Ringhotels - history and facts

Smart hotel operators pool their resources to create Germany's largest private hotel cooperative

Your hosts at Ringhotels take pride in extending warmly attentive hospitality and providing guests with an intimate ambience and superior service. We believe in tradition, regional flair and a relationship based on trust. Our product and service offering reflects contemporary trends and, above all, the wishes of our guests.

'Trend & Tradition'; this was the original motto of Ringhotels. With over 130 hotels - many rich in tradition and owned by the same family for generations - and the 'German Castles' hotel line, Ringhotels is Germany's largest hotel cooperative and has been operating successfully for over 35 years. Ringhotels stand for individually operated hotels with an authentic regional character and uniformly superior quality.

Strength in numbers

Ringhotels history is synonymous with the development of German hotel marketing. The basic concept has always been to combine individual strengths to form a strong, unified presence in the market. Thus we are able to support our member establishments in promoting their operations whilst offering our guests a reliable portfolio of selected hotels, coupled with modern information and reservation systems.

History

The history of the cooperative, which today consists of 130 Ringhotels, dates back to 1973 when three purchase cooperatives (so called 'purchase rings') based in Lower Saxony, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Lower Bavaria banded together to form a single hotel cooperative, giving rise to the name 'Ringhotels'. The declared aim of this new cooperative was to form a counter-force to the international hotel chains that were establishing themselves in the German market at the time. Even then the group comprised over 90 member properties.

Quality is our top priority

Right from the start Ringhotels created positive synergies and set up central functions for purchasing, brochure production, sales activities and trade fair participation. During this time the cooperative developed into Germany's largest collective of private, independent hoteliers. The guiding principle was always the mutual striving for superior quality standards. And so, in 1993, Ringhotels implemented a voluntary quality control program that applied rigorous guidelines to both established and new members. The motto remains: 'Quality over quantitative growth.'

What we demand of a Ringhotel

In order to be accepted into the circle of Ringhotels, each establishment is expected to fulfill a number of key criteria. To begin with, the hotel must comply with internal cooperative guidelines. These are fashioned after the official classification given by the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA). In addition, the establishment should preferably be privately owned and individually operated. A typical Ringhotel will also offer a high standard of cuisine. The average Ringhotel offers 60 rooms.

A comprehensive offering

Ringhotels comprise professional conference hotels as well as family oriented vacation hotels, exclusive oases for Wellness and city hotels offering a variety of destinations for city breaks. Our selection covers most of Germany. Many of our member properties look back on a venerable culinary tradition. It is not surprising, therefore, that almost a third of all Ringhotels are mentioned in the most renowned hotel and restaurant guides – many with distinction.

Our Vision for the future

We will continue to build the organisation at a steady pace while adhering strictly to the criteria required for membership. We learn from our guests, listen to what they want and ensure we adapt to current trends. Then we will continue developing our offering to increase guests’ enjoyment. If our guests are happy and satisfied we are also filled with joy, because we have exceeded their expectations. We would therefore like to express our thanks to you, our guests.