A small Carpathian travel house.
Everything you need to write about us. If you need anything that is not here — a different photo, a quote, a host introduction, an interview slot — write to press@carpathianstays.com and you will hear back the same day.
In one paragraph.
CarpathianStays is a small, curated travel house specialising in hand-picked homes across Transylvania and the wider Carpathian region. Every property is personally visited by the team before it appears on the site, with editorial photography and a written portrait of the host. Guests book through a single email — pricing is fair and the commission is paid by the property owner, never the guest. The company was founded in 2026 by Christoph Gaul (Germany) and Matei [Surname] (Brașov, Romania), and is deliberately staying small: 40–60 curated homes by end of 2027, never more.
"CarpathianStays — hand-picked homes across Transylvania and the Carpathians, with the people who live in them."
Beyond the postcard.
2026
Brașov · Hamburg
11 (and growing — by hand)
Two people, two places.
Matei
Brașov, Romania
Born and raised in Brașov. Seven years inside the Romanian hospitality industry — first at TuristInfo.ro, then as a freelance consultant for small hotels in Sibiu and Cluj. Knows the back roads of the Saxon villages, the legal forms, the priests with the keys to the fortified churches. Drives an old Dacia. Cooks an excellent breakfast.
Christoph
Hamburg, Germany
Builder of careful internet things for two decades. Has shipped dozens of small, independent web businesses, slowly, mostly alone. Speaks German and English, learning Romanian. Travels with a camera and a notebook. His grandparents came from the Banat.
- Regions covered
- Burzenland (Brașov), Saxon Triangle (Sibiu / Sighișoara / Saxon villages), Apuseni. Bukovina and Maramureș in 2027.
- Languages
- English, German, Romanian. Hungarian on selected properties.
- Price range
- €150 – €540 per night, depending on house and season. Whole-house bookings the norm.
- Business model
- Owner pays commission on confirmed bookings. Guest pays nothing extra. Optional planning fee for bespoke multi-stop trips, transparent up front.
- Audience
- Bildungsbürger 40+ from DACH, UK and US. Couples, families, small-group occasions. Not for stag parties.
- Not affiliated with
- Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo. Independent travel house.
What we are happy to talk about.
· The slow return of the Saxon villages — Viscri, Mălâncrav, Saschiz, Biertan — and the role of small heritage tourism in their economy.
· The Mihai Eminescu Trust and twenty years of patient restoration in Transylvania.
· Why we deliberately stay small in an industry that pushes for scale.
· Romania's brown bears, the Făgăraș Wilderness initiative, and the line between bear-watching and bear-baiting.
· The Carpathians as one of the last dark-sky regions of central Europe.
· What it means to be a "travel house" rather than a booking portal in the era of AI search.
· The Banat / Siebenbürgen / Bessarabien diaspora and how guests come back to the houses their grandparents left.
Direct line.
For interviews, photography requests, fact-checks, or to arrange a press trip — write or call.
Logos, OG, photography.
For high-resolution photography (3000+ px), individual property hero shots, or anything not in this kit, write to press@carpathianstays.com. We respond same day.