Helga and Meinrad Morandell had a dream from an early age: they wanted to realise their own dreams - and not spend their whole lives working on their parents' farm. They both knew farming from the ground up.

Helga Morandell grew up as the youngest of five sisters - a latecomer, with her older sisters as her teachers at the Lahnbauerhof farm at home. Her father died at an early age, so she learnt to take responsibility even as a girl. Meinrad Morandell came from the neighbouring Hasslhof farm, the middle of three sons. His father died young there too. And there, too, it was the mother who ran the farm - alone, as a young widow. She managed everything in an exemplary manner, raised her three boys - and was ahead of her time: as the first woman in Kaltern with a driving licence and later, in 1958, as the first woman to rent out rooms on Lake Kaltern.

It almost goes without saying that Helga and Meinrad knew each other: the property on which the hotel now stands has been owned by Helga's family since 1882 and is adjacent to the Hasslhof.

Meinrad completed an apprenticeship as a chef in a prestigious hotel in Merano. And at the age of 16, he was already a great help to his mother when guests needed to be catered for. Helga, on the other hand, was a master of the farming trade - and at the same time knew that she wanted more. Not away from her roots, but towards something of her own.

They married at the age of 21. Their son Leander was born in the same year. They ran the Hasslhof farm for five years - until they realised their dream: their own guesthouse in the vineyard.

The whole family lent a hand, both financially and energetically. The first rooms with private bathrooms were built - still a speciality in 1970. What's more, the Haus am Hang was the first guesthouse on Lake Kaltern to offer half board. The Brenner motorway had just opened and the desire for holidays was great. Only a few were brave enough to create an offer. Helga and Meinrad were. It became a success story right from the start.

In 1977, his son Matthias joined him, he practically grew up in the hotel, there was no flat of his own back then and so the contact with the guests was quite natural.

Countless conversions, improvements and extensions followed. But one thing remained - and is still the claim today: the joy of the guest. The pleasure of a visit. And the pleasure of every conversation.

After all, those on holiday here should not just stay here, but feel part of the big house on the hillside family.