Aktiv- und Wellnesshotel Traube Post

The Aktiv- und Wellnesshotel Traube Post is on the via Claudia Augusta, in Curon Venosta, that is Graun, the village at the top end of the Val Venosta rebuilt after the flooding of the valley, at about one thousand five hundred and twenty metres. The submerged bell tower emerging from the water of Lake Resia, the most photographed image in South Tyrol, is a few hundred metres from the entrance. The house has been in the hands of the same family for more than five generations.

Two declared spas, and the difference is in the name

This is not a property that bars children: the website has a section given over to family holidays and one to holidays with a dog. The wellness centre, however, is divided into two worlds that the house distinguishes explicitly in its own menu. On one side is the Vivana SPA, which the website qualifies as adults only and describes as the perfect refuge for everyone from 16 years onwards: it is a textile-free area, with a panoramic herbal sauna, a Finnish sauna, a saline steam bath, an infrared cabin and relaxation rooms with water beds and hay beds. On the other side is the family spa, with the water world, the swimwear zone, the Petschelsauna, the bio sauna typical of South Tyrol, a Finnish sauna, the Tyrolean Heukraxenofen and an aromatic steam bath. The website writes that there children and adults will feel completely at ease, and that in the Tyrolean-style textile sauna even the youngest can take a moment of relaxation.

The Vivana wellness centre

It takes its name from the mountain hut of Curon in the Vivana valley and covers a thousand square metres. Besides the saunas there are hot-air baths, rain and mist showers, relaxation zones and, in summer, a sunny terrace with swinging loungers. The Infinity Sky Pool is the thing you remember: an outdoor whirlpool kept at thirty-six degrees and facing the lake and the mountains, where you can bathe even in the snow. Below, the water world has a large adventure pool open to everyone. Completing the picture are a gym, the yoga programme and the treatment list, prepared with South Tyrolean products such as natural hay, herbs, alpine pine oil and body wraps, with offerings designed for couples. The centre's manager, Sina Patscheider, has worked in the field for twenty years.

Around the hotel

Curon is a starting point for anyone on the move: the lake is one of Europe's kitesurfing destinations, the Val Venosta cycle path passes through, the Ortler Skiarena ski area and the two-country ski pass towards Austria are within reach, and in winter there are tobogganing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The house also has a wine cellar, a restaurant of regional cooking and bicycle hire, and is recognised as a motorcyclists' hotel.

It suits anyone who wants the quiet of a textile-free sauna in a hotel that stays open to families, and anyone looking for a high, quiet, windy place a step from the Austrian and Swiss borders. It suits less anyone expecting the mild climate of southern South Tyrol: at one thousand five hundred metres the summer is short and the evenings are cool even in August.