The House
Kristiania, as we like it
Kristiania is a hotel, yes — but above all, 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 and snow beyond the windows. From the beginning, there is also the feeling that this house was created with care. Not to impress everyone. Simply to feel right to those who understand it.
A House with a Story
The story of Kristiania begins with a family, a skier and a house that never stood still for very long.
"Built by ski champion Othmar Schneider — his hunting trophies still hang on the walls — it is presided over by his daughter Gertrud. It oozes personality." — Financial Times
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 and conversations that linger long after dessert.
A House with a Point of View
What gives Kristiania its particular tone is not only the house itself, but the sensibility behind it.
Having grown up in the House, Gertrud Schneider has spent a lifetime shaping its character through art, hospitality, friendships and a belief that how people are looked after matters.
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 point of view that gives Kristiania its particular tone: cultivated, welcoming and entirely its own.
Gertrud Schneider
Owner, collector, host and lifelong custodian of the House.
The spirit of the house
Some things are felt rather than explained.
What matters most at Kristiania is not only how things look, but how they feel. We believe in knowing when to guide and when to step back. 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 never been an amenity at Kristiania. It is part of the House.
Paintings, photographs, books and objects gathered over decades reflect a lifelong curiosity about the world and a pleasure in living with beautiful things.
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.
A House That Already Knows Who It Is
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.
Private by nature. Personal by design. Or simply: a house that already knows who it is.