From Germany to Italy: Switch off and relax: The five best wellness hotels in Europe
Especially in the dreary winter weather, the need for a relaxing holiday is increasing – and the desire to be pampered in a chic wellness hotel. FOCUS Online shows five hotels that are among the best wellness hotels in Europe – from Germany to Italy.
The "Wellness Heaven" portal tests wellness resorts every year and produces a ranking of the best. 97 hostels are scrutinized, which guests then rate via online voting. It's not just about the wellness category, but also about cuisine, rooms, location and service. We present the winners:
1. Best spa hotel: Hotel Winkler, St. Lorenzen, South Tyrol
It was only in July 2017 that the hotel reopened after a complete renovation and expansion. In a modern alpine style with lots of glass and wood, it offers luxury-loving guests the right ambience: design suites and rooms, some of which even have their own sauna and whirlpool – with a great view over the Puster Valley.
The heart of the resort is the spa area, which covers an area of 3500 square meters. Water in particular plays a major role, because guests have a large number of swimming pools to choose from: from the large indoor panorama pool with an open fireplace to the even larger outdoor infinity pool to a mountain swimming lagoon and a cold water channel.
Exciting, but no time right now?
When it comes to saunas, guests are also spoiled for choice between a Finnish panorama sauna, an infusion steam bath, a brine steam bath and an infrared sauna. If you travel as a couple, you can even enjoy wellness in the private spa with your partner.
Tip for you and your partner: Be sure to try the traditional application "Journey through South Tyrol". It consists of a full-body honey peeling, a stone pine bath and a 25-minute relaxation massage with arnica oil. At the end there are even a few South Tyrolean delicacies (255 euros for 140 minutes).
Prices: 150 euros per night and person, more information at www.winklerhotels.com
Further placements in this category:
2nd place: Aqua Dome Tirol Therme Längenfeld, Austria
3rd place: Lindenhof Lifestyle Dolce Vita Resort, Naturno, South Tyrol
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Second Best cuisine: Romantik- & Wellnesshotel Deimann
This romantic five-star hotel is located in the middle of the countryside in the town of Schmallenberg in the Sauerland. Over four generations, this luxury hostel developed from a former manor house – embedded in the picturesque backdrop of the low mountain range, which is an ideal terrain for extended hiking tours that the owner family undertakes with guests.
The spa area is located directly behind a pond – with a large brine outdoor pool and a glazed indoor freshwater pool. In addition to the steam bath, bio and Finnish sauna, guests can also sweat gently in an ancient Roman teceldarium – because the temperature is only 41 degrees and is therefore suitable for everyone who finds classic saunas too hot at over 100 degrees.
But above all, the culinary offer inspires guests: Because in the house you can dine in various restaurants that conjure up delicious menus with regional, seasonal and fresh products. In the gourmet restaurant Hofstube, only 29-year-old chef Felix Weber has even cooked up a Michelin star. A six-course meal costs 139 euros per person. House guests pay a special price.
Prices: 140 euros per night and person, more information at www.deimann.de
Further placements in this category:
2nd place: Sonnenalp Resort, Ofterschwang, Germany
3rd place: Schloss Elmau, Elmau, Germany
3. Best suite: Jagdhof, Röhrnbach, Bavarian Forest
This five-star wellness hotel is located in the heart of the Röhrnbach market town in the Bavarian Forest – surrounded by an extensive hilly landscape. With an area of 6500 square meters, no other hotel in the region offers a spa of this size: in addition to an outdoor and indoor pool, there is even a natural swimming lake where you can splash around in the summer. There are even small piers with loungers available for guests.
The icing on the cake in the portfolio is the new and rustic outdoor sauna in log house style – and a salt cellar that creates a sea climate in the middle of the Bavarian Forest with steam and heat.
Guests are enthusiastic about the new suites that the Ritzinger family opened in 2017: the honeymoon, tower and relaxation suites offer modern, simple and elegant design furniture, cozy box-spring beds and large, comfortable bathrooms and balconies.
Prices: 170 euros per night and person, more information at www.jagdhof-roehrnbach.de
Further placements in this category:
2nd place: Das Goldberg, Bad Hofgastein, Austria
3rd place: Nesslerhof, Großarl, Austria
4. Best location: Naturhotel Forsthofgut, Leogang, Austria
It couldn't be nicer: the Forsthofgut in Leogang is embedded in the wonderful mountain landscape of the Salzburg region – directly on the slopes of the local mountain Asitz. Ideal for hikers and winter sports guests who come to the hotel directly from the ski slope. The Asitzbahn, which leads up to the huge Leogang-Saalbach-Hinterglemm-Fieberbrunn ski area, is only 200 meters from the house.
The original courtyard was expanded a few years ago with a state-of-the-art wooden extension, which also houses the forest spa: from the sauna you can enjoy a great view of the ski slopes and the game enclosure that belongs to the hotel. In addition to bio and infrared saunas, steam bath and rock shower, there is also a large pool with an outdoor area and a 1,500 square meter swimming pond.
Prices: 185 euros per night and person, more information at www.forsthofgut.at
Further placements in this category:
2nd place: The Kranzbach, Krün, Germany
3rd place: Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda, Gargnano, Italy
5. Best service: Alpenresort Schwarz, Mieming, Austria
The Alpenresort Schwarz is located on the Mieminger sun plateau, 35 kilometers west of Innsbruck – a family-run traditional hotel that offers holidays for the whole family. Children can let off steam in the children's club (from one year old) or in the 32,000 square meter park with nine pools and a bathing pond. There are also three tennis courts on the course – as well as a 27-hole golf course directly in front of the hotel.
The resort is an Eldorado for wellness holidaymakers, because guests have access to an entire sauna village. In addition to organic, herbal, stone, meditation and hunter saunas, there is also a family sauna that children can also use. In terms of relaxing afterwards there is also a huge offer: from the meditation relaxation room to a stone pine lounge to the still room with water beds.
Another special highlight at the Alpenresort Schwarz are the new 40 square meter private spa suites, in which couples or up to four people can enjoy their time out together. They have a bio sauna, a whirlpool, a tea corner and day beds.
Spa tip for couples: The "Bath of the Senses" treatment offers a romantic bath by candlelight as well as full-body massages with silk towels and warm oils and a rest in the water bed (90 minutes for 154 euros per person).
Prices: 205 euros per person and night, more information at www.schwarz.at
Further placements in this category:
2nd place: Bio- und Wellnessresort Stanglwirt, Going am Wilden Kaiser, Austria
3rd place: Astoria Resort, Seefeld in Tirol, Austria
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