Coining it in

Austrian hotel manager Rainer Ogrinigg is booked out after offering to allow guests to pay in Austrian Schillings and German Marks rather than Euros.

Ogrinigg, who owns the Seehotel Grundlsee in Ausseerland in the Austrian lake district the Salzkammergut, confirmed it is now possible for guests to pay in German Marks. The offer was made because it is still possible to cash in the bank notes, but it is a complicated process and usually only worth it for large sums.

Central bank officials estimate that millions of Euros worth of coins and notes in the old European currencies are still being held in private hands by people who forgot to change them into Euros at the time.

But by offering to allow people to still spend them at the hotel he has been able to cash in on a new line of business.

Ogrinigg has now increased the offer to include his hotel, the Schloss Gabelhofen in Aichfeld near the Red Bull Ring in Salzburg, where guests are allowed to pay using Austrian Schillings.