Where It All Began
The Love Story
of Josef & Rosa
It began with a hardworking plumbing apprentice from Lustenau named Josef, who fell madly in love with a young farmer's daughter from Lech named Rosa. They married, welcomed two children, and worked tirelessly building a life together. Then came the war. Josef returned from captivity. A third child arrived. The family was complete. So was a shared conviction that life in Lech am Ariberg, Austria should be built by their own hands. The dream of creating something of their own began to take shape, one stone, one room and one guest at a time. Even today, a golden emblem on the third floor quietly tells the story of Josef's love for Rosa. It is the beginning of everything that became Hotel Lech and Residenz Chesa Rosa.
Laying the Foundation Stone 1956
In 1956, the foundation stone was laid for what was then Haus Lech, today known as Residenz Chesa Rosa. The first guest rooms emerged from the mountainside through sheer determination and a certain Wingelmayr stubbornness. Josef and Rosa's dream became solidified. Rosa, known affectionately as Rösle by the village and her husband, became the heart and soul of the house. Josef rarely stood still long enough to accept such a title himself. There was always another wall to build, another improvement to make, another idea taking shape.
A few years later came the foundation of what is now Hotel Lech am Arlberg in the centre of Lech village. The early days included a workshop, a disco and bowling alleys. Lech was rather different then. The older members of the family still smile when those stories surface. Mischievous smiles suggesting that not every detail shall be shared. By the 1970s, Hotel Lech had grown into the building that stands proudly and slightly elevated in Lech amArlberg today. Much has changed since then. The family habit of creating more projects than free time has not.
A Family Business. For Generations.
Several decades later, the story continues with Andrea, the youngest, though certainly tallest, daughter of Rosa and Josef. Together with her Andreas, she looks after Hotel Lech am Arlberg and Residenz Chesa Rosa, her sister building, with the sort of attention that some call obsession. It is an eye for detail that notices when a cushion has been moved three centimetres.
The fact that an Andreas happened to fall in love with an Andrea remains pure coincidence. Another coincidence: just like Rosa and Josef before them, they have three children. Vreni, Valerie and Vinzenz.
The houses, the family and the traditions have grown together over the decades. Like siblings, really. Occasionally different in character. Entirely inseparable. Standing shoulder to shoulder.
The Team Behind the Family
Success is never built by family alone. Behind the Wingelmayrs stands a team that belongs just as naturally to the house as the fireplace in the lobby. Some have been here for decades. Others arrived more recently and promptly discovered how difficult the spell of Lech am Arlberg is to shake off. Different backgrounds, different stories, but always the same approach: warm hospitality, thoughtful details and a quiet pride in doing things properly. They are the sort of people who remember how you take your coffee, where you prefer to sit and which dessert you claimed you were too full to order.
And Then There Is Fini
Every family business has a charmer. Ours has four legs and the most beautiful eyes you have ever seen. Fini, widely recognised as the most beautiful girl in Lech, oversees greetings, ear scratches and the steady accumulation of sympathy points by chasing snowballs. Her standards are high. Her approval cannot be bought. Usually.
Family Values.
The Things That Matter.
This is not merely a hotel. It is a structure carved from rock by the first generation. The second generation worked hard to help it grow, and now the third generation is already in the starting blocks.
It is more than a building. It is a story and a home. Our home.
We are surrounded by the mountains we know best and love most. We are madly, utterly in love with these peaks, which is why we care deeply about the small details and the environment that sustains us. Hospitality here is not a service; it is a way of existing at 1,450 metres above sea level.
