Galtenberg Family & Wellness Resort

The Galtenberg Family & Wellness Resort is in the centre of the village of Alpbach, a step from the parish church, in the valley of the same name that branches off the Inn valley, at 974 metres of altitude. The name already says it all: it is a house built for families, with a water park and a slide a hundred metres long. But the property has put the adults' wellness area on two separate floors, at the top of the building, and reserves it for guests aged 16 and over. It is called the 7Heaven and it is the part to know about before booking, because it is the only one children do not enter.

The 7Heaven occupies the seventh and eighth floors. On the seventh, next to the beauty department, is the sauna world: a steam sauna, a bio sauna, a Finnish sauna and an infrared cabin, with Kneipp showers for cooling down. The eighth is reached by lift or by a short flight of stairs and holds the pool zone, with a sports pool at 28 degrees fitted with massage jets, an adjoining relaxation room and a solarium balcony. Above that again is the outdoor whirlpool on the roof, kept at 36 degrees, which looks out over the mountains, the meadows and the woods.

The quiet zones are spread inside and out: the daybeds at the poolside are designed for two, the sunny terraces open the view onto the mountains, and there is a corner with tea, fruit and nibbles. The beauty department offers special baths, massages, facial treatments and evening make-up.

The hours are generous and different for each part: the sports pool opens from 6.00 to 21.00, the whirlpool on the roof and the sauna world from 11.00 to 21.00, the beauty and massage department from 9.00 to 18.00.

On the rule for swimwear the house says nothing for the 7Heaven. It does declare, though, that the sauna area of the Family Therme is a Dress On zone, that is, with swimwear on, and the contrast suggests that in the adults' area the opposite rule applies. Since it is written nowhere, it is worth asking at reception at check-in.

The Family Therme is on the ground floor and is the answer for anyone travelling with children. It has a pool between 32 and 34 degrees with an indoor and an outdoor part, fed by local springs, and a baby pool at 34 degrees. The attraction is the Crazy Wadi, a ring slide a hundred metres long with a timer at the finish, light effects and underwater worlds, flanked by a fifteen-metre children's slide and a water playground with a tipping bucket, a games wall, water cannons and a mushroom. The family sauna area, the Dress On one, includes a bio sauna in a stube, an infrared cabin, a saline steam bath, a warm bench and a laconium tepidarium, with the ice fountain and the spiral Kneipp showers. The pool and water park are open from 9.00 to 21.00, the Dress On sauna area from 10.00 to 21.00.

Dogs are allowed by prior reservation, but they do not go into the hotel restaurant, the wellness zones or the sunny terraces and the lawn that go with them.

It suits a couple in a resort full of children who want the certainty of finding two whole floors where there are none, with a whirlpool on the roof that is worth the journey. It suits less anyone looking for a hotel that is adults only throughout, or anyone who wants to know in advance, without asking, whether you stay dressed in the sauna.