ALPHAtauern Health Resort

The ALPHAtauern Health Resort is at Ringstraße 4, on a sunny plateau in the centre of Obertauern, in the Salzburg region, among the Radstadt Tauern and at around 1,740 metres of altitude. The house belongs to the Lürzer family, run today by Daniela and Bernhard-Sebastian, and it began as a small guesthouse letting rooms more than forty-five years ago; in the mid-nineties came the extension to ninety-six beds and the first sauna area. After its reconversion it presents itself as the first and only hotel in Obertauern devoted to health.

The minimum age, and who does not publish it

The official website calls the house an ADULTS ONLY Health Resort, but publishes no minimum age in figures on any of the pages consulted. The booking portal, for its part, says only that children are not allowed, and there too the rule carries no number. The one numerical reference in circulation is inside the name under which the property presents itself on the portal, which contains the formula adults only 15 plus. It is a clue, not a published rule: this entry therefore sets no figure, and anyone travelling with a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old must have the threshold confirmed in writing before booking. What is certain is that minors are not admitted.

Organic SPA

The wellness area is called ORGANIC SPA by ALPHAhealth and includes three themed Finnish saunas: the hay sauna between 80 and 90 degrees, with the scent of hay flowers and alpine herbs and room for ten or twelve people; the rock crystal sauna between 70 and 80 degrees for three to five people, with a menu of scents that changes every day; the Himalayan salt sauna between 65 and 75 degrees. There are then an aroma steam bath with two scents that rotate every week, an infrared cabin with adjustable temperature, the water grotto with natural water from the mountains of Obertauern, the Kneipp pool with warm footbaths, the tea lounge and the Raum der Sinne, the rest room with ergonomic loungers. For a charge you can book the Private SPA Room, a space reserved for two people with a designer tub, special baths, a Himalayan salt sauna and a water bed. The website publishes no rule on swimwear in the saunas and declares no pools: it does, though, ask guests to bring spa slippers from home, and at reception it supplies them for 2 euros, donated at the end of the season to an environmental organisation.

Table, skiing and services

The board is three-quarter board: a breakfast buffet with fresh bread from the Binggl bakery in the Lungau, an after-ski lunch from 15.30 to 16.30 and a six-course gourmet dinner under the Natural Art Cuisine name, with a daily vegetarian menu. Included are the bathrobe in the room, wifi throughout the hotel except the restaurant and the spa, free parking, the video-monitored ski store with heated lockers, the cardio GYM open twenty-four hours with Precor equipment and the Guest Mobility Ticket, which gives free public transport throughout the Salzburg region. The skiing is fifty metres away, from ski bridge number 5. The house arranges retreats of several days, from alpine fasting to longevity yoga. Dogs are welcome at 40 euros a day, food excluded, with a blanket and a bowl in the room.

It suits anyone looking for a week oriented towards health rather than luxury, with attentive cooking and carefully kept saunas. It suits less anyone who wants a pool: here none is declared.