Case Study

How Pachmair 1453 Cut Staff from 35 to 25 Without Losing Its Premium Edge

Samira Gruber

Guestnet · September 14, 2026

A full renovation, a nine figure investment in euros, and a complete rethink of what a hotel operation looks like: Pachmair 1453 didn't just update its rooms, it rebuilt its entire guest experience around one idea. If a leaner team can deliver a more personal stay, that's a result worth paying attention to for any hotelier weighing up where to invest next.

Why it matters: After a fourteen month full renovation and an investment of 22 million euros, Johannes Geiger reinvented his classic holiday hotel as a premium apart resort built around a consistently digital operating concept. The property works on a building block principle: guests book a basic stay including breakfast and then choose additional services themselves each day, directly through the app.

That turns upselling into a natural interaction rather than a sales pitch, and that's likely the hook that will make hoteliers want to keep reading.

Top 3 Core Objectives: Johannes Geiger's goal was to noticeably relieve his team without sacrificing the house's premium standard. Specifically, this meant:

Automated answers: Handle recurring, standard guest questions without staff having to repeat themselves all day.
Seamless check in and: Digitize both processes as much as possible, without ever making them feel impersonal.
Effortless upselling: Make spa bookings, food and drink orders, and the weekly program so easy to access that guests book them on their own.

""Filling out the registration form, and a lot of the questions guests have, are basically already taken care of beforehand, so during check in we can focus much more on the personal welcome.""

Johannes Geiger

Owner

👍 Owner Johannes Geiger said that Since the registration form and most guest questions are already handled beforehand, check in can focus almost entirely on a personal welcome.:

""Filling out the registration form, and a lot of the questions guests have, are basically already taken care of beforehand, so during check in we can focus much more on the personal welcome.""

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Johannes Geiger evaluated Guestnet's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Guestnet was the best fit solution:

Owner Johannes Geiger said, about their decision: ""Guests often tell us: we don't need to go through this again, we already checked everything over breakfast and it's all correct. All we have to do now is swipe the card.""

📈 The results: Fewer staff, more personal time for guests