Experience, revive!
Tyrolean tradition in a new guise
The word Geborgenheit is unique in the German language. It cannot be adequately translated and can hardly be adequately paraphrased. But it can be experienced. And that is exactly what the Hotel Klosterbräu & Spa in the heart of the Tyrolean Alps makes possible. And in its very own way.
The first thing that catches your eye, no matter where you look from, are the towering white peaks that envelop the warmly lit place as if they were protecting it: I arrive in the evening and the whole of Seefeld shines like a small, calm sea of lights amidst the undulating mountain landscape all around. A calming sight, a sheltered arrival. The space is so captivating that time hardly seems to matter. It doesn't matter what day or year it is - all the pointers point to security, and nothing more is needed.
The houses all around - ranging from alpine chic to rustic - with their snow-covered gabled roofs, the old inn opposite the hotel, the genuine friendliness of the people who are always eager to greet you, the small but chic boutiques in the pedestrian zone in front of the hotel: all this quickly makes you forget the last remnants of imported city hustle and bustle and sweetens your arrival. Right here and right now. A cliché, perhaps, or simply a deeply romantic longing for the country, but exactly the kind of out-of-time comfort for whose continued existence one is sometimes very grateful. A little happiness that you greet with a smile - and enter.
The reception at the hotel is also warm. It's the details that are soothing: the gentle scent of essential oils as you enter, the flickering, warm light as you walk almost reverently along the candle-lit former monastery corridor - the lovingly restored wooden doors to the former monks' cells (and today's spa suites) to the left and right and the original frescoes from the 16th century that tell us how the hotel was built. It is the red carpet, the calm ambience, the quiet courtesy. There is something transcendent about all this in the most secular way imaginable. For as heavenly as this place may appear - it is nevertheless fully geared towards wishless, worldly happiness. With respect for historical tradition, but in an ultra-modern guise.
But where does this historic, almost reverent atmosphere actually come from? Let's take a few steps back: the year was 1516, when the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian I fell in love with the charming village of Sevelt and founded a monastery to accommodate the electors. From this point onwards, Augustinian monks catered for pilgrims and noblemen passing through for 200 years until the monastery was closed at the beginning of the 19th century and converted into a family business. At this time, two happy marriages and a death set the course for the six-generation tradition of the Seyrling family, whose younique* signature has been written into every detail of the house ever since.
I am met with a full load of youniqueness as soon as I get up and enter the yoga room early in the morning. The sun slants in through the high windows on the ground floor and floods the room with the first hint of spring. The white vaulted ceiling frames a calming yoga scene, with a few candles and discreet Buddha figures serving as atmospheric props. Two pine-covered mats lie on the floor, which not only hint at a skillful regional touch, but also exude a pleasant, woodsy scent throughout the session. Across from me, Doris, my yoga teacher, shines with almost the same intensity as the sun outside and welcomes me to my session. A thoroughly individualized one-to-one lesson awaits me, which also gives me a new toolbox of movement techniques to use at home. Younique, - that's right. And it's always a nice side-effect when the vacation experience doesn't end when you check out. After training, I lie blissfully and sun-kissed in a more than deeply relaxed Shavasana position and finally think: nothing.
Later at breakfast, on the other hand, there is a real stream of consciousness - in the good sense of the word. Once again, it is the small gestures that prove (sustainable) greatness. In keeping with a successful low-waste philosophy, sausage and cheese are cut into the desired portions according to hunger, happy eggs from happy hens are waiting next door in small straw-covered boxes, the products are - where possible - made from regional produce and personal preferences are known to the staff before you know it. This is not only professional, but also really likeable. So it's hardly surprising that the proportion of regular guests here is particularly high - often over several generations.
Speaking of which: a visit to the hotel's own vegetarian farm is a particularly hot recommendation for families with children! Even on the short walk from the hotel to "Sigis Sauhaufen" - the name of the small farm - excited hens in colorful plumage run towards us, in the barn itself Franz-Josef and Jürgen, two Bavarian pot-bellied pigs in need of love, vie for our favor, while donkeys, goats and rabbits eagerly await the next feeding - and the kids take care of that themselves. I have rarely seen children's eyes light up as brightly as they do here in the hay. "Some come several times a day," says Nadin, the farmer, as she strokes one of the piglets' - admittedly not quite slim - belly. And I understand immediately.
The Star Spa then offers a striking contrast to the pigsty: 3,500 square meters of aromatic oasis in wellness heaven. A good life where you can - and want to - get lost. If you find time between skiing, (snowshoe) hiking and cross-country skiing, you should definitely take a look at the spa menu. Our tip: the YOUNIQUE massage, which in my case isn't exactly gentle, but it does have an effect.
Incidentally, everything else in the hotel does too: it works. And not just because of its high-quality overall appearance. Many people can do luxury. What you are presented with here is rather a great piece of humanity, supported by a long family tradition and clothed in a reinterpreted regional aesthetic that nevertheless masters them all perfectly: the tricks of the trade of the genuine Austrian luxury hotel industry.
