How Chic Can An Austrian Eco-Hotel Be? Very, Hotel Forsthofgut Proves

Francisca Kellett checks into Hotel Forsthofgut, a family-run eco-hotel nestled in the Austrian Alps, perfect for a multi-generational escape.

Hotel Review: Naturhotel Forsthofgut, Austria

Squirrelled away down a long, steep-sided valley in Austria’s Salzburgerland, this magnificent wellness hotel has been run by the same family for six generations. Yes, six. I don’t think there’s a hotel in Britain that comes close, but that’s how things roll here. 

‘All the hotels here are family-run,’ Selina Hörl from Saalfelden Leogang Tourism tells me when we meet in one of roughly six million cosy corners of Forsthofgut. All of them? Really? No Saudi-funded glitz-pads hidden away somewhere? ‘No, all of them,’ she says. They are often run by the third or fourth generation, she tells me. Even the ski lifts are owned by a local cooperative, while the mountains are divied up by various local families. They are big on family in Leogang.

And so Hotel Forsthofgut has been run by the Schmucks for over 400 years. It’s a beautiful old hotel with a series of larch-clad chalets sitting prettily around a lake at the foot of the Leogan mountains. Beaming staff wander around in dirndles, much of the food comes from a 50km radius (70 percent of the farmland here is organic), and there is a wine list longer than my arm featuring mostly Austrian wines. That local emphasis is part of its sustainability programme, which covers everything from their biodegradable cleaning products and 100% renewable energy (including  geothermal, biomass, photovoltaic and air-source heat pumps) to their water, which comes from their own spring. Everything is plastic free, and they are reforesting their surrounding woodland, while their lamb, pork and chickens come from their organic 21.8-acre farm.

Your stay ends up being local too; everything you need is right here, including a fully-fitted out ski hire shop in the basement and the smartest boot room I’ve ever seen. The slopes in the area are heavenly – wide, well-groomed blues and pleasant reds. While serious skiers might be disappointed by the lack of blacks, Leogang connects up with the vast Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn ski area. You won’t get bored, but if you do, there are various charming chalets to stop off in for Glühwein, Rösti and mounds of Kaiserschmarn. Hendl Fischerei at the top of the Asitzbahn lift is a standout lunch spot, with sheepskin-lined wooden booths where well-heeled Germans and Americans scoff roast chicken with Dom Perignon, while a DJ pumps out Ibiza-vibe tunes. It’s incredibly chic, in a low-key, very Austrian way. 

Really, the highlight here is the spa – actually, the three spas. There is the Family Waldspa, a glorious complex with swimming pool and water flume. Then there’s the adult-only Waldspa, with four stories of studios, gym, relaxation rooms, saunas and whirlpools looking out over the lake. And then there’s the Seehaus, with a heated outdoor pool, a lakeside sauna and a brilliantly hot (over-16-only) Japanese onsen pool beside the ice-fringed lake.

You could spend all day – all week – at the spa, and the beauty of it is that kids love it, but you can escape them, too. I spend a happy afternoon messing around with my daughters in the family spa, and then head for a vigorous massage that works out any remaining knots in my already deeply relaxed shoulders. It turns out that six generations have really nailed what families want. 

BOOK IT: 

Doubles from €330pp per night, half board, including full daily childcare for children aged two and up, spa access and activities. Book via forsthofgut.at. For more information, visit saalfelden-leogang.com

Francisca’s return flights from London Gatwick to Salzburg had a carbon footprint of 308.7kg of CO2e. ecollectivecarbon.com