The Aqua Dome Spa and Hotel sits high in the Austrian Alps in a granite-walled valley. The area is well known for its cross-country skiing but this is not the main reason you visit: far greater things await you because this is one of the most luxurious spas in the world.
Three outdoor pools are full of glacial water that has been filtered by the mountain and heated by the planetary fires deep within the Earth’s crust. While you take a revitalizing soak in the mineral waters you can admire your Alpine surroundings.
A selection of saunas, baths, and steam rooms await you inside the glass-roofed complex; from a traditional Finnish sauna to modern rooms that use sound and light to relax your body and mind. If you have braved the temperatures in the saunas which can go up to 100°C, then you will want to cool off in the ice-grotto where thick water drips all down your body.
Showerworld is underground. You can choose to refresh yourself in ‘tropical rain’, ‘fog’ or ‘waterfall’. Finish your spa session by lying on a giant, heated waterbed or a massage chair or in the natural chill-out area. If you get hungry you can have a light buffet meal or the full works at the Hitzeschmankerl Sauna Restaurant.
Photo credit: AQUA DOME
The Aqua Dome thermal complex sits in Austria's beautiful Ötztal Valley, surrounded by the eye-catching peaks of the Tyrolean Alps.
The hotel's unusual architecture rises from former farmland in Längenfeld, where thermal waters were rediscovered in 1997 after their historical springs had disappeared for decades.
The complex is defined by its three distinctive outdoor pools – large circular basins elevated on stilts that appear to hover above the landscape, steaming dramatically against the mountain backdrop in winter months.
Each maintains different temperatures and contains varying mineral compositions drawn from the thermal source that delivers water at 40°C from 1,865 metres below ground.
Water quality tests confirm the mineral content's therapeutic properties for joint and muscle conditions, though most visitors come simply for relaxation.
On clear evenings, the experience of floating in steaming waters while observing Alpine stars provides the kind of theatrical contrast between body warmth and mountain chill that defines the best of Alpine spa culture.
Inside, a 25-metre sports pool serves more practical swimming needs, while various sauna buildings form a substantial complex requiring the traditional Austrian naked attendance.
The two-storey sauna area includes both textile-free and clothed sections, with seven different sauna environments ranging from gentle steam rooms to the intense 110°C Finnish variation.
Oberlängenfeld 140, 6444 Längenfeld, Austria
