History of the Hotel Steffisalp****

The charming Walser village of Warth am Arlberg has had a strong skiing tradition since as early as 1894. Let us take you on a trip through the past and learn more about how the 4* Hotel Steffisalp in Warth came to be.

Overview of the key historical milestones

  • 1894: Pastor Johann Müller lays the foundation stone for skiing in Warth

  • 1920: the first visitors discover Warth as a vacation spot

  • Pioneers of skiing founded the Ski Club and Ski School in Warth, followed by the construction of the first ski lift

  • 1960s: Foundation of Skilifte Warth

  • 1970s: four lifts built to connect the ski resort with the Salober

  • 1975: a ski association purchases the Gasthaus Lechtalblick, the location of today’s Hotel Steffisalp****

  • 1980s: more and more skiers come to Warth-Schröcken

  • 1990s: countless investments followed, including three new cable cars

  • 2000s: Warth-Schröcken is among the most modern ski resorts in Europe

  • 2005: construction of the Hotel Steffisalp****

  • 2013: connection established between the ski resorts of Warth-Schröcken and Lech-Zürs

  • 2017: the Dorfbahn Warth cable car and the new “Burgermeisterei” restaurant concept

The history of the founding of Warth

In the 1920s, pioneers of skiing founded the Ski Club and Ski School in Warth. At the beginning of the 1960s, life in the mountainside farming village on the Arlberg was still hard, austere and deprived. The establishment of the hotel and tourism industry on the Arlberg offered an opportunity to ensure the future development of Warth.

Investors and pioneers of skiing in the local region of Warth, Lech and the Rhine Valley

Countless investors from the Rhine Valley, Warth and Lech, as well as visitors from Germany, had great confidence in Warth and its potential as a winter sports destination. They founded Skilifte Warth Strolz KG on June 1, 1963. The construction of the Steffisalp single-seater chair lift in 1963 was intended to have a decisive influence on the village. With plenty of pioneering spirit, courage, and passion, they created and expanded the basis for tourism in Warth am Arlberg.

Hotel Steffisalp Vorarlberg
Urlaub in Vorarlberg

“Since the Steffisalp was opened a good 15 years ago, a lot has changed in the hotel business. I am especially proud of the fact that we can welcome our guests back every year with excellent quality and warm Walser hospitality.”

Wolfgang Telser, Managing Director

50 years of Skilifte Warth on the Arlberg

The investors’ courage bore fruit in the ‘70s. The ski lifts ascend to the third-largest ski resort in the Vorarlberg region. The Austrian Championships and Wiltrud Drexel’s success in the Olympics made a significant contribution to raising Warth’s profile.

  • 1979 High Alps station built
  • significant expansion of the ski resort
  • 1977 Establishment of the Skitreff Hochtannberg tourism association

Decision to build the Jägeralpenbahn cable car in 1979 – the Skilifte Warth company operated 8 cable cars and the connection to Schröcken by this time. In the 1980s, more and more visitors were drawn to the region for winter sports:

  • Construction of the Wartherhorn-Bahn
  • Construction of the Gasthaus Steffisalp
  • 1989 most popular community in the Bregenz Forest in terms of overnight stays
  • 3 new cable cars followed
  • one ski pass – 36 ski resorts

Now, more than 50 years on, what started as a company operating a single ski lift now employs more than 200 staff in the winter season.

Hotel Steffisalp**** in Warth am Arlberg

Another milestone was reached in 2005. The Skilifte Warth mountain cable car association invested in an innovative hotel concept for the first time – the Hotel Steffisalp. Formerly operating solely as a restaurant, it has now become a first-class, four-star hotel offering a modern Alpine lifestyle, right on the slopes:

  • 56 rooms and suites
  • 6 restaurant concepts
  • Wellness and spa area with a vitality pool and sauna facility
  • Indulgence & gourmet dining at a breakfast buffet offering local products
  • Cosy fireside bar
  • In-house ski and sports equipment rental
  • 4 Sterne Hotel Steffisalp Warth Arlberg
  • Gasthof Steffisalp