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It’s a baking hot July afternoon, and I’m sitting on a cabana-like lounger as a cool breeze drifts across the water, gently ruffling the rows of powder blue striped parasols nearby. To my left, a swimwear-clad couple basks in the sun, a pair of glittering amber Aperol spritzes next to them; to my right, a family heads towards the water, two young kids skipping with pool floats in tow. In the distance, there’s the sound of splashing and laughter as someone falls out of a kayak.
It may sound like the ultimate European beachside idyll, except I’m around 350 kilometers from the nearest coastline: Instead, I’m in the heart of the Austrian Alps at the “lake club” belonging to Schloss Fuschl, the buzzy new hotel reopened this June by Rosewood, gazing out upon what has to be one of the most majestic vistas in central Europe. Aside from that water—which is a shade of turquoise so rich it almost seems to glow, and remains remarkably peaceful thanks to a ban on motor boats—there are the dramatic forested slopes rising up off it, with the picture-postcard village of Fuschl at the furthest end and the jagged snow-capped mountains beyond.
While I may have described Rosewood Schloss Fuschl as new, that isn’t strictly true. Like any grand edifice in this corner of the world, its history stretches back many centuries. In brief, the property was originally built as a hunting lodge in the 15th century for the powerful Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg, changing hands multiple times over hundreds of years until it was converted into a hotel in 1947. More recently, it came under the ownership of the Schörghuber family, who remain as stewards even after partnering with Rosewood on the hotel’s refurbishment, which has taken the best part of two years.
But what a refurbishment it is. With the help of the design firms G.A. Group and Bauer Stahl, the hotel’s interiors have been transformed into a dazzling jewel box of decorative wonders, from the airy lobby decorated with pine parquet floors, deer horns, and wildflowers—where a portrait of Empress Sisi sits on one wall, as a nod to the fact the classic Romy Schneider film about the doomed Austrian royal was filmed at Schloss Fuschl back in the 1950s—onward. Arguably most delighftul are the public areas that fill the hotel’s oldest building, overlooking the lake. There, you’ll find the Seeterrasee restaurant, with its panoramic conservatory-style windows and spectacular terrace that comes into its own in the evenings, as the hubbub of diners begins to amplify. Tucked away down the rabbit-warren corridors is the charming Schloss Bar, featuring murals of neighboring forests by the local artist Marie Hartig (she’s also responsible for the handpainted minibar chests in every room, which feature Alpine landscapes delicately rendered in the style of Chinese porcelain) that have been hung with Dutch Old Master paintings of drinkers in taverns from the family’s extraordinary art collection, and set off by red and royal blue velvet banquettes.
Meanwhile, the 98 guest rooms and suites are more subdued, but equally stylish—boasting soft, pastel-hued palettes inspired by the turning of the seasons. My own suite, which offered a view of the west side of the lake, where a handful of tiny wooden cabins dotted the shoreline, appeared to lean toward the fall-to-winter end of the spectrum, decorated in a pleasing combination of ice blue and copper. My bathroom also deserves a shout-out for its enormous marble tub, and being fully stocked with toiletries from the cult-favorite botanical skincare whizz Susanne Kauffman, whose own flagship lies in Bezau, at the other end of Austria. It’s that magic balance of being wildly luxurious without seeming overbearing or fussy—you’ll immediately feel like you can kick off your shoes here and relax. (Word to the wise: I was only just able to squeeze into the hotel on its second week of opening, with it operating at mostly full capacity throughout the summer.)
Though, sure, you can spend a lazy afternoon drinking cocktails by the lake, with service (and snacks) that rival any Amalfi Coast beach club, the real joy of the place is how it’s fully plugged into its natural surroundings, which the ever-obliging staff will encourage you to make the most of. There are hiking trails galore in this corner of the world, and in the winter, it’s 20 minutes from the nearest ski slopes. A highlight is a sunrise cruise across the lake in one of the hotel’s gorgeous antique boats (updated to feature electric motors) with a flask of coffee; another is the hotel’s dedicated fishery, which holds the only license to fish on the Fuschl lake and offers rustic lunchtime picnics of smoked trout with a squeeze of lemon and a dollop of mayonnaise, served with rye bread and beer. It’s as hearty and delicious as it sounds.
Still, this being a five-star resort, there are options for every type of diner. At the Seeterrasse, you can enjoy a menu described as “Alpine to the sea”: I had a shatteringly crisp Wiener schnitzel doused in lemon juice with a side of butter-and-parsley-drenched potatoes and lingonberry jam as the sun set over the lake beyond, and the lights of Fuschl town began to glitter through the twilight. Meanwhile, the hotel’s gourmet restaurant, Schloss, has an inventive tasting menu showcasing the flavors of the local Salzkammergut region, all served in a sweeping dining room with (you guessed it) panoramic windows offering yet another perspective on the lake.
What struck me most about Schloss Fuschl, however, was the blanket of peacefulness that seems to hang over it. I arrived on a Friday afternoon after a busy and somewhat stressful week and a long day of travel, but from the moment I arrived in my room and caught my first glimpse of the lake beyond, a rowboat gliding lazily across its surface, I exhaled and felt all my stresses melt away. Chalk it up to that restorative Alpine air, or the supremely stylish decor, or the sheer beauty of the place, but I ended up sleeping in for most of my first morning. (Maybe it was just those heavenly Frette linens.)
On my final afternoon, I wandered down to check out the Asaya spa, which—like seemingly everything else about the hotel—does not do things by halves. Spread across multiple floors in the bowels of one of the hotel’s sprawling wings, the space is kitted out with everything you could possibly wish for from the world of wellness: a sizable indoor pool, an outdoor infinity pool overlooking the lake, three saunas, a steam room, and a gym with all the latest mod-cons. Upon arriving, I was led down a spiral staircase and into a treatment room where my therapist, Donatien, delivered the kind of deep-tissue massage dreams are made of; afterwards, I floated out into the winter garden to sip tea, bundled up in a fluffy robe as birds chirruped in the trees around me.
It was then that it dawned on me that despite having been at Schloss Fuschl for two days, I hadn’t had the urge to leave it at all. (And as a fully paid-up The Sound of Music fan who had never visited Salzburg before, as well as a music nut who would typically be making a beeline for the nearby Festspielhaus to catch some Mozart, that realization came as something of a surprise.) But there’s truly everything you could ever want for already on-site here, from a bijou museum dedicated to Empress Sisi to an impressive shop selling local wines and chocolate and high-end yodeling garb. Who needs a Sound of Music tour when the hills are alive with the sound of Schloss Fuschl?
