Falkensteiner Balance Resort Stegersbach

The Falkensteiner Balance Resort is in Panoramaweg, on the hill that commands Stegersbach, in southern Burgenland: gentle countryside, rows of vines, the green of the Golfschaukel a short way off. It is the calmest and least alpine part of Austria, that of the thermal baths and the wine, a couple of hours from Vienna and close to the Hungarian border.

The house is a five-star hotel entirely reserved for adults: you get in from the age of fourteen, rooms included. The kitchen works with the Cook the Garden formula, which includes breakfast, a light lunch and a five-course menu in the evening, built around the resort's permaculture kitchen garden, the largest among those of Austrian hotels. Anyone who wants to can visit it with a guide, and anyone who has never picked up a golf club is entitled to a beginners' lesson.

Acquapura SPA

The spa occupies two thousand seven hundred square metres over two floors. There are three pools and all of them are heated all year round: one indoors, open until ten in the evening, and two outdoor infinity pools facing the countryside, which stay in operation even in the snow. In the sauna zone there are the Finnish one, the herbal one and the one in Swiss pine, the aroma steam bath, the ice fountain and the experience whirlpool; part of the sauna area is swimwear-free at certain hours. The relaxation rooms are spread over the two levels, with a tea bar, fresh fruit and dried fruit available.

The treatments range from massages to cosmetics and on to medical wellness looked after together with Merkur Health, and the gym is a cardio and weights area of two hundred and ten square metres with a room for yoga and classes. It is the right address for anyone who wants a week of silence, good food and warm water, with no children's voices.