Alpinresort ValSaa - Adults Only

The Alpinresort ValSaa carries number 277 of the Schischulstrasse, in the village of Saalbach, within the municipality of Saalbach-Hinterglemm, in the Salzburg region, at around 994 metres of altitude. The village centre is fifty metres away, the Schattberg X-press cable car four minutes on foot and the slopes between 150 and 400 metres, inside the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn. The booking portal classifies the property under Hinterglemm, but the official address is the one in Saalbach.

Adults only, with a threshold that changes with the season

This is the point to read carefully, because the house applies two different thresholds. The booking portal says only that children are not allowed. The official website, in its frequently asked questions, answers twice: in one passage it writes that the ValSaa receives guests aged sixteen and over, in another it specifies that in summer it receives guests from the age of sixteen and in the winter season from fourteen already. This entry reports 16 years, which is the general threshold and the more prudent one; anyone wanting to stay in winter with a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old should have the rule for that season confirmed in writing at the time of booking.

AlpinSpa: where swimwear is worn and where it is not

On water the resort bets heavily. The outdoor sports pool is 25 metres long and stays open all year round; next to it there are a whirlpool at 35 degrees, the lounger meadow and, on the fourth floor, the panoramic Skyterrasse. Indoors there is a pool at 30 degrees with jets that massage the back and resting zones with loungers at the poolside. On the sauna terrace there is a second whirlpool at 35 degrees, facing the mountains, with the meadow for drying off in the sun.

The heat cabins are the Finnish sauna at 90 degrees, the bio sauna at 55, the saline steam bath at 45 and the infrared sauna between 35 and 50 degrees, with the sauna resting zone and soft music. On the rule for swimwear the house does speak, and explicitly: in the outdoor area there is a hut the website calls a Textilsauna, with a declared dress code, namely that you go in exclusively with swimwear and a towel. The formula the property uses, that for anyone who prefers the advantages of a sauna in swimwear we have a sauna specially for it, says by contrast that in the rest of the sauna world swimwear is not worn and you go in wrapped in your towel. It is the kind of information no portal publishes and that here is in black and white. The wellness area is completed by the massage and treatment department and a gym.

All inclusive, skiing and services

The ValSaa works with a Premium All Inclusive formula: the kitchen is called Alpine Colours, and breakfast, the midday and evening moments of taste, the house wine list and the AlpinBar all form part of the stay. The property has an in-house ski and snowboard school with hire, the Snowacademy, and an exclusive ski room with heated lockers; in summer it offers a sports programme, the tennis court, golf and the Joker Card included in the stay. Wifi is free throughout the resort. The house opens in the summer and winter seasons, not all year round. You arrive by train as far as Zell am See or Saalfelden and then by bus; the Schattberg Express stop is around three hundred metres away. The website publishes no policy on pets, so anyone travelling with a dog would do well to ask before booking.