First skiing, then spa: six stylish hotels located directly on the slopes

The alpine pole position for skiers and snowboarders is offered by hotels located directly on the piste. It’s called ski-in/ski-out these days. Your advantage: Despite a leisurely breakfast, as a guest you are one of the first to carve down the freshly groomed slopes and in the evening turn straight into the whirlpool. This is how skiing holidays at their finest. We show hotels where this works particularly well.

1. Ski hotel Das Kronthaler, Achensee

Chic lifestyle between mountain and lake: The panoramic location of the Tyrolean 4-star S hotel at 999 meters is impressive. On the one side the Achensee and the Karwendel mountains, on the other side the Rofan mountains and the Christlum ski area.

Winter sports enthusiasts can slide directly into the adult-only hotel from its 30 kilometers of pistes. The finest après-ski awaits you there: champagne on the roof terrace in the “Himmelnah 999” bar or the 2500 square meter wellness area with indoor or outdoor pool, Finnish panorama, salt stone and bio sauna, steam bath and infrared cabin.

That’s how relaxed it is to go to the gourmet dinner, which is the crowning glory of every day’s skiing. Winter fun in the “Kronthaler” also includes the hotel’s own ski service and rental as well as the Achensee ski school, guided ski tours and snowshoe hikes and your own access to the 200 km long network of cross-country trails – classic and skating.

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  Prices: Double room from 160 euros per person with full board

2. Design Hotel Wiesergut, Hinterglemm

Ski directly into your own sauna house or into your own hot tub on the terrace: This dream of an extraordinary skiing holiday comes true in the design hotel “Wiesergut” in the Saalbach-Hinterglemm-Leogang-Fieberbrunn ski area.

On the descent from the Zwölferkogel just before the valley, you have to be careful not to miss the hotel. Because the low-rise buildings of the garden suites are so perfectly integrated into the landscape that they are hardly noticeable – true to the design motto “purism in perfection”. Only the bathhouse, built entirely of wood, stands out from the snow.

The couple in their mid-40s, Martina and Sepp Kröll, wanted to create something unique with the “Wiesergut” that defied comparison and star classification. The concept worked perfectly: A small, individual hotel resort where casual luxury made of natural materials reigns supreme, with only 25 suites, but lots of space, plenty of privacy and tranquillity.

After skiing in the huge ski area with 270 kilometers of downhill runs, 70 lifts and 60 cozy huts, a drink awaits at the ring of fire in the open-air courtyard. And then the hot tub filled with spring water on the terrace of the suites calls for you to warm up in style, relax and stargaze.

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  Prices: Suite from 488 euros with breakfast

3. Ski hotel Das Mooshaus, Kühtai

The modern Anglophile term ski-in/ski-out becomes ski-in/swim-out in the “Mooshaus”: because when you’re skiing down the slopes, it looks as if you could carve straight into the “Endless Sky Pool” on the roof . The 100 meter long dream pool with a 360 degree mountain view is the highest infinity pool in the Alps.

The Kühtai ski resort in Tyrol with its 88 kilometers of pistes and 25 lifts is located at 2020 meters and extends to over 2500 meters. The 4-star S-hotel also meets the highest standards: the Gerber family has a feel for architecture, design and aesthetics, a heart for children and their own ski hut in the ski area.

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  Prices: Double room from 141 euros with breakfast

4. Gradonna Mountain Resort, Kals am Grossglockner

The Großglockner-Kals-Matrei ski resort, located on Austria’s highest mountain, is also known as the “East Tyrolean snow hole”. The 4-star S Hotel “Gradonna” is located directly on the Blauspitz valley run, at 1350 meters in the middle of the Hohe Tauern National Park. The car-free and sustainability-oriented resort sees itself as a family hotel.

There is a separate ski school service, a separate beginners’ area with a magic carpet. And the ski passes for children between the ages of six and 18 are reduced by 50 percent. After skiing, relaxation in the spacious mountain spa with several indoor and outdoor pools and saunas is the order of the day – with a view of the majestic Großglockner.

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  Prices: Double room from 150 euros per person with gourmet half board

5. Berghotel Zirm, Puster Valley

This is the crowning glory: built from the Queen of the Alps, on a ski slope at Plan de Corones in the Dolomites. The stone pine is called “Zirm” in South Tyrol, which is where the name of the mountain hotel comes from. Because in the new 4-star S-hotel high above the town of Olang in the Puster Valley, almost everything is made of the finely scented stone pine wood.

This has been proven to have a positive effect on people in many ways: breathing slows down, heart rate drops, sleep disorders are prevented and general well-being improves.

The Schraffl family, who own it, describe themselves as a “crazy gang” and the atmosphere in the wooden hotel at 1400 meters is correspondingly casual. Service employees drive around on roller skates, the kitchen staff integrate Swiss stone pine into their delicious dishes and the in-house outdoor guides are all qualified ski instructors. Speaking of skiing: the Plan de Corones ski area has 119 kilometers of pistes and 32 lifts.

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  Prices: Double room from 195 euros with breakfast

6. Panorama Hotel Oberjoch, Allgaeu

Ever heard of the German ski area Hindelang-Oberjoch? Here, at an altitude of 1200 meters, is the 4-star S-Hotel, which is dedicated to enjoyment. In terms of cuisine, this means variety with two restaurants, a bar, a bistro and an alpine hut.

The rooms are also designed for different pleasures: the fitness suites are equipped with strength and workout equipment, the spa suites with sauna and whirlpool and the selfness suites with home cinema, table football and billiard table. After fun on the 30 kilometers of downhill runs, the power of the four elements awaits you in the “Alpine Spa”: warming fire, pure alpine water, strong earth and clear mountain air. Cross-country skiers can also start skiing in the Allgäu right outside the front door.

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  Prices: Double room from 190 euros per person with full board