Master Key - Kinder Hotels and Sonnwies

My insider tips for optimizing a Sonnwies stay, and a deep dive into the Kinder Hotel model

Master Key: Kinder Hotels

Master Key is a publication for paid subscribers of The Upgrade | Weekly. It features deep dives into the world of hospitality, typically from a financial standpoint.

Have you ever returned home from a vacation with your children in need of another vacation? I often joke that traveling with my kids is just parenting in a different time zone with fewer resources.

All jokes aside, I’m in on an ongoing hunt for luxury family-friendly hotels. I’m not talking about the all-inclusive Mexico experience – I’m talking about a real luxury hotel where by some miracle, I won’t worry about my children disturbing the peace or breaking something priceless in the lobby.

Many readers of The Upgrade are savvy hospitality professionals or travelers who know the typical categories of hotels – select service, lifestyle, resort, boutique, all inclusive, etc, but Family Hotels or Kinder Hotels are their own category, typically specific to Europe.

There is a certification program, primarily in the German-speaking Alpine markets of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy’s South Tyrol. Hotels are rated on a point system across categories like:

1) Kids’ club programming and hours

2) Baby and toddler equipment

3) Family room configurations

4) Childproofing

5) Dining (kids’ menus, meal timing, allergy awareness)

6) Outdoor play space

7) Staff training for children

The Upgrade this week featured an interview with one of the owners of Sonnwies, a luxury Kinder Hotel in Italy’s Dolomites.

How do Kinder Hotels operate differently from other hotels or all-inclusive resorts?

The Kinder Hotel model focuses on one big area - childcare. The childcare is integral to the experience. Happy parents, happy children = returning guests. The Capex spend for maintaining top talent in the childcare arena is high, which is why many Kinder Hotels are being sold as younger generations no longer wish to maintain ownership of such a difficult business model.

However, the hotels that are getting it right are capturing families that return year after year with the promise of a real vacation for parents and children. There is something about parenting abroad with other parents around you in the same situation. I’ve found that many hotels that promise all-inclusive experiences don’t really deliver on the luxury side (Grand Velas is a “nice” option but still feels a little expensive to me for the experience they provide), or they are adults-only like Naviva.

Let’s take a look at the model of Kinder Hotels through the lens of Sonnwies.