Das Regina Boutiquehotel Bad Gastein

Austria, feisty? Seems so: more and more, we’re seeing the “urban soul” mantra take firm root in the frigid Alps. Something to do with adventure junkies, we’re sure, but not to worry — at Das Regina, for one, the venerable grand-hotel, après-ski culture isn’t yet through. Thank Olaf Krone for that; with help from Nora Witzigmann in partnership with Patrick Timm, he reinvented this Italian masterwork in his image, imbuing its Belle Époque bones with much-needed cosmopolitan flair.

Bad Gastein may have once hosted holidaying emperors, but Krone’s vision strives for a “citizen of the world” mentality; boho-chic Berliners and Hamburgers with the means and inclination show up in droves. Who could blame them with views like this? The hotel itself is rather easy on the eyes, too, pure white from the exterior and opulent in every sense from within — they kept the original marble and parquet flooring (relax), meanwhile sparing no expense with the food and drink offerings on the ground floor. A complimentary, hearty breakfast spread with Nannini espresso starts each day on the right foot, and thankfully there is no other shoe to drop. Things just keep improving: sophisticated Austro-Mediterranean plates fight for your attention with the fireplace lounge, the terrace, the coffeeshop, the in-house cinema, and the swank bar with checkered-marble accents and matte wainscoting.

There’s even a polyhedral, mountaintop ski bar in nearby Sportgastein at over 7,000 feet. Where do you go from there? You could try the sauna, featuring Bad Gastein’s own geothermal water from area springs, or you could go to this cozy little spot we call sleep. It’s in the bedrooms that the Venetian and Baroque decorative elements rise to a fever pitch, though never overbearing. That is to say: you’ll still be able to enjoy complimentary wi-fi and flatscreens among the antique-ish furnishings and chandeliers. And if you get a room with a balcony, you never really have to leave the slopes behind.