Where to stay
Three grand historic hotels reopened since 2021. The Straubinger beside the waterfall. The Comodo in the former Habsburgerhof. The Badeschloss with its rooftop spa. And Haus Hirt, which has been doing this quietly for fifty years.
The hotel where Kaiser Wilhelm II stayed and the Convention of Gastein was signed in 1865. After decades of closure, it reopened in 2023 under the A-ROSA Collection brand, meticulously restored to its Belle Époque character while adding a rooftop outdoor infinity pool with panoramic valley views, a full spa suite, and the Straubinger Saal fine dining restaurant. The hotel sits directly beside the Bad Gastein waterfall — you can hear it from every room on the south side. Adults only. 46 rooms and suites, each individually designed. The centrepiece of the Bad Gastein revival and the most historically atmospheric hotel in the Austrian Alps.
In the former Habsburgerhof — the historic building at the edge of the town — the Comodo opened in 2021 as Bad Gastein’s first genuinely contemporary hotel, with 70 rooms in a minimal urban-chic aesthetic that references the town’s mid-century ski culture rather than its Belle Époque past. A Design Hotels member. Farm-to-table restaurant using locally sourced ingredients; an 18-seat cinema; a co-working space for remote workers; spa with indoor pool, sauna, and thermal treatments. The most fashion-forward address in Bad Gastein, and the first sign of the revival that has since brought three more grand buildings back to life.
Opened May 2023 on the Straubingerplatz — directly facing the Straubinger Grand Hotel, 50 metres from the waterfall. The Badeschloss occupies a historic building fully revitalised with a modern glass tower extension; the three-storey rooftop spa has the only heated outdoor pool in Bad Gastein, with a view over the valley that rivals anything in the town. The Schlossbar serves highballs that have made it the most talked-about drinking spot in Bad Gastein. Soul food restaurant, individually designed rooms. A younger, more playful counterpoint to the Straubinger directly across the square.
The hotel that has been doing this quietly since long before the revival — family-run for two generations, designed by architect Ike Ikrath and his wife Evelyn in a palette of greys and 1960s brights that gave Bad Gastein its early cool reputation. An overhang terrace from which you can hear the multi-drop waterfalls; an Aveda spa with a panorama sauna, yoga twice daily, and a sunken bath filled with thermal water. The slow-food restaurant serves what it calls Alpine Urban Fusion — vegetarian-forward, locally sourced, better than the name suggests. The most personal hotel in Bad Gastein; the staff are exceptional.
On the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Promenade — the historic promenade above the town where the 19th-century spa visitors took their constitutionals — the Villa Excelsior is consistently described as a time capsule: Art Nouveau architecture, a historic charm that the newer hotels cannot replicate, a spa after skiing, and a half-board offering that draws guests back every year. The most atmospheric address for those who want Bad Gastein as it was rather than as it is becoming.
All five hotels are within walking distance of the Bad Gastein waterfall and the Felsentherme thermal spa. A car is unnecessary in the town itself; the train from Salzburg delivers you to a five-minute walk from the Straubingerplatz.