Sharp Shapes

During his studies, Ingo Schlösser used cycling training to study with audiobooks.

The fashionable gear from independent brands such as Rapha, Café du Cycliste and Pas Normal Studios alone is enough to encourage this. They keep their dedicated community happy with the pathos of freedom, designed cafés and perfect storytelling.

One thing that stands out is that the new cycling aficionados today include many top chefs, sommeliers and hotel managers, all of whom are fit, body-conscious and at the same time pleasure seeking. A good example of one such person is the person we are interviewing today – Ingo Schlösser, Director of the Tschuggen Grand Hotel.

A job like that isn’t exactly a walk in the park. How do you manage to cope with endlessly long working days and then take part in such strenuous training sessions? ‘It’s the other way round,’ explains Ingo Schlösser. ‘The balance provided by the training helps me to manage such a workload much more easily! It provides me personally with basic conditioning.’

However, this is hard-earned. On the bike tour we take together, he talks about his favourite activities: he doesn’t just ride road and mountain bikes. He also takes part in triathlons, rode the Engadine bike marathon, was an Iron Man finisher and regularly goes jogging.

‘Preferably in a group. I meet up with guests and locals twice a week at 5.50 am, then we jog around the lake.’ Do you prefer outdoor sports? ‘Oh, yes. I don’t like sports that take place on playing fields that are limited by rules.’ His next sporting goal is to ski-tour the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt.

Schlösser describes himself simply as a hut keeper, but is in fact a perfect host and human manager. ‘You are entrusted with the most valuable time of the guests. We handle it carefully and design unique experiences.’

A hotel manager is often referred to as a host or hotelier. Ingo Schlösser simply sees himself as a ‘caretaker’. He pulls a Swiss army knife out of one trouser pocket and a set of Allen keys out of the other. ‘If I walk through the building and see that a screw needs to be tightened somewhere or something small needs to be repaired, I do it myself straight away.’ He likes this hands-on mentality, as well as flat hierarchies, philanthropy, discipline and commitment. Here, too, he draws parallels with sport.

‘I always say, if you want to sprint, do it on your own. If you want to do a marathon, do it with other people. I set a pace with my team that everyone can follow and I show a lot of understanding. This way, we can reach our goal together. I wish that managers in other sectors had more of an idea of what their company does at a grassroots level, then the quality of service would improve in every area.’

In this way, he provides an example to his team of the passion that he expects in return. The guests also love his presence and helpfulness, as well as his charming friendliness. Some years ago, he offered free coaching sessions on cordiality in the region as this was something that was important to him. His aim was for holiday guests to be also able to experience this outside of the hotel – from the ski lift to the bakery. ‘Being cordial doesn’t cost a penny, it has to come from within.’

Schlösser, married with two children, shares the management duties with his wife Silvana. He has previously worked in renowned hotels such as the Cresta Palace Hotel, The Dolder Grand Hotel, Jörimann’s Refugium and the Carlton Hotel St. Moritz, which is part of the Tschuggen Collection, and gained management experience after successfully completing his postgraduate studies in Hotel Management.

‘During my studies, I used cycling to study. During training, I would listen to audiobooks, such as Steven Corway’s: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This works really well for me.’

Schlösser loves to connect different things. Like his hearty creation Graubünden Paella, which we enjoy on the sunny terrace after the mountain ride.

Later, we sit on the sun terrace and treat ourselves to one of the chef’s specials: Grisons paella. This is a dish that trained chef Ingo Schlösser spontaneously created from local ingredients when he discovered a large paella pan in the kitchen by chance and served to guests at a hotel event, much to their delight. Instead of rice, Grisons barley forms the basis for this hearty, harmonious dish. It is enriched with Swiss chard, Luganighe sausages, chicken and savoury Bündnerfleisch (see the box for the recipe).

‘However, something that is much more exciting,’ he says, ‘is the plant-based menu from our Head Chef Uwe Seegert. It is creative, flavourful, healthy, light and does not require any substitute products. We see it as part of our holistic Moving Mountains holiday programme, which promotes vitality, experiencing nature in a new way and celebrating joy and fun.’ What are his guests looking for? ‘They are looking for a sense of restfulness. Nature and connecting with it. Finding themselves as well as discovering new experiences and sharing them with others.’ He continues: ‘We are entrusted with our guests’ most valuable time and we treat it with great care. We create memories, design unique experiences, take them out of their comfort zone, empower them and make their recovery as holistic as possible.’

Do you also take time out from doing any sport? ‘Well, I prefer to be active. I play golf. This helps to reduce stress and makes it easier to come up with new ideas and solutions. Your head needs to be clear when you play golf. Approaching the game without any stress or worries is key. Seeing yourself and recognising yourself is just as important. And recently I finally bought the ideal car for taking part in the Arosa Classic Car Rally. A Porsche Turbo 944 from 1987.’ That sounds like an interesting event. After all, there are plenty of inspiring curving roads on his doorstep.