Magdas is a boutique hotel and social enterprise in Vienna, providing employment for young refugees alongside open-minded guests.
Tourists are often shielded from the harsh realities of life that exist in some of the countries they visit, but not at Vienna’s Magdas Hotel. Financed by 57,306 euros in crowdfunding and a 1.5 million-euro loan from the Catholic non-profit organization Caritas Vienna, this boutique guesthouse was launched in 2015 to help refugees arriving in Austria to find their feet.
Having noticed that many of the refugees they were working with were struggling to find employment, Caritas decided to take matters into its own hands.
Based in a former Caritas retirement home, the hotel acts as a way to provide employment and housing for refugees while simultaneously raising awareness of their plight. Of the 30 staff members who work at the hotel, 20 come from countries including Iran, Somalia, Chechnya and Syria, while the other ten are more experienced hoteliers from Austria as well as countries such as Poland and Nigeria. In total, the hotel employs staff from 16 different countries and more than 20 languages are spoken within its walls.
There are two suites at the hotel for asylum seekers under the age of 18 who are living in Austria with no family. They use the hotel lounge as their living room, and a social worker visits them and all the staff every week. The staff members are actively encouraged to interact with guests, who in turn appreciate the social impact of the initiative. CEO Gabriela Sonnleitner, in a 2017 interview with Condé Nast Traveler, said, ‘We realized they were the ideal people to work in tourism. They’re well travelled, speak multiple languages, and many of them come from countries where being a host comes naturally.’
Dinis and Omid are just two of the hotel’s success stories. Despite speaking French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, German and English, Dinis the receptionist from Guinea-Bissau had struggled to find work during ten years in Austria before he joined the Magdas Hotel. Omid, from Afghanistan, can speak five languages and joined the hotel as a night porter before being promoted to deputy front-desk manager in 2016, and he has ambitions to continue moving further up. In conversation with Condé Nast Traveler, he explained, ‘I’ve changed a lot, working here. Before, I was very nervous, but I’m more sure of myself now. Magdas is a really good project – it shows the world that there are many different types of people.’
Rooms are available from 62 euros a night, and the hotel is rated four out of five stars on TripAdvisor. Occupancy rates average at 70 per cent and the hotel, which is self-financing, is on track to break even. Staff pay is in line with industry standards, from around 20,000 euros a year for the most junior positions.
In 2015 the Magdas Hotel was awarded the Austrian State Prize for Design and numerous NGOs from other European cities have expressed interest in the self-sufficient project. The arrangement encourages guests to recognize refugees as individual human beings – who are making a contribution to society – rather than as faceless statistics.
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Website: www.magdas-hotel.at
Contact: info@magdas-hotel.at
Company name: Caritas
Innovation name: Magdas Hotel
Country: Austria
Industries: Non-profit & social cause / Tourism & travel