The House
Kristiania, as we like it
Kristiania is not a hotel in the usual sense. It is a house above the village, shaped by character, curiosity and a deeply personal way of welcoming people.
There is art on the walls, candlelight in the evening, snow outside the windows and a sense, from the very beginning, that this place has been made with feeling. Not to impress everyone. Simply to feel right to those who understand it.
A House with a Story
The story of Kristiania is closely tied to the Schneider family and to one of Austrian skiing’s great names.
Gertrud Schneider’s father, Othmar Schneider, won Austria’s first Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Games in Oslo, a city long remembered by its historic name: Kristiania. The house carries that name to this day — not as nostalgia, but as a quiet thread of history, sport and family memory.
That spirit still lingers here. Not in a museum-like sense, but in the way skiing remains part of the rhythm of the house, and in the feeling that some places are shaped as much by stories as by walls.
Above the Village
Set slightly above the centre of Lech, Kristiania looks out with a little perspective and a great deal of charm.
The village is close, the mountains closer still, yet the house feels gently apart. There is a quiet rhythm to being here: slow breakfasts, ski mornings, books by the fire, long dinners, late conversations and the kind of comfort that does not need explaining.
Kristiania has never tried to be grand in the obvious way. Its luxury is more personal than performative, more atmospheric than announced. Above the village, one feels both part of Lech and pleasantly removed from it.
The Kristiania Way
What gives Kristiania its particular tone is not only the house itself, but the sensibility behind it — thoughtful, personal and quietly assured.
Gertrud Schneider
Kristiania is the expression of its owner, Gertrud Schneider, who grew up with the house and has shaped it over many years into the distinctly personal retreat it is today.
Her eye is unmistakable: elegant but never stiff, artful but never overdone, thoughtful, warm and occasionally a little unexpected. Under her care, Kristiania has become a house that values atmosphere as much as service, personality as much as polish, and individuality over formula.
It is this personal way of thinking that gives Kristiania its particular tone: cultivated, welcoming and full of character.
The spirit of the house
What matters most at Kristiania is not only how things look, but how they feel. We believe in hospitality with warmth, ease and attention. In knowing when to guide and when to step back. In details that are well judged rather than overdone. In service that feels human, not rehearsed.
Some guests come for the skiing. Some for the quiet. Some for the house itself. Most return because Kristiania feels rare in the best possible way: personal, soulful and entirely itself.
Art, character and collected life
Art has long been part of Kristiania’s world. Not as decoration, but as atmosphere, conversation and a way of seeing.
Across the house, paintings, objects and collected pieces lend texture and surprise. There is curiosity here, and a pleasure in contrast: alpine tradition alongside contemporary spirit, comfort alongside creativity, refinement with a little wit.
Kristiania is a place for guests who enjoy beauty, but also personality — a house with depth, not just surface.
A small Circle
Some guests stay. Some stay close.
Over time, certain guests become part of Kristiania in a quieter, more personal way. Not through points or tiers, but through familiarity, affection and the pleasure of returning to a house that feels meaningful to them. It is a small circle of guests and friends of the house, invited a little closer over time.
A quieter kind of luxury
Luxury at Kristiania is not about spectacle.
It lives in the feeling of being genuinely well looked after, in the intimacy of a small house, in thoughtful rooms, familiar faces and the sense that everything has been chosen with care.
→ It is luxury with character.
→ Private by nature. Personal by design.
→ Or simply: a house that already knows who it is.