Das Kronthaler

The Alpine experience is all about landscape — limpid mountain lakes, soaring evergreens, and some of the most iconic summits on the planet. Das Kronthaler, a ski-in/ski-out fixture towards the German side of Austria’s western corridor, makes the most of its setting. There’s guided hiking at various levels of difficulty, mountain biking, skiing of all varieties, golf, and tobogganing. Then there’s paragliding, horseback riding, Nordic walking, and a slew of watersports in and around the nearby Achensee in the summer months. And, come winter, there’s plenty of skiing.

In typical Tyrol style, the hotel’s gym and spa facilities are equally encyclopedic, the better to tone and soothe worn bodies. Take your pick of the Finnish sauna, a massive indoor/outdoor pool, an “infrared cabin,” or a standard array of gym machines. Thanks to the panoramic windows, you can still gaze longingly on the mountainscape while you sweat. To their credit, the views are never quite out of sight, as amply evidenced by floods of natural light throughout the public spaces. You’ll be glad for the seating — swank cube armchairs or velvet chaises longues, likely — when you first catch sight of Karwendel and Rofan rearing their majestic peaks in the distance.

Rooms depart somewhat from the typical Tyrolean formula (think slabs of knotty pine and spruce, antlers, expeditionary tchotchkes, parquet flooring), though never far enough to raise concern, focusing instead on cleansing minimalism with small notes of color in the linens. Clean, polished lines lend buoyancy to square, pine-forward forms, a modern note in keeping with the flatscreens, wi-fi, and other present-day must-haves. Most rooms open on some sort of furnished balcony, though the roof chalets take it to the next level (pun intended) with freestanding tubs and petite garden lounges.

By this point you’ll have worked up an appetite, no doubt. An on-site kitchen serves nuanced Tyrolean plates paired with a broad assortment of wines, as well as cornucopian breakfast and lunch spreads, and the promise of a perfect champagne or espresso on the roomy rooftop sundeck. Digest — the food, the landscape — at your leisure, and pity the soul for whom any of this becomes mundane.

How to get there: Das Kronthaler is located approximately 128 km by car from Munich International Airport via E45, B318, B307, and B181. Alternatively, the hotel is approximately 58 km by car from Innsbruck Airport via A12, Kasbach, and B181.