Let’s go straight into the adventure park, although just the arrival is an adventure in itself: The view to the Wilder Kaiser, Tyrol’s most beautiful rock formation, is breathtakingly pretty. When you turn into the Stanglwirt by car you drive onto a roundabout, which has a sign in the middle that says, Eco-Roundabout. Actually: it is quite funny! And it points you in the direction of this 400 year old farm you’ll be staying at. At Stanglwirt you take a holiday away from the serious side of life.
Leaving the eco-roundabout, you walk straight into the eco hotel with bio-mountain air and mainly bio-products, which are actually real natural, because the hotel is still a farm with its own organic farming. The lobby is big, maybe a little bit bourgeois, there’s even a concierge, who also organizes horse-drawn carriage tours and a bar, which isn’t that cool, but very cosy. We are allocated a “Kaiserbogen” suite and take the lift. Waiting for us in the lift is a bottle of schnapps and two glasses standing in a wooden box. Guests are expected to enjoy the ride and are therefore given a shot, which is on the house. Again one of those little details that make a lovely difference. If you like, you can spend all day riding the lift and drinking shots. (well, nobody really does…).
The rooms: rustic, but above all cosy. There was a survey that said – surrounded by Swiss pine – you sleep much deeper and that the pulse rate is slower during the day. Some of the rooms have their own fireplace and even their own sauna in the bathroom. But the loveliest thing is the warmth that such a room radiates, which probably has to do with the fact, that even technical things like the television and telephone are panelled in wood. In fact, the only things without wood are the remote control and the tablecloth.
The next morning: breakfast. Breakfast is a bit like the weather. If it’s not right, it can spoil the holiday. However, we have rarely seen a breakfast like the one you receive in the Stanglwirt (and we have seen lots of beautiful places). You have to ask yourself the question, if you can eat enough to stock up on food for the next few days.
In the wintertime, most of the guests distribute themselves around the various skiing areas. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the Kitzbühel skiing area. And only three minutes away, you enter the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental, the largest interconnected skiing area in Austria! What we notice: There are lots of families consisting of various generations. Maria Hauser, the junior boss and daughter of the house-patron Balthasar Hauser, tells of guests that have been coming here with their whole family for 50 years. Every year, same place, same time.
In summer, guests will be seen in the huge wellness area. There are four different, heated outdoor pools and an artificial mountain lake, in which the guests are urged to jump after their sauna. Some other come here to practice there tennis skills or leaving for a hike in the mountains (it`s a perfect start to go for a ride with an E-Bike).
In the meantime, the wellness area has become its own park: there’s even a grotto and an aquarium. But even here, despite the size, everything is cosy.
In the evening we reward ourselves with a schnitzel in the cowshed snuggery. This place is not only for hotel guests, but also functions as a restaurant, which is frequented by many of the “Kitzbühel” locals who like to come here for dinner. The clever thing about the snuggery: The next potential schnitzel is chewing the cud next door in the stall. (Maybe not ideal for vegetarians!). We are also really impressed by the various other tavern snuggeries, which have been left in the style of the last century. The wood in the snuggeries has more scratches than Keith Richard’s face.
Ideal for
A healthy weeks family holiday in the mountains (doesn’t matter if summer or winter). Even if the Stanglwirt does have a reputation as being a celebrity place, we were positively surprised just how friendly and uncomplicated everything was here. You can’t help but notice that it is still very much a family-owned hotel, who have had their roots here for 400 years. And a tip for parents with small dwarves: childcare is available.
Special
The hotel has got a long tennis tradition. There are 6 indoor courts and 8 outdoor courts and allegedly good trainers (unfortunately we weren’t able to test them).
Prices
Doubles from 330 Euros including breakfast, Kaiserbogen luxury suites from 588 Euros per night for two.
Journey
You can fly into Munich or Salzburg Airport and book a transfer from there. The drive from Munich to the hotel takes around 90 minutes, from Salzburg it is around 50 minutes.
Booking
Bio- and Wellnessresort Stanglwirt
Going am Wilden Kaiser
Austria
Tel: +43-5358-2000
www.stanglwirt.com/en
daheim@stanglwirt.com
