Magdas Hotel - a hotel like no others

credit: KirchgasserPhotography

 If you go to Vienna, try to stay at the wonderful magdas Hotel. The hotel, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, is staffed largely by refugees. It is the first social business hotel in Austria, but around the country and elsewhere, others are following suit.

At first glance, it looks like any other European hotels. Only a lone suitcase by the door and framed portraits of various sizes on the wall allude to its story.

The 78-room hotel is staffed by 20 refugees from countries such as Syria, Iran, Somalia and Chechnya, and 15 professionals of the hotel sector. Like in many countries, people with a refugee background have a hard time finding work in Austria. Initial lack of German language skills, the resentment of many employers, as well as the fact that refugees are only allowed to accept work after receiving a positive response to an asylum application (which can often take months or years) make integration difficult.

Located between the green Prater and the Danube Canal, the hotel was founded six years ago by the Caritas charity as a social business to give refugees professional opportunities. Most stay for around two years, gaining skills before moving on to a ‘regular’ hotel. 

Collectively, magdas staff represent 16 nationalities and speak 23 languages, so that guests are almost always greeted in their own language. Their many skills, talents, languages and cultural backgrounds allow for the hotel to have a special position in the hospitality market.

The budget hotel is a former retirement home, transformed through €56,000 crowdfunded and a €1.5 million loan from Caritas, with help from local designers from the nearby Academy of Arts. The hotel furnishings are donated, up-cycled or recycled, so each room has its unique quirky character. The hotel also hosts  sustainable initiatives, such as the harvesting of honey from beehives on the roof.

With its seminar and meeting rooms,  bar area, terrace and garden, magdas functions like every other hotels and many guests are unaware of its true nature, but its focus is not to maximise profit - rather to help refugee integrate and build bridges between communities.

Magdas (“mag das”) is a German wordplay, essentially suggesting that you should “like this.” And people seem to agree as the hotel is rated very good and excellent on booking sites.

If you get a chance to stay there, let me know what you think.

A Taste of Home - When meals in refugee camps mean more than food

A hot meal in a refugee camp is always welcome, but in Obrenovac and other refugee camps in Serbia, a meal is also a portal to the home and loved ones left behind by the refugees and migrants who live in limbo in camps.

“Kookoo Sibzamini [potato patties] is what I had in my backpack when I left home. My sister made them for me for the road. I told myself I need to save them for later when it gets tough. But I ate them all. I don’t think they even got cold,” says Mohsen from Iran.

Moshen’s favourite dish is one of seven popular healthy, homely recipes cooked in refugee camps in Serbia, which were provided by the refugees themselves.  Oxfam, which is serving meals at the Obrenovac camp 30km south-west of the capital Belgrade, along with Care and CaritasEuropa, had run a survey asking refugees and migrants what they wanted to eat.  The refugees came up with a lot of suggestions, but many also offered recipes from their own countries. Now, instead of the usual breaded fish and vegetable curry, Obrenovac and several other camps are serving traditional dishes from Afghanistan, Syria, India, Iran and Pakistan.

Oxfam asked an illustrator to make colourful and easy to read recipe cards for seven of the recipes. The cards also include recollections from some of the refugees: where the recipe came from, who first cooked it for them, the last time they ate it, etc.  For example, Gjulan from India (Kashmir) says that the smell of Gajar Matar ki Sabzi, a spicy stew now cooked at the camps, instantly transports him home. “When me and my brothers would come back from school my mother would be by the stove cooking the stew, dancing along with the music from TV. In my mind, it is still like this back home: music ad the smells of cooking.”

“Refugees’ life is hard,” says Ali who came from Pakistan, “but when I sit with people and eat at the dinner table, I am very happy.”

Most refugees in the camps have been in Serbia for over a year and have attempted to cross the border into neighbouring countries such as Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary - and been turned back. They are trying to reach other countries in Europe, either to claim asylum, reunite with family members or to find work.

In 2017, there were nearly 4,000 migrants in Serbia, of which 89% are housed in camps.