Staying on the fourth-generation, family-run Moar Gut’s 25-acres feels like being in an Austrian playground – for adults, never mind the kids.
In the shadows of the Salzburg mountains, Moar Gut offers such good facilities for all ages. There’s an organic farm, riding stables, expansive spa, a swimming lake in the centre and a kids’ club they will be desperate to get to each morning. The range and breadth of activities for children here is outstanding.
The Vibe
Patrick Langwallner
The vibe is quiet luxury at every turn; there’s nothing ostentatious or loud about the property, but everything is carefully considered. Every thought has been taken to ensure you don’t have to worry about a thing from the moment you check in with complementary cake pops, personal lifts straight to your suite, a kids’ club that has such fun programming and facilities that children skip off to it and a thoughtful seasonal menu with tempting options for everyone in the family (including the baby). It’s spacious enough not to be falling over other guests and designed with nature at the heart of the mood board to encourage total relaxation.
The Rooms
There are 46 suites (along with two doubles, which could take a baby or small child), all of which have large living spaces complete with kitchenette, separate bedrooms for children with bunks or twin beds, and a terrace or balcony (garden rooms have access to your own green space, too). Decorated minimally, with silver fir floor, white walls and natural linen, the atmosphere is natural and calming – and the perfect alpine backdrop to gaze out at the mountains beyond (some even have log burning stoves). Bathrooms have tubs and showers, and you can request a baby and toddler kit, including handy things like bed rails, baby food prep machines and Swing2Sleep cradles. Adult beds are just as comfy: large and with separate single duvets to prevent any hogging.
The Food + Drink
Image credit: Matthias Warter
You won’t go hungry at Moar Gut. Dining options include an extensive breakfast buffet which includes the popular Moar Gut Gugelhupf – similar to Bundt cake – and fresh waffles with homemade hazelnut spread. Lunch includes a salad buffet and a choice of two main courses, plus an ice-cream station for dessert; afternoon tea is served around 3pm; and the thoughtful, seasonal dinner menu is overseen by chef Markus with crowd-pleasing children’s options plus a three- or six-course adult menu. Produce is seasonal with vegetables grown in the region, fresh herbs from the garden, and organic meat from the farm. Each family has their own table for the whole stay, meaning you turn up when you fancy and it’s set as you need, with high chairs or children’s settings. There’s a kitchen party on Tuesdays, where guests are invited into the kitchen to have drinks and canapés while a band plays (and the chefs work) and Gusti, the house chicken mascot, entertains children.
The Child’s Play
This is where Moar Gut really comes into its own. There’s the range of facilities from indoor (and outdoor) trampolines, to the indoor basketball/football court, an eight-metre-high climbing wall, an arcade video room, a petting farm, riding stables with Icelandic ponies, indoor and outdoor pools (including a separate toddler/baby pool with a little slide and bassinets for sleeping tots), a separate giant water slide, outdoor playground and archery course. Then there’s the kids’ club, which takes babies from 30 days old, right up to teens. The club is a huge, two-floored space designed with kid-like imagination: think a slide and climbing net to connect the floors, a scooter track, trapeze silks, ball pit, toddler climbing equipment, woodworking studio, art space and full baby room, complete with wooden cribs. It’s so good it’s hard to prize them out of it. Not least, there’s a packed programme of courses for all ages which includes skiing, swimming, horse-riding and tennis.
The Spa
The extensive, 1,200-metre spa is beautifully crafted from local stone and wood, lending an air of total luxury and serenity with an outdoor hot tub, Finnish and Infrared saunas, an ice fountain and gorgeous relaxation rooms with loungers that stare directly out to the mountains. It’s connected to the swim in/swim out outdoor pool, as well as the (unheated) swimming lake that forms the focal point of the property. The spa offers a wide-range of treatments from facials to massages, but thoughtfully also has a range of treatments for teens, such as treatments for hormonal skin or brightly-coloured manicures. Even babies have their own spa menu featuring baby yoga, baby massage and basal stimulation. For those wanting to stay active, there’s the glass-fronted gym that looks out over the mountain vista; reformer Pilates and yoga studios; and a range of classes from strength to stretching; hiking; and – come winter – skiing. Seemingly no matter how long you book for, there’s not enough time to do it all – which is why there are so many repeat visitors.
The To Do List
Nobody would blame you for not leaving the hotel for a week, but there are also plenty of activities to do around the area. As well as skiing in the winter (with free shuttle service to the lifts in the nearby town), there are plenty of hikes to do within the picturesque Grossarl Valley, which the hotel can advise on. One of the easiest with little children is the Grossarl Sensory Walk, a 3.5-kilometre route from the panoramic cable car, which takes you through the primeval forest to a wooden tower, past a stone snail, towards a viewing platform and herb garden – all perfect for keeping little ones interested.
About an hour away by car is Hohe Tauern National Park, the largest national park in central Europe which has ibexes, eagles, marmots, and more to see (if you’re lucky), plus hiking, climbing and cycling activities, which you can do solo or with a ranger.
For another adventurous day out, head 40 kilometres south of Salzburg to the World of the Ice Giants: open 1 May to 31 October this is the world’s largest ice cave, located in the Tennengebirge mountains, where you can take a cable car or hike to see natural ice formations inside the caves, which extend more than 42 kilometres into the mountain.
All images: Moar Gut
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