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"On a baking-hot July afternoon, I lounged on a cabana-like chair at the lake club, a cool breeze ruffling rows of powder-blue striped parasols while, to one side, a swimwear-clad couple sunned themselves beside a pair of glittering amber Aperol spritzes and, to the other, a family with two kids skipped toward the water with pool floats, laughter carrying across the lake as someone toppled from a kayak. It feels like the ultimate European beachside idyll, except it’s set in the heart of the Austrian Alps about 350 kilometers from the nearest coastline at the buzzy new hotel reopened this June by Rosewood, gazing out on what has to be one of the most majestic vistas in central Europe: a glowing shade of turquoise water kept remarkably peaceful by a ban on motor boats, dramatic forested slopes rising above it, the picture-postcard village of Fuschl at the far end, and jagged snow-capped mountains beyond." - Liam Hess
Lakeside castle resort with spa, golf, and fine dining
Schloss-Straße 19, 5322 Hof bei Salzburg, Austria Get directions