"My parents brought the world to the Hochschober. Our task is to further develop what already exists, harmonise it, and lead it into the future."
Karin Leeb
Lakeside hotel Carinthia – family-run by the Leeb and Klein family.
For & with
the people
the people
As the first hotel in Austria, Seehotel Hochschober in Carinthia prepared a Common Good Balance Sheet in 2014. The hotel had already published its own report on operational developments several years earlier. The first SDI rating followed in 2023. Good working conditions for employees and close cooperation with regional partners are also an integral part of the hotel’s approach. The hotel has received several awards for specific measures in the areas of energy, resources, regional sourcing and corporate governance.
A well-coordinated team:
Your hosts: the Leeb and Klein family.
Your hosts: the Leeb and Klein family.
“We know that we are in the right place. And that we enjoy what we do. If you are aware of that, you can achieve anything.”
Martin Klein
A clear philosophy
The lakeside hotel Hochschober in Carinthia is a family-run hotel in the truest sense. The Leeb and Klein family is now running the hotel in its third generation. The hotel began addressing environmental issues, social responsibility and corporate governance at an early stage. In 2014, Hochschober became the first hotel in Austria to publish a Common Good Balance Sheet in addition to its financial statements, followed by its first SDI rating in 2023. Among other things, the rating assesses environmental measures, social responsibility and the hotel’s qualities as an employer.
Employees with Joy
Best working conditions, intensive internal communication, and joint study trips ensure that the employees of our lakeside hotel in Carinthia are exceptionally satisfied. Further training measures are coordinated by the employee academy. The hotel also participates in the training program of the „Best Alpine Wellness Hotels“.
An economic factor for the entire region
As the largest employer in the municipality, the Leeb and Klein family is an important economic factor for the entire region. Wherever possible, the hotel collaborates closely with partners from the surrounding area - from taxi companies to farmers who supply the hotel with high-quality produce. This keeps the value creation in the region and the transport routes short. New constructions and renovations are generally carried out with craftsmen from the region. The lakeside hotel Hochschober in Carinthia supports charitable organizations and local associations, such as the SOS Kinderdorf Carinthia, the Disabled Integration Specialist Service Autark, the kindergarten, primary school, and the voluntary fire brigade in the village.
Our responsibility at the hotel
Over the past few years, the hotel has made targeted investments in technology and measures to reduce energy consumption. All heating and ventilation systems have been renewed, lighting has been converted to LED, and the buildings have undergone thermal refurbishment. Part of the hotel’s electricity is generated by its photovoltaic system. Since 1997, the hotel has sourced its heating energy from the wood-chip heating plant on the Turracher Höhe. Waste prevention and waste separation at Seehotel Hochschober on the Turracher Höhe are addressed through regular staff training. Suppliers primarily use reusable rather than single-use containers, while a modern waste compactor reduces the volume of residual waste.
From the world to the mountain.
It is no coincidence that the lakeside Hotel Hochschober can boast numerous influences from China, India, and the Orient. The Leeb family's love for travelling brought fascinating innovations and inspirations to the Turracher Höhe.
Difficult times in the early years
Hochschober founder Hans Leeb, as Barbara Leeb recounts in her memoirs, was not a great traveller. He and his wife Hilde founded the lakeside Hotel Hochschober in 1929, and the construction occupied them completely. The times were difficult. After the Great Depression came World War II. After that, English soldiers occupied the Hochschober.
The second generation gains experience
Barbara and Peter Leeb’s travels brought foreign influences to Hotel Hochschober. Before Peter took over Hotel Hochschober, he worked in Bermuda. In the early 1960s, an extraordinary workplace. Barbara, nee Seebacher, was doing her apprenticeship at the Hochschober at that time. After that, she made the courageous decision to move to Canada. She worked as a cook in a golf and country club near Toronto. Before Barbara's departure, she and Peter had grown closer. Now they had a lively (letter) contact. Barbara and Peter Leeb married in 1967.
Travelling as a source of inspiration.
In the following years, Hotel Hochschober and the family grew. Four children were born. The lakeside hotel in Carinthia became known as a pioneer in many aspects. Despite the many tasks, Barbara and Peter Leeb always found time for travel. Either it was study trips with colleagues, getaways as a couple, or with the children. Getting to know new cultures and discovering new things for the Hochschober was very important to both of them.
Friendships often developed on these trips. A special significance is attached to the Kothari family from India: for almost 40 years, the Leeb family, later also Leeb & Klein, has been friends with the Kothari family.
Innovations from the Orient and the Far East
The joy of travelling in the Leeb family, which has also been passed on to Karin Leeb and Martin Klein, owes much to the guests of the lakeside hotel in Carinthia. The Leeb family discovered the Oriental bathing culture during a trip to Istanbul in the 1980s. A visit to a hammam impressed them so much that Barbara and Peter Leeb visited hammams throughout the Orient for years. Almost ten years later, the Hochschober Hammam opened, planned by architects from Istanbul and authentically furnished. Likewise the Chinaturm was established. Trips to China aroused interest in tea culture. After years of planning, craftsmen from the region together with craftsmen from China built the four-storey tower. The plan came from an architect from China. There was no model for the See-Bad. It was conceived in the mind of Peter Leeb, who was an enthusiastic swimmer and ingenious tinkerer.
The history of the lakeside hotel in Carinthia
From a guesthouse to a wellness hotel
“Travel has given us an incredible amount of education. We have learned to understand the values of others – what is acceptable and what is not.”
PETER LEEB
Almost
100 years.
How the success story of the lakeside hotel began
In 1929, there were only a few houses on the Turracher Höhe when Hans and Hilde Leeb opened the "Gasthof Hochschober" directly at Lake Turrach. Soon after, the guesthouse burned down, was rebuilt. After the Second World War a total renovation followed. When Barbara and Peter Leeb took over in 1967, the hotel had 75 beds. In that year, the indoor pool and sauna went into operation. Only a few hotels in Austria had facilities like these at the time. The house grew steadily. In 1995, the world's unique See-Bad opened, and in 1998, the first hammam in the Alps.
In 2003, Peter and Barbara Leeb handed over the hotel to their daughter Karin and her husband Martin Klein. The two enrich the strategy of special places and offers with new accents. In 2005, the Chinaturm opened. This was followed by the Kindervilla, the youth club, the base camp, the modernisation of almost all rooms, the library, the redesign of the Kristall-Spa, the swimming pool, and the restaurants. In a few years, in 2029, the hotel celebrates its 100th birthday and is still working every day to remain young, attractive, and innovative.
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