AVIVA history
Lifestyle, innovation, uniqueness & down-to-earthness. The story of the unique AVIVA!

make friends – AVIVA is more than just a hotel!
Like every story, this story begins a very long time ago. Actually, back in the 1980s, when tourism pioneer Werner Pürmayer took over his parents’ business, the Bergergut, 2 km from the AVIVA in the tranquil Afiesl in the Mühlviertel.
A small inn with simple furnishings, located right on the Czechoslovakian border, which was still closed at the time, and thus right next to the Iron Curtain. In an area where the fox and the hen say goodnight to each other, away from the large ski areas of the Alps, the beautiful lakes and far away from the big cities. What tourist would want to get lost here in northern Upper Austria, a tourist no-man’s land at the end (or the beginning – depending on how you look at it) of the world?
But even back then, the DNA of the company was not to rely on tourist facilities such as a ski resort as a travel motive for guests, but to not only satisfy guests with a unique hotel concept, with very high quality and ongoing innovation, but to surprise them and, even more, to really inspire them.
Werner Pürmayer and his then wife Johanna managed to do this with great attention to detail and a high level of guest care. The Bergergut was one of the first hotels far and wide to offer its guests a unique and innovative romantic concept that went far beyond the usual holiday hotel offerings of the time, such as sleeping, eating and drinking. In addition, children were not allowed in the hotel even then.
Angels & Devils, Heaven & Hell, … a paradise for all lovers and couples. Success came quickly and even today the Bergergut is a unique, innovative and successful four-star superior quality hotel with a 2-toque kitchen.
At the beginning of the 2000s, plans were made to multiply the successful Bergergut. But things took a different direction, as the world, society and lifestyles had changed dramatically in the meantime. The proportion of singles, single households and the number of divorces increased massively. At that time, over 30% of the population was already single… and the number was increasing every day. Many industries adapted to the new target group, but little happened in the vacation hotel industry.

The successful Pürmayer family of hoteliers recognized this trend and the unique market situation and decided to build a hotel exclusively for singles and solo travelers. Because traveling alone, eating alone at the kids’ table, a small single room in the furthest corner, a high single room surcharge and then perhaps pitying looks from couples and families… that is definitely not a nice single vacation and there was no hotel for singles anywhere in Europe.
Enthusiastic about the idea and the gap in the market for a singles hotel, all that was left to do was find a suitable plot of land. That didn’t take long and in neighboring St. Stefan, on the edge of the forest, on a large power spot, with a unique view of the Alps and located at 925m above sea level, the new hotel just for singles was to be built. A lifestyle hotel in the Mühlviertel, with this breathtaking, gently rolling landscape, an ideal place for a vacation as a single.
Together with Werner Pürmayer’s brother-in-law Franz Engleder, who had founded a company together, the planning began. Banks and authorities had to be convinced of the idea of a hotel exclusively for singles, suitable construction companies and, above all, the architectural features had to be found. After all, the authorities’ requirements were to be met, the hotel had to be embedded in the landscape as best as possible and could not be built higher than the trees in the adjacent forest.
This also required new thinking, as a solo traveller has different ideas and expectations for their single vacation than families and couples. The rooms don’t have to be quite as big as they usually are in family hotels. But they do need a spacious lobby with a large terrace with this view, large communication tables in the restaurant and, above all, a disco and an alpine hut, which was initially called Einkehr and became the well-known and popular AVIVA Alm in 2009, and was rebuilt and expanded several times in 2012 and 2015.
All guests should be able to experience this unique view directly from their guest room, and so all 100 rooms and the 2 suites face south with a view of the Alps. The hotel fits perfectly into the landscape, is visible from afar but without attracting attention, and its colors are based on the nature and the forest in the background. This is ensured by the differently colored glass panels in the guest rooms, which give the hotel a different appearance depending on the sunlight. This makes the single hotel a design hotel as well.

Now a suitable name had to be found for the hotel. This was quickly born with AVIVA. VIVA stands for vibrant and exciting life, anything but boredom and loneliness. The A in front of VIVA simply came about because of the positive intonation of the language. The Nautilus in front of the hotel entrance is intended to tell arriving guests to come out of their shells and into life… and that is also what AVIVA is.
Construction of the hotel began in 2006 and thanks to a mild winter with little snow in 2006/07, the construction of the singles hotel was completed quickly and on time. After a lot of work in the pre-opening phase, the first singles hotel in Europe opened on October 1, 2007 with a brilliant opening ceremony attended by many celebrities from near and far.
At the beginning of 2008, the initial euphoria gave way and the first successes were quickly followed by disillusionment. The planned occupancy figures were significantly below expectations. The image also suffered. The reputation as a singles hotel was often misunderstood, especially in rural areas. The few guests were enthusiastic about the facilities, the location of the hotel and the quality, but there was a lack of fun, variety and entertainment. In addition, there was no brand strategy and so the identity and logo of the hotel changed several times. Singles hotel, single room, spirit & spa, … and also no clear commitment to the target group and the original hotel idea. Marketing at the hotel’s launch and in the first year of operation was extremely weak and prospective customers could not get an idea of what to expect from the hotel.
As a result of the weak start, three seminar rooms were built in the rear part of the hotel to expand the target groups. This should enable the occupancy rate to be increased quickly by approaching companies for seminars and events.
But the required successes failed to materialize and the lenders became restless, so that in 2009 there was a rift and disagreement about the hotel’s direction between the two shareholders, managing directors and brothers-in-law Werner Pürmayer and Franz Engleder. Werner Pürmayer was to run the hotel alone in the future and Franz Engleder, who had played a key role in leading the company through the planning and construction phase, left the company.
Werner Pürmayer quickly decided to revitalize the hotel’s offerings by offering more entertainment. To this end, he appointed Christian Grünbart as hotel director, who knew Pürmayer very well from the marketing cooperation and tourism association Traumarena .
But now success had to come quickly, because the bank gave the new management duo only 18 months to achieve very good capacity utilization. But how could that be achieved?
In June 2009, on the drive back to the Mühlviertel from a strategy workshop on Lake Constance that lasted several days, after hours of conversation and discussion, shortly before midnight, the enlightening idea for the future direction of the hotel finally came to us… MAKE FRIENDS… AVIVA****s make friends – company, simply finding new friends, communication, fun, sport, entertainment,… simply getting to know other people and offering guests a great time and a unique singles holiday. Not just wellness, which is the main offer of many hotels, but much more. Being able to get to know many people and like-minded people in a short space of time, but always with the level of a four-star superior hotel, the added value of the hotel being lots of great conversations, laughter, simply being in company, dancing, celebrating, being active together in sports and simply being in company and not alone. Above all, to enable people to have a nice and great time, to recover from everyday life and simply have time for themselves. A great and above all unique concept!
AVIVA sports for an extensive and varied sports and activity program , AVIVA highlife for numerous events and singles parties in the hotel’s own dance club or on the rustic alpine pasture next door and AVIVA relax for wellness, beauty, massages and treatments for personal well-being.
The AVIVA now finally had its identity, its DNA, its core and its attraction and was thus meant to bring great joy and a unique singles vacation to many people.
The mood and vibe were now right! Success came quickly! Instead of boredom, there was now vibrant life, instead of bored guests, there were now enthusiastic guests, instead of low occupancy, there was a fully booked hotel with a waiting list – and all within just a few weeks.
Numerous innovations followed the new concept with a club-like offering. A sports program (AVIVA sports) and an entertainment program (AVIVA highlife) with countless offers, unique far and wide, delight the guests, who soon become regulars and recommend AVIVA to others. In the meantime, social media channels, initially Facebook and the search engine Google, have significantly increased the awareness of the singles hotel. This made it easier to reach new guests in this large target group in the three countries Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Around 40% of people are now single.
One occupancy record followed another and in 2010 the bold step was taken to deliberately no longer allow couples to stay in the hotel. Clarity in the concept and no more zigzags was now the motto. This bold step was quickly rewarded, as the AVIVA continued to go uphill.
At the end of 2011, Christian Grünbart left the company as hotel director to set up his own company, G7 Tourism Consulting . The success continued in 2012 and 2013.
But now the first dark clouds were gathering in the now successful AVIVA. Long-standing regular guests were turning their backs on the AVIVA and staying away. Declining quality, aloofness and above all the lack of a make friends spirit meant that more and more guests were dissatisfied. Management errors, the absence of the hotel management and a lack of leadership, not allowing couples, led to a massive decline in guest visits. Hotel owner and founder Werner Pürmayer and his wife Irmgard, who also had to deal with a similar development in their second hotel, the Bergergut, tried to get back on the road to success with a reorientation.

In 2016, the hotel’s own brewery, the Brau Boutique, was built right next to the hotel and the Alm. 500 liters of beer per week, the Alm Bräu light and dark and from 2019 also a wheat beer, a bock beer at Christmas time and around 40 types of beer from the Mühlviertel and the rest of the world are intended to delight guests. The Mühlviertel is known for its beer culture and is also one of the largest hop-growing regions in Austria and with the Bierweltregion there is a great cooperation between the breweries and the catering industry. But success did not come with this either!
On August 9, 2016, the darkest day in the company’s history came with the suicide of AVIVA founder and owner Werner Pürmayer. Disbelief, grief and incomprehension among family, employees, guests, friends and companions. An extraordinary person, visionary and role model for many has passed away, without whom AVIVA would never have existed. With his vision, he saw and realized a hotel with a unique concept on a meadow on the edge of a forest. This enabled so many people to have a unique time and joy in life. This vision and his spirit will always accompany AVIVA.
But with the grief, his three daughters and heirs Eva-Maria, Christina and Stephanie had to quickly find a solution for the two hotels. The Bergergut, which has been in the family for generations, is to be continued and the AVIVA is to be sold. Until then, the former hotel director Christian Grünbart is to lead the AVIVA as managing director. Five years after his departure, he returned to the AVIVA on September 16, 2016.
Numerous interested parties, from international real estate funds, hoteliers, hotel chains and many more, intend to buy the hotel with its great location. However, no concrete offer followed.
In the meantime, the “AVIVA makes friends feeling” that was so popular with guests was re-established, regular guests came and occupancy rates rose again. Despite the difficult situation and the uncertain future, no employee has left the hotel.
With Friedrich Huemer, founder and core shareholder of the Polytec Group from Hörsching near Linz, not only was a buyer found for the hotel, but also an investor with an emotional connection to the history of the company, to the hotel’s location and, above all, to be able to provide support and help in the very difficult situation and to save the hotel. For the managing director Christian Grünbart, the opportunity now arose to take the next step in his professional life and his connection to AVIVA and to become the tenant of the hotel. On June 1, 2017, almost 10 months after the tragic death of Werner Pürmayer, the new company structures were in place. Nothing now stood in the way of a continuation of the successful times and a positive development of the hotel with its unique concept.
“To enable other people to have a great time, to be a hotel exclusively for singles and solo travelers, a special living environment, to get away from the stress of everyday life and to be a filling station for people in between, to drive home full of energy and with lots of new friends in their luggage,” that is the AVIVA vision, which is now once again noticeable in the hotel for all guests.
Success came quickly and 2018 was already the third most successful year since the company was founded in 2007.
Numerous modernizations in the hotel followed, and in June 2018, the introduction of the four-day work week was an innovative step in employee management that attracted attention far beyond the borders. It is a great place to work, not just for guests, but also for the now around 60 employees, where everyone is treated with respect, everyone can develop to their full potential, and where numerous benefits represent an additional reward for performance.
Another widely noticed step followed in October 2018 with the purchase of 10 BMWi3s for employees , who can also use the electric car privately at low cost.
At AVIVA, special attention has always been paid to environmental protection and sustainable, careful use of nature. In September 2018, a 62kWp photovoltaic system was put into operation on the hotel roof , numerous energy-saving measures were implemented, and regional suppliers were given priority.
AVIVA make friends – the unique concept went online in April 2019. In a dedicated community on a platform, you can easily meet and get to know other AVIVA guests. After just a short time, over 2,000 AVIVA guests registered in the free AVIVA make friends online community. And in the AVIVA guest book you can easily meet other guests who are staying at the hotel at the same time before you arrive. Make friends… our goal, also in the online world.
In the summer of 2019, the beer output in the hotel’s own brewery, the Brau Boutique, was expanded from 500 l to 750 l per week .
All of these activities were also recognized by the public. A great distinction was achieved with the nomination for the State Tourism Award , which was one of the top three among numerous submissions.
2019 was the most successful year in the company’s history. We are very proud of that, but even more so that we were able to give so many people a great time.
2020 is marked by the Corona pandemic and the longest plant closure in the company’s history.
But we are using the time wisely and bringing the hotel a significant step forward.
After 11 weeks of closure, we reopened on May 29th and soon reached our old strength and capacity again, thanks also to many regular guests.
In June 2020, there was another significant change in the hotel’s corporate structure . Tenant Christian Grünbart acquired a 25% stake in the hotel property held by Friedrich Huemer and is now co-owner of the hotel, the Alm and the Brau Boutique.
After the Corona lockdowns, the concept became even more important. After the long periods of deprivation and working from home, the need for vacation was particularly high, but also for company and making new friends. The result was extremely busy summer months.
However, the hotel had to be closed for a total of 44 weeks due to official business closures. An incredibly long period of time that also tested the patience of the entire AVIVA team. The employees were put on short-time work and thanks to government aid, the period was well managed. And as in 2016, the AVIVA mentality of staying positive and carrying on, especially in difficult times, was evident. The long closure period was put to good use with numerous renovations in the wellness area, guest rooms, lobby, disco and alpine hut. The hotel’s own brewery was expanded to include an online shop to offer our guests who have to travel further the opportunity to buy AVIVA beer for home at any time.
The hotel’s own brewery received an accolade when it was named Upper Austria’s Beer Bar 2021 .
Another innovation took place in June 2021. In order to offer AVIVA guests further added value, a travel agency was launched, of course again exclusively for singles. Make friends travel – Europe-wide trips with a focus on sports and activity.
The AVIVA sustainability strategy was also continued. For example, a large proportion of the food is sourced directly from the immediate vicinity, a solar system for hot water production, a PV system on the hotel roof, an environmentally friendly pellet heating system and the 4-day working week saves over 2,000 km of travel to and from the hotel every month. The hotel’s own laundry facility was built in March 2022. This reduces dependence on external providers and the rental laundry does not have to be brought to the Czech Republic every week.
In 2022, the planning for the parking lot roof was also started. A PV system will supply the hotel with electricity and provide a roof for the cars of guests and employees. This is of course an added value for the Hotel AVIVA.
2023: A year full of environmental awareness
2023 is a special year at Hotel AVIVA. This year marks the opening of the car park roofing with a 440kWp PV system, the hotel’s own rainwater cistern with 32,000 litres for the hotel’s laundry and the modernisation of the guest rooms, lobby area and wellness. With the existing PV system on the hotel roof, we now generate almost 70% of our own electricity.
The AVIVA has also been successfully awarded the Austrian Ecolabel and EU ecolab and is now certified as a top employer. With this award, we want to set a shining example for other companies in Austria on how to act sustainably.
The many activities in favour of ecological and social sustainability and continuous quality improvements have attracted a great deal of public attention. The awards of the Energy Star of the Province of Upper Austria and the Energy Saving Association and as the best Leading Spa Hotel in Upper Austria, as well as the Energy Globe in 2023 and 2024, are the best proof of this.
But this period was also characterised by the constant modernisation of the hotel. First and foremost with the renovation of the wellness area and the guest rooms, including the replacement of the TVs, the refurbishment of the restaurant, the lobby bar and Alm.
Artificial intelligence also moved into the Hotel AVIVA. By bundling several software programmes and analysing historical occupancy data, it is now possible to calculate the hotel’s occupancy for several months in advance. This is, of course, a significant help in organisational planning in everyday hotel life, such as rostering and goods purchasing. This also received a great deal of media coverage. Many other AI tools support everyday life in the hotel.
2024 also saw the introduction of the new wellbeing concept. Together with an extensive network of professional trainers and coaches, a great programme was created with the aim of meeting the changing guest wishes for more preventative health measures, balance and relaxation from stressful everyday life.
The exciting AVIVA company history will continue. Certainly with many highs and hopefully few lows, with many innovations, modernizations and expansions. But one thing is clear. We will always remain true to the AVIVA vision and concept and will not lose our down-to-earth nature.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationWe will keep you up to date with the latest information, offers and specials.