about excellent hospitality from a young age. A few years later came the first rapprochement between the two hotels ASTORIA and SACHER through Peter Gürtler and Elisabeth Mauthner (today Gürtler), when Peter visited Elisabeth and fell in love with her. After her husband's death, Elisabeth Gürtler took over the management of the Sacher hotels, and after 25 years of Sacher management and the successful handover of the Vienna and Salzburg hotels to her two children Alexandra and Georg, she returned to her roots in Seefeld in Tyrol.

Her eye for detail, her entrepreneurial vision and above all her passion led the ASTORIA Seefeld to the very top of the hospitality industry. Her commitment has now made it possible to receive one of the highest accolades in tourism: the name SACHER. Elisabeth Gürtler will run the ALPIN RESORT SACHER together with her General Manager Anton Birnbaum, decisively advancing and shaping the highest standards in alpine hospitality. Guests can look forward to 100 percent Sacher in alpine style: the experience of one of the most significant hotel brands and classic Austrian luxury since 1832. Whether in an urban or alpine setting, the quality of all family-run Sacher hotels is a testament to excellence and offers guests experiences with a very personal touch. Guests can now discover this in beautiful Seefeld too.

The Sacher hotels

All Sacher hotels are owned by the Gürtler and Winkler families and are personally managed by them: Elisabeth Gürtler in Tyrol, Alexandra Winkler and Georg Gürtler in Vienna and Salzburg. With the ALPIN RESORT SACHER SEEFELD-TIROL, the Sacher brand is also expanding, as this is the first resort hotel to bear the name. The long Sacher tradition is founded on the principle of "preserving what is valuable from the past and replacing passing fashions with a new spirit of the times." This instinctive sense of judgement delights guests at all three hotels; it is the secret behind this enduring tradition and, at the same time, the guarantee that this long-standing success story will continue.