Overview
In an inspiring display of hospitality — one that you’d rarely associate with anyone in the moneymaking tourism industry — a new hotel in Vienna has been set up to provide accommodation to both tourists and refugees forced to flee their native countries.
Recently opened just a stone’s throw away from the centre of the Austrian capital, the magdas Hotel boasts 78 furnished rooms for visiting tourists, right alongside two residential units providing housing for up to 25 young asylum seekers displaced by persecution and war.
The hotel is an initiative of the Austrian arm of the international Catholic aid collective Caritas. In addition to providing temporary accommodation, magdas Hotel also offers employment opportunities, with a majority of the staff being refugees. No two guest rooms are the same, with most of the furnishing having been donated or purchased from second-hand stores. Don’t let the ramshackle set-up fool you though. This place looks nice.
Basic rooms start from around €60 a night, although you might well be tempted to upgrade to a suite. Amenities include a breakfast buffet and a fully-stocked bar, while the front door is located just a few minutes away from the Praterstern Transportation Hub as well as the Prater Recreation Park.
Fingers crossed that the magdas Hotel does well. It’s always nice to see social enterprises like this succeed, especially when you’re in a country whose own track record with refugees is a little... uh... less accommodating. That being said, certain Australian entrepreneurs have been taking steps in this regard, such as the recently opened migrant-run clothing manufacturer Social Outfit in Sydney and Melbourne.
In the mean time, if you’re going to be in Vienna any time soon, you can book at room at the magdas Hotel via their website.
Via Design Milk.
Images: AllesWirdGut Architektur/ Guilherme Silva Da Rosa.