Up in the Austrian Alps is a quaint town called Bad Gastein with a waterfall running through the middle and beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. The streets wind you around store fronts and hotels and finally past a tall church in the middle. The views are fantastic which is why we wanted to stay in the center of town at the Straubinger Grand Hotel in Bad Gastein.
Bad Gastein, Austria is located about 45 minutes southeast of Zell Am See. The town itself is a little upscale–more so than some of the other towns we drove through. We didn’t know much about Bad Gastein or where to go in Austria for that matter, but this ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip.
We had just spend some time skiing in Zell Am See and were looking forward to a quiet stay in the mountains to recover from the slopes. Though it’s a ski town itself, it’s also a spa town and there are some fun activities to do in Bad Gastein as well.
Hotel options were extremely limited when we booked our trip. Like 3 options limited. Granted, we booked our trip the week before leaving for it and it also happened to be during one of the busiest times of year–the holidays. That part was on us, BUT we ended up getting a room at the Straubinger Grand Hotel.
About the Straubinger Grand Hotel
The Straubinger Grand Hotel is a luxury hotel centrally located within Bad Gastein. It is quite literally steps away from the waterfall in the center of town which is one of the main things to see here.
On the other side of the waterfall is the main parking garage, so if you don’t have a nice car, you have a place really close by to park. If you do have a nice car, they’ll let you park it out front. (Our rental evidently did not make the cut.) If you’re coming by train, it’s an 8-minute walk from the Bad Gastein Train Station.
Reopening
What we didn’t know is that the hotel had only been open for a few months before we stayed there. The hotel was originally built between 1840 and 1842 and was owned by the Gastein family. It was once the largest spa hotel in the area but closed in 1999.
While we were sitting at the bar, the bartender told us that the hotel had sat abandoned for years. The reconstruction took several years and had just recently finished. You can see photos of the process here!
The renovations stayed close to the history and elegance the property once had and wove elements of its historic past into the modern makeover. For instance, the modern door to our room was framed with the old wood from the previous door.
The hotel has an overall 9.5 rating on Booking so we definitely expected it to be nice.
Rooms
The rooms on the property are all individually designed. We noticed the attention to detail in ours and we also sensed things were brand new before finding out at the bar that it was in fact, recently redone. You can’t really tell from the dark corners below but there are lots of nice accents.
Our room was definitely nice, albeit much smaller than we thought it would be. And I certainly haven’t stayed in enough luxury hotels to know if it lives up to that.
The branding is really elegant and is included on robes and slippers. They do turndown service, there was a handwritten welcome note on the table and welcome programmed on the TV, which are all nice, small touches. But the best thing by far about our room was the view.
We had a perfect view of the church and the mountains and our windows opened up fully, which I loved. And since the hotel is so close to the waterfall, you get to fall asleep to the sounds of the waterfall outside.
Amenities
Within the hotel is a restaurant serving Austrian and international cuisine, a bar, fitness and other typical hotel amenities. You can get breakfast or dinner at the hotel and there’s a cafe as well for coffee and light bites. The u-shaped bar was a nice place to grab a drink at night. But the main thing to take note of is the spa.
Spa
The spa at the Straubinger Grand Hotel is a three-story spa, complimentary to guests. On the first floor is where you’ll find the spa reception area, a seating area with tables (you can have drinks ordered to you here), and the indoor/outdoor heated infinity pool.
You can enter the rooftop infinity pool from inside and push a button for sliding doors to open to the outside. The pool (and the entire spa) overlook the waterfall to the side of the hotel and have the same fantastic view of the church and mountains.
We loved coming back to the spa after spending the afternoon on the Stubnerkogel mountain. If I’m being picky, the heated pool could have been a little more heated, but when you have views like that, does it even matter?
On the second floor are treatment rooms and spa suites, plus a little snack area. We didn’t end up getting any treatments but were pretty content with the pool and saunas.
The third floor has a Finnish sauna and a mountain herb sauna with floor to ceiling windows that directly overlook the waterfall. There’s also an ice fountain, a relaxation room and balcony overlooking the pool.
How Much to Stay Here
The nightly room costs will vary depending on what time of year that you visit. We stayed here between Christmas and New Years and that’s of course one of the most expensive times.
We booked last minute and there were literally three options available in Bad Gastein. Bad Gastein is also not necessarily an affordable place and the other options were not too far behind.
During the holidays, we payed over $600 for one night. But during other times of the year, you can expect it to be around $450-$550 per night.
Check nightly rates and hotel availability here!
Usually we wouldn’t splurge like this, but it was sort of a treat-yourself stay and we factored in the spa as well. We would have likely spent money on a day pass at the spa in town, but since the hotel had a 3-story spa, we didn’t need to go somewhere else.
Worth Checking in?
These are just some of my overall, random thoughts of checking in to the Straubinger Grand Hotel. Again, I haven’t stayed at a lot of luxury properties. The property was beautiful but I have to say for what we paid, I expected a bit more hospitality. It kind of gave off a vibe that was like, the nicer the car (or more expensive you look), the better you’re treated.
When we pulled up in our less than stellar rental car, we were told immediately that we couldn’t park there. I assumed someone would have greeted us and asked us if we were checking in first before trying to make us move. We were just wanting to drop our bags off before parking in the garage.
I also assumed someone would have helped us with our bags. We had to haul them inside and to our room ourself, which was downstairs and we were sort of pointed in the general direction to find it. (We were also pointed to the stairs with our bags and only found out there was an elevator after.)
Apart from that, everything was great. It’s a beautiful location in the middle of town. Our room was beautifully designed, even if on the small side. I’m a sucker for views, and not only did our room have an incredible view of the church, the spa had insane views from every window.
So overall, yes, it was definitely worth checking in. The spa alone would have us coming back here. But the nice rooms, location and views are worth it too!
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