DAS EDELWEISS – where a 14-room guesthouse became two MICHELIN Keys

DAS EDELWEISS Salzburg Mountain Resort sits directly at the valley station in Grossarl, a side valley of the Salzburger Land an hour's drive south of Salzburg, where the piste runs almost to the lobby door. What began in 1979 as a 14-room guesthouse built by a 17-year-old Peter Hettegger has grown, over three generations of the same family, into a 136-room resort carved into the mountainside, its glass and timber facades following the contours of the peaks above the village. The MICHELIN Guide gives it two Keys, noting that there is barely a room without a postcard view and recommending a seat by the infinity pool for the snowcap sunset. Karin and Peter Hettegger have run the house since 2018, backed by siblings, cousins and a staff who treat the Alpinbar as an extension of the family living room. It is a resort built for skiers, families and connoisseurs in roughly equal measure, with four distinct kitchens, a spa spread over five floors and a wine cellar holding tens of thousands of bottles.

01The house

The story goes back to 1978, when Peter Hettegger senior, still a teenager, bought the first plot of land with his parents and built a small guesthouse with fourteen rooms and a café. Through the 1980s and 90s the house grew in stages – an extension in 1989 took capacity to 100 guests, a further expansion in 1993 brought it to 140 beds – while eleven siblings gradually joined the business, each taking charge of a department from construction to food and beverage.

The turning point came in 2018, when Peter's son, also named Peter, and his wife Karin took over and set about reinventing the property as a resort for a new era. After an eight-month closure, the hotel was rebuilt into the mountain itself, work finished in 2024 with the addition of Adults Only suites and a rustic tiled stove salvaged from the original guesthouse, where, as the family puts it, their grandparents always used to sit. The result is a resort that keeps the family's name on the door and three generations of relatives – Hans in food and beverage, Elke on reservations, Daniel on maintenance, Alexander in the kitchens – working inside it.

02Rooms and suites

The 136 rooms and suites are built from stone, glass and natural wood, arranged across categories that run from Double Room Superior at 25 m² up to the 115 m² Top Suite 'Edelweiss'. Every room has a balcony facing the Grossarltal peaks, and a run of Spa Suites – the Top Suite Deluxe, the Top Adults Suite, the Adults Suite Deluxe and Superior – come with their own sauna, whirlpool or freestanding bathtub for a private retreat within the retreat.

Insider tip

Ski-in, ski-out onto the Grossarltal-Dorfgastein area and Ski amadé; Salzburg airport about an hour by car.

Family travellers are served by Family Suite Deluxe and Superior rooms of around 90 m², sleeping up to six, and by a Family Suite Duo arrangement of two connecting double rooms. The newest Adults Only Suites, completed in the 2024 rebuild, sit apart from the family wing for guests wanting uninterrupted quiet.

03Where to eat

Cooking across the resort is led by Executive Chef Fabian Ertl, whose EDELWEISS Mountain Cuisine draws on vegetables and dairy from Großarl farmers, meat from the hotel's own Grossarler Genuss butcher's shop and fish from the Arler fish farm in nearby Hüttschlag. The half-board dinner is served daily in the main dining room between 6.30pm and 8.45pm, with breakfast from 7.30am.

Sirloin | Grill & Dine, the resort's steakhouse, has been awarded two Gault & Millau toques and is recommended in the MICHELIN Guide; Ertl works the open show kitchen himself, searing rump and T-bone cuts and Black Angus specialities to order. Restaurant Hoamat 78 is the more relaxed option, open all day from 11am to 9.30pm for Austrian classics and stone-oven pizza, while Sushi Bar & Sakura turns regional ingredients into Japanese-style plates paired with wine. A Spa Bistro serves light dishes to guests still in their bathrobes, and in summer the Poolbar "Chill & Cheers" on the fourth floor keeps loungers supplied with drinks and ice cream.

04The bar

Wine bar Kork & Gloria is built around a cellar holding more than 30,000 bottles across 1,500 different labels from Austrian and international producers, open daily from 4pm for tastings, masterclasses or simply a glass with dinner. The Alpinbar, open from 10am to 2am, pours champagne, cocktails and a rotating line of homemade alpine syrups, and functions as the resort's late-night living room.

05Spa and wellbeing

The EDELWEISS Mountain Spa covers 7,000 m² across five floors, split cleanly between a Family Spa and an Adults Only area. The adults' wing has a panoramic sauna with guided infusions, a brine pool and whirlpools looking straight at the mountains, while the family side includes an indoor aqua park with five water slides over two levels, a baby pool and textile saunas. Treatments draw on EDELWEISS Natur, an in-house natural cosmetics line using alpine ingredients, and day guests can book in through a dedicated Day Spa programme.

06The neighbourhood

Grossarl is known locally as the valley of the alpine huts, with around 40 traditionally run pastures scattered across the hillsides serving bread, cheese, bacon and schnapps to passing hikers. The resort sits directly beside the Panoramabahn Grossarltal valley station, putting the Grossarltal-Dorfgastein ski area and the wider Ski amadé network, one of Europe's largest, within walking distance of the lobby. In summer the same lifts open onto a network of hiking and biking trails running deep into the Hohe Tauern landscape.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.