Kick It Austrian-Style at The Hotel Schwarzer Adler's Rooftop Pool

March 4, 2009 at 12:29 PM | by carolynb | 2 Comments

This week we will be bringing you a special series from contributor Carolyn Banfalvi on the most luxe Alpine hotels in Austria. If you ever fancied a "Sound of Music" getaway, here's how to do it without taking the Vow of Poverty. Any questions or suggestions? Let us know.

Despite its location smack in the center of Kitzb�hel, rooms at the Hotel Schwarzer Adler have gorgeous mountain views,some with floor-to-ceiling windows. From the outside, the place might look like your typical Tyrolean ski chalet, but the hotel has done so much updating in recent years that it feels more like a super-stylish boutique property.

The spacious rooms feature either a cozy country-style decor or a sleek and minimalist one, all with high-tech amenities like iPod docking stations, stereo systems, and flat-screen TVs.

The Schwarzer Adler�s jewel is its rooftop pool which opened last year and which is probably one of the finest in the country (It's also the longest rooftop pool in the Alps). Take a glass elevator to the open-air pool, where panoramic mountain and village views, an underwater sound system, counter-current swimming, and massage jets await you.

Down below, the Black Spa is calming, with candles throughout and a variety of saunas and steam baths, including a rasul. It also includes a luxurious spa suite, with a private Japanese bath. Kitzb�hel is home to a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, and Neuwirt, the hotel�s restaurant, has one star.

We preferred the Hotel Schwarzer Adler to its sister hotel down the street, the Weisses R�ssl, which has an over-the-top, two-level 3,982-sq.ft. suite that is supposedly the largest suite in Austria. It would dwarf most people�s houses with three bedrooms, a private butler, five flat-screen TVs, four bathrooms, and a laptop. For me, Hotel Schwarzer Adler�s subtle, but elegant, design was more appealing.

Room rates here begin at 280 euros or $350 and includes breakfast and dinner.

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