MINERAL SPA
Visitors fl ock to the Gastein Valley for its range of outdoor activities
Grand Park Hotel was originally built as a hospital
A Tibetan bell massage is just one of the traditional Chinese treatments offered at the hotel
THE GRANDE DAME Fittingly, the fi ve-star Grand Park Hotel in Bad Hofgastein was originally built in 1912 as a Protestant hospital. Only 50 minutes south of Salzburg, it’s also located on the edge of the Hohe Tauern National Park in Austria’s Gastein Valley which is known as the ‘health valley’. Here healthy doses of radon gas hang in the air and natural thermal spring waters run through the mountains which provide a backdrop for Nordic walking, cycling and rock climbing in the summer and the coun- try’s second biggest ski resort in the winter. T e 89-bed hotel, owned by the Economic
Chambers of Salzburg, is affectionately referred to as the ‘grade dame’ and has a fi n de siècle style reminiscent of decadent European architecture at the turn of the century. Housekeeping staff wear authen- tic Austrian dress and accordion players and singers serenade guests at dinner with
traditional songs. Its design isn’t contempo- rary, but it does have a welcoming feel, with comfy armchairs and a roaring fi re in the reception and lounge area. It’s easy to see why it appeals to the target
audience who range from 40-90 years and come predominately from Austria (30 per cent) and Germany (30 per cent). Most guests are couples, rather than families, as this is a child-free property except at Christmas.
HIGH CAPTURE RATES
“T e spa is one of the biggest reasons guests come here – that and our special kitchen,” says general manager Claudia Wachter. “It brings business and increases room rate.” Covering 2,000sq m (21,528sq ſt ) and two
storeys on the lower ground fl oor, the Grand Spa was built seven years ago, but still looks new, and has a wide array of facilities. It includes a thermal pool with water sourced
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from the nearby Elisabeth Spring, numerous spring-water drinking stations, two whirl- pools and seven treatment rooms – two of which have baths built into the ground for radon water treatments – and a VIP double suite which was added last year. T ere’s also a fi tness suite and exercise stu-
dio and a large heat experience area with a tepidarium, three saunas, two steamrooms, an ice cave and a salt inhalation grotto. Every evening, Walter, an entrant in this year’s Austrian Sauna Championships, performs dif- ferent sauna rituals by circulating the air with a towel or using eff ects such lavender and salt infusions and Tibetan singing bowls. With 80-plus therapies including ritu-
als from Comfort Zone, make-up services by Eva Garden and medi-spa treatments by QMS (quick magic system) the menu is overwhelming. And that’s excluding the equally wide range of health and medi-
SPA BUSINESS 4 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
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