Dr. Anna-Maria Fäßler took over the family business and five-star resort Sonnenalp in Ofterschwang in 2011. In addition to her work as hotel director, the mother of two children is involved in voluntary work and has, among other things, founded the charity association "Sonnenalp Glücksbringer e.V.". Born in Austria, she has been nominated for the State Medal with the Brillat Savarin plaque in 2020 due to her extraordinary services to the Bavarian economy.

"Some people may have the illusion that we hoteliers don't need a holiday because we live in a hotel 365 days a year, but even we need a break from everyday life now and then - days to get a breath of fresh air and experience family time together. Even though we consider the Sonnenalp to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, which we have designed over the last ten years exactly the way we dream of our holidays, a change of location is also part of the annual ritual for my family. It is particularly important to my husband Michael and me that our two children Vicky, 13, and Jakob, 20, feel comfortable at the destination despite the big age difference. After all, every parent knows that only if the children, no matter how old they are, are happy, then so are we adults. For all of us, this starts with the departure, which should not take too long and should be as uncomplicated as possible. Thus, the first criterion for a relaxed holiday - a destination that is easy to reach.

In our travels so far, we have been particularly convinced by hotels that have their price, but at the same time leave lasting impressions with their overall package. For us, any form of frills is not important, we also do not need animation, but we love the personal commitment of the staff. A coherent image that can be felt by every guest, and that is also our top priority at the Sonnenalp. We are then also happy to pay accordingly for this service.

So far, we have been convinced by the "Vila Joya" in the Algarve in Portugal, Schloss Elmau here in beautiful Bavaria and the Boulders Resort & Spa in Arizona. Since we have family in America, we also take the long flight in this case. In this context, an equally important criterion for me and my family is the location of the hotel. Whether it's in the mountains or by the ocean, on vacation we want to get out into nature, to relax and breathe easy. We want to spend the time together as a family, explore the hotel and the area ourselves, and allow ourselves the leisure to determine the little free time in the year without external clocking. We always come up with something together, we don't know boredom.

In addition, the hotel should have cozy and clean rooms, but I honestly assume that. Balm for the soul is also good food, which you enjoy together with your loved ones in peace.

Our conclusion: hospitality, location and quality must be right.
We ourselves know only too well how much work is behind a great hotel project and appreciate this in other establishments as well. For this reason, we are always particularly pleased when we are able to welcome professional colleagues as guests at the Sonnenalp and inspire them with our Sonnenalp.

My tip as a hostess: always stay relaxed.
Holidays are one of the most important times of the year for everyone and at the same time always an exciting challenge for the whole family. But that is exactly the beauty of it. Travelling inspires and lets us discover new things, we gather experiences and adventures - in the best case, we gain new ideas for Sonnenalp. And if something goes wrong, we take a breath, don't take ourselves too seriously, because we are all human and therefore never faultless. That's good."

Picture credits: Dr. Anna-Maria Fäßler