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Stieg’nhaus | Luxury Design Hotel in Austria’s Hochkönig | The Aficonados

Modernist in Blanc

stieg'nhaus

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Woman walking down the spiral staircase |Stieg’nhaus | Luxury Design Hotel in Austria’s Hochkönig | The Aficonados

Intro

Where the serrated peaks of the Hochkönig brush the bluebird sky, hotel stieg’nhaus sits quietly composed, gesturing a nod to village tradition in a fresh new guise: an unflustered boutique sanctuary of style. Opened in June 2025, the Austrian hotel of rethought design masters the art of understatement: all chalky plaster, pale stone and soft luxury layered with Alpine warmth. It is where modernism slips off its shoes and breathes.

Salzburg is just an hour away, Zell am See a touch less, stieg’nhaus keeps the rhythm of Mühlbach am Hochkönig while rewriting its aesthetic. The façades glow like limestone in morning light, the plaster carries the tone of snow, the exposed stonework gestures the peaks and cleverly mimics the architecture of the neighbouring Parish church, whilst the use of blond timber skirting wraps the scene into the familiar narrative of the Alps.

At its centre winds the elegant Stiege, the original staircase that lends both name and design patina. Its polished, curved plaster walls and hand-forged brass railings rise gracefully through the building, holding a whisper of the past amid the clean lines of the present. A stylistic anchor that spirals back to a timeless gesture of craft, modernity and continuity.

Owners Maria and Tom Heidenreich and architect Carolyn Herzog of Studio H Collective have built a cool, contemporary Alpine hotel that feels distinctly urbane and personal. Each detail is considered but never showy: natural oak floors that warm bare feet, cabinetry that curves to the room’s geometry, ceramics shaped by local hands. Even the espresso machine has been designed to blend into the palette, proof that quiet luxury always has the last word.

Inside, the light softens and the tone hushes. Lime-washed walls diffuse the Alpine glow, Egyptian marble cools the touch, and the scent of wood and linen lingers like memory. This is design at its most soulful: tactile, poised and genuinely restful.

Oiled oak floors that warm bare feet, cabinetry that curves to the room’s geometry, ceramics shaped by local hands

Rooms that Breathe

Luxury Bedroom free standing bathtub and pastel interiors in modern Alpine style | Stieg’nhaus | Luxury Design Hotel in Austria’s Hochkönig | The Aficonados

There are just six suites, each a study in tactility and tone. Light falls softly across lime-plastered walls, oak boards canvas the interior with intention and the colour palette drifts between linen, chalk and the soft blush of stone.

Everything has been handmade or designed to fit: bespoke joinery, hand-thrown ceramics, woollen cushions and smooth cabinetry that follows the room’s curves. In the restaurant, Gentle Chairs by Sebastian Herkner for Linteloo carry the same sculptural grace as the architecture.

The bathrooms are serene and spa-like, with marble vanities, deep soaking tubs and fittings by Gessi that feel more like sculpture than hardware. Two luxury suites feature private saunas, while another offers a secluded terrace with an outdoor whirlpool, the perfect reward after long hikes or days on the slopes. Beauty fridges, metal-free mattresses and cloud-soft linens by Douxe elevate comfort into art.

This is the vocabulary of soft luxury: warmth, stillness and design intelligence in quiet dialogue.

Fire, Earth and a Glass of Wine

Restaurant concept Design contemporary interiors |Stieg’nhaus | Luxury Design Hotel in Austria’s Hochkönig | The Aficonados

Food at stieg’nhaus mirrors its surroundings: honest, sensory and rhythmical. The restaurant draws inspiration from the five elements of pasture, water, earth, fire and nectar. The result is a culinary narrative that favours clarity over complexity, letting flavours breathe.

Mornings start slow, with à la carte brunches and good coffee. Lunches stretch into lazy afternoons, and by dusk, the Feuerring terrace glows with woodsmoke and warmth. Here, cooking over an open flame becomes both performance and pause, a ritual of gathering and reflection.

The menu reads like an Alpine love letter: produce from nearby pastures, flavours sparked by mountain herbs, textures that echo the landscape. It is fine dining for design minds, unpretentious, elegant and in perfect sync with the house’s philosophy of modern, soulful simplicity.

Still Moments, High Places

At 860 metres above sea level, stieg’nhaus sits between the drama of the Hochkönig massif and the simplicity of village life. Mühlbach am Hochkönig is one of those rare Alpine places that still feels genuine, its rhythm unchanged by time. You wake to the scent of woodsmoke, the murmur of the church bell and the sound of snow being swept from a doorstep.

From here, trails, slopes and cycling routes fan out like an invitation to roam. The journey is as lovely as the destination: Salzburg lies just over an hour away, Munich a touch more. Roads weave through valleys of craft and calm, past farmsteads and sawmills where tradition still hums.

stieg’nhaus fits seamlessly into this landscape, a design-led ski hotel in the Austrian Alps that translates mountain living into something serene, soulful and utterly modern.

Quiet Wellness, Mountain Calm

Outdoor Jacuzzi on balcony views of the moutains |Stieg’nhaus | Luxury Design Hotel in Austria’s Hochkönig | The Aficonados Stieg’nhaus | Luxury Design Hotel in Austria’s Hochkönig | The Aficonados

The bijou spa at stieg’nhaus is not a wellness wonderland, and that is precisely its charm. It is a gentle landscape of warmth and light, a place designed for pause rather than spectacle.

A rooftop whirlpool gazes out over the Hochkönig, steam curling into the mountain air. The sauna and cold plunge create an easy rhythm between heat and stillness, while the flicker of the terrace fire lends the evening a quiet glow. Treatments are rooted in simplicity: natural oils, pure botanicals and luxurious Omorovicza products that leave the skin softly radiant.

From Code to Craft

Maria and Tom Heidenreich are not career hoteliers, and that is exactly what makes stieg’nhaus special. Both left careers in IT in Germany to start over in Austria, trading screens for scenery and code for craft. They married on the Wieseralm in 2021, and the dream of creating their own small design hotel began to take shape.

Together with architect Carolyn Herzog, they have turned that dream into a living, breathing space: a home for like-minded travellers who value authenticity over artifice, detail over drama. stieg’nhaus is their love letter to design and to the quiet life, a reminder that beauty is often found in the still moments between.

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