This year, Mum had a very special birthday present for me: a spa-weekend at Die Wasnerin, a four-star superior wellness hotel in picturesque Salzkammergut. We chose the weekend of 1st May (a public holiday in Austria) for our little retreat and booked massages and treatments in advance.
We had decided to stay Thu-Sat instead of Fri-Sun to avoid the crowds on the road and also in the hotel and arrived in Bad Aussee mid-afternoon. Upon entering the lobby we were immediately welcomed, relieved of our luggage and provided with two glasses of sparkling wine instead to sip on whilst being checked in.
Within minutes we were shown to our room and on the way there had the hotel, spa-area and restaurant explained in the friendliest possible manner.
The room was a beautiful double with a balcony facing south-west – towards Dachstein and the afternoon sun.
Over the course of the two nights/ three days we stayed there Mum and I spent most of our time wrapped up in our robes in the sauna area – resting, sweating in all different kinds of saunas (Finnish sauna, sanarium, infrared sauna, steam bath), getting the most wonderful massages and oh-so-relaxing facials, soaking in the spa bath or reading. Mum also had a go at the fitness centre and was positively impressed by the choice and state of equipment while I attended an early morning singing bowl meditation during which inhaled different colours through my chakras before breathing them into my aura. An interesting experience for sure!
Food-wise, there were enough vegan options for breakfast and a special vegetarian/ vegan four-course meal for dinner, while during the day dried fruit, nuts and apples were available in the sauna area. I missed the complimentary afternoon snack on both days because was still full from breakfast or the latest handful of trail mix. The just-in-case power bars I’d brought along came all the way back to Vienna with me 😉
The only thing I found less inspiring than expected was the 90-minute yoga class we joined. The instructor was distracted and barely corrected the postures of participants, even though many were completely new to yoga. It was marked for “beginners and advanced”; however, neither my novice mother nor I found it in any way…enriching?
This did not negatively influence the flow of our respective chis though. Mum and I very much enjoyed our extremely relaxing spa-weekend at Die Wasnerin and will definitely be returning there soon.
What we liked
- Friendliness and attentiveness of staff – everyone we dealt with was super-professional and nice
- Quality and presentation of food – both vegan and non-vegan
- Overall cleanliness of rooms, spa, pool and fitness areas
- Our full body massages and facials – the ladies who treated us were A W E S O M E
- The overall quietude – Die Wasnerin is very much a place to unwind and relax
- The view – whenever the sun came out you had to choose between Dachstein and Loser. Or not choose but alternate looking at one, then the other
- The little things – how two towels were already rolled up in our baskets, the fluffy bathrobes, the little soaps as farewell gifts
What we did not like so much
- Yoga class – especially given this wasn’t included in our package and we had to pay extra for it. Needless to say I’ll join again next time (if only to make sure the instructor really just had a bad day and find out that normally her practices are thoroughly elevating)
- That we only stayed for two nights (which was, clearly, our fault)
Sounds lovely! I’m not a spa-type person, but the food looks good and it looks like a lovely place to relax 🙂 Beautiful photos, Alice!