July 15, 2021

Viva con Agua opens Germany’s first charity hotel

How to help hundreds of people for a good cause while you sleep

Since it was founded in 2006, the Viva con Agua organization has pursued the vision that everyone around the world should have access to clean drinking water, hygiene facilities and basic sanitation.

They support various water projects with the goal “WATER FOR EVERYONE – EVERYONE FOR WATER!”, because water is next to the air to breathe the basis of all life and a central human right. Because the facts are frightening: 2.2 billion people worldwide do not have secure access to clean drinking water. Of these, around 785 million people even lack the basic supply of drinking water. In order not to continue to finance the water projects with donations only, the Organisation now extends its “Social Business” plan and enters the hotel industry. The majority of the revenues from overnights and events are put into projects for clean drinking water. In order

to achieve their enlarged goals, Viva con Agua took over Cape Town’s oldest hostel “The Backpack” in South Africa in spring and, together with several investors, is making it a meeting place where projects for a better world can be worked on. “Villa Viva” is the new name of the hostel – “Viva” because life is to be celebrated and “Villa” because the organization

wants to bring people together in a place of encounter and exchange. Villa Viva is located in the heart of “The Mother City”, directly below the colorful BoKaap, making it the perfect place and the best starting point to explore the city. In the future, the guest house should not just be a clean and stylish accommodation for young people, but a place where visions for a good cause are born. The house is currently being renovated, but rooms can be booked in time for the South African summer season in October 2021. The different room categories offer the right place to stay for every budget.

 

If you don’t want to travel to South Africa to support the Viva con Aqua projects, you can be looking forward to the end of 2023, because then the opening of the charity hotel in Hamburg is planned. Here as well, the non-profit organization is planning a hotel that will serve a good cause as it wants to drive the construction of fountains with a new hotel concept.

 

The 12-storey hotel, which is to be built in the Münzviertel between Hamburg’s Central Station and Deichtorhallen, will have 7,000 square meters and more than 300 guest beds for every budget. In addition to 139 rooms planned in the German Villa Viva , there will also be a camping floor, a bar, a restaurant, a yoga room, art rooms designed by artists as well as conference and office space.

 

In the “camping ground” you should be able to check in for 19.90 EUR, here you have a bed and storage space for yourself, which can be separated and thus offers a minimum of privacy. In addition, there will be the room categories “tiny”, “small”, “medium”, “large” and “chic”. The most luxurious category is called “Dicke Hose”. These are two suites that are set up and designed by Barbara Schöneberger and the singer Jan Delay.

 

There will also be various conference rooms and shared spaces. The restaurant is on the ground floor and a “roof-drop” bar is planned on the roof, the name of which symbolically refers to the theme of water. The house facade should also be designed to be ecologically valuable and therefore two sides will be completely greened.

 

And the best thing about the hotel concept:
Viva con Agua didn’t have to invest a cent itself. The start-up was able to attract a group of famous investors – including Jan Delay, Bela B., ex-footballer Kevin Kuranyi and many more.

 

The founders of Villa Viva are determined to do their part to make the world more sustainable, social and joyful in the years to come. With the new hotel concept, they want to show that social management can be sustainable and successful at the same time. They are of the opinion that Hamburg has everything it takes to become the capital of social business and Common good economy.

According to Benjamin Adrion, the founder of Viva con Agua, the organization wants to set standards, break new ground and inspire people for social change. The managing partner of Heimathafen Hotels Jens Sroka adds that he is convinced that this new hotel concept fills a gap. In his opinion, the Villa Viva is a project that is geared towards the common good and serves as a role model in the hotel industry.

You can find all keynotes about the organization Viva con Agua and Villa Viva in Cape Town and Hamburg here: WATER FOR EVERYONE!

 

 

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