THE SONNENALP IN VAIL CHANNELS FIVE GENERATIONS OF HOSPITALITY TO CREATE A TRULY EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE.
Sonnenalp Hotel in Vail has a heritage that dates back to 1919 in Bavaria. PHOTO COURTESY OF SONNENALP
WHEN VAIL WAS FOUNDED IN THE MID 1960s, this American resort modeled its architecture off century-old villages in Bavaria. It can sometimes feel contrived. However, to step inside Sonnenalp Hotel (sonnenalp.com) is to be transported to a mountain resort high in the Alps. The furnishings are custom-made in Europe. Millwork uses reclaimed wood from an old German smokehouse. Beyond the decor, the hotel is imbued with gemütlichkeit—a German word meaning warmth, cordiality and good cheer. To understand how a hotel that opened in 1979 achieves such Old World charm, you have to go back five generations.
In 1919, Adolf and Eleonore Faessler opened up a lodge a few hours southwest of Munich, offering rooms and treatments like detoxifying Moor mud baths. The Sonnenalp in Europe remains an iconic destination today, with a spa, golf courses and even its own ski hill. In 1979, Karlheinz and Gretl Faessler— the family’s third generation—came to Vail and bought a small motel called the Wedel Inn. They remodeled its 38 rooms and renamed it Hotel Sonnenalp. Their son Johannes grew up at the Sonnenalp in Germany, working in the hotel’s kitchen or at the front desk. “That was fairly typical at that time,” he says. Johannes studied hotel management at the University of Denver, and when he graduated, he took over the Vail property with his wife, Rosana, in 1986.
She grew up in Brazil in an Italian family and met Johannes on a ski trip to Vail in 1984. “I came for the skiing, which we didn’t have in Brazil,” she says. Her brother, Pedro, who was Johannes’s DU classmate, had booked them into a less-than-desirable hotel over Thanksgiving. “It was a fraternity party hotel that smelled of pizza. I said, ‘Pedro, I’m not staying here.’” They moved to the Hotel Sonnenalp, where she met Johannes. They married a year later.
Some of the hotel’s suites span two stories. PHOTO COURTESY OF SONNENALP
Within a year, Johannes and Rosana had three properties: They renamed the family’s flagship hotel “The Sonnenalp Austria Haus,” and they bought the Talisman and Kiandra lodges, renaming them Swiss Haus and Bavaria Haus, respectively. “We were 26 years old, and we had three front desks, two spas and three kitchens,” Rosana says. “It was crazy.” (They also bought a golf course in Edwards and branded it with the Sonnenalp name. Eventually, they consolidated, focusing on the Bavaria property, which has since evolved into today’s landmark hotel set on Gore Creek.
“When I came to Vail, there was only gas-station coffee and no good bread,” Rosana says. Sonnenalp now has an on-site bakery headed by pastry chef Irma Barrera, and Lavazza espresso is served in the restaurants. “I’m Brazilian-Italian. You need to have good coffee,” she says. “And Irma’s desserts are unbelievable—they’re works of art.”
Generations four and five of the Faessler family. FAMILY PHOTO BY TODD WINSLOW PIERCE
“Corporate hotels, they change a lot—the ownership, the staff—I think that’s the biggest difference,” Johannes says. “It doesn’t change very much here.” And people like it that way. “We have an extraordinary group of guests who’ve been very loyal. They’ve been coming here for 30 years.” Sonnenalp Vail is also the only property in Colorado to be named to the prestigious “Leading Hotels of the World” collection (in 2001), and in 2024, it received a Michelin One Key award, in the first year that the tire giant bestowed its hotel awards in the U.S.
Rosana sources fabrics from century-old European textile companies PHOTO COURTESY OF SONNENALP
Over the last four years, Rosana has directed the renovation of the hotel’s 127 rooms, tackling 20 at a time. She curates the decor, hand-selecting fabrics like a century old elk print from Salzburg and ultrasuede from Italy. Most of the rooms are suites with seating areas, fireplaces and balconies. Plaster walls, curved arches and wooden beams give living spaces a cozy feel. The Faessler family history is also on display. On the walls, you’ll find Johannes’ vintage lederhosen and a 19thcentury iron breastplate that was discovered during a post-fire excavation of the Sonnenalp in Germany in 1967. Inside the Swiss Chalet restaurant, Johannes’ collection of antique German smoking pipes crafted in wood, horn and porcelain hangs above the bar.
the Swiss Chalet’s heavy wooden door features Sonnenalp’s signature sunburst. PHOTO COURTESY OF SONNENALP
The hotel’s spa has an oxygen bar, indoor fire pit, steam rooms and sauna and nine treatment rooms. The indoor-outdoor pool connects the spa’s relaxation area with a sunny courtyard where guests soak in one of two hot pools set along Gore Creek.
Breakfast is served on Tafelstern porcelain tableware from Germany. PHOTO COURTESY OF SONNENALP
You could stay at Sonnenalp and have every meal at the hotel, a traditional lodging arrangement at European ski resort hotels. There are no less than five restaurants on the property. Swiss Chalet specializes in fondue, served beneath a vast collection of cowbells. The heavy wooden door, emblazoned with the Sonnenalp’s signature sunburst design—was reclaimed from the Austria Haus. (Sonnenalp means “Sun on the Mountains.”) The intricate millwork inside the Stüberl, an intimate space for exclusive dinners, was crafted by a local Austrian carpenter who embedded its metal columns with Deutschmarks. During the 2015 World Championships, Bully Ranch, a log-cabin-inspired eatery with woodfired pizzas, served as the German Haus. Treff Cafe is a sleek new space for espresso and pastries, but the breakfast buffet at Ludwig’s, served in a glass-enclosed terrace, is not to be missed. The expansive spread includes pastries baked in-house, pancakes and waffles, made-to-order omelets, meats and cheese, and honey scraped straight from a honeycomb.
a private courtyard features a pool and two hot tubs. PHOTO COURTESY OF SONNENALP
Sonnenalp remains a family affair today. The Faesslers’ son, Sebastian (representing the fifth generation), grew up bussing tables in Ludwig’s and is now a co-owner. Sebastian’s wife, Esmarie, serves as the hotel’s director of marketing. The four of them can be seen daily at the hotel dressed in Bavarian tracht jackets that Rosana sources in Munich. The jackets are one of myriad touches that combine to create an authentic European experience—with a spirit of gemütlichkeit.
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