Grossarler Hof

Grossarler Hof

Ski boots line up by the entrance in winter, venison from the hotel's own hunt reaches the kitchen, and the scent of woodsmoke and stone-pine sauna drifts through a building that carries the wild, romantic air of the old hunting lodge it grew from. Grossarler Hof sits within walking distance of Grossarl's centre, a 49-room address and one of only nine Austrian members of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a distinction few hotels in this valley can claim. The Erlenreich Relax & SPA holds a heated indoor and outdoor whirlpool, a Finnish stone-pine sauna, a steam room and massage treatments, and rooms run from Standard Doubles to Suites with balconies and bathtubs. In winter, skis go on directly from the property, with passes, a shuttle and storage arranged on site; summer brings hiking, fly-fishing, cycling and yoga, plus a library and barbecue area for slower afternoons. The restaurant works regional produce and that same house-hunted game into a menu built around alpine tradition, served alongside Austrian wines from its own cellar, while children get a playroom and babysitting and dogs are welcome for a small fee. This suits couples after a proper alpine week, skiers who want the mountain and the spa under one roof, and anyone weary of hotels that call themselves boutique without the ownership or intimacy to back it up. It will feel too traditional, too quiet, for guests chasing nightlife or a stripped-back design hotel. What Grossarler Hof holds that its neighbours mostly don't is that Small Luxury Hotels membership, earned rather than claimed. The invitation here is the same one Franzl once issued Sisi: an alpine rendezvous, then and now. Grossarler Hof is a 49-room alpine hotel in Grossarl, one of only nine Austrian members of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Skiers step out onto the slopes directly, and the Erlenreich Relax & SPA and a restaurant built on the house's own hunt fill the rest of the day.