Austria Spa Break: VivaMayr, Altaussee

by Lydia Bell, The Daily Telegraph, March 30, 2016

A spectacular setting provides some comfort to guests who commit to the Mayr "Cure" at VivaMayr Altaussee.

This gleaming Alpine beauty is the younger sister to digestive-health stalwart VivaMayr Maria Wörth, offering the healing methods pioneered by Dr FX Mayr over a century ago. Youthful pioneer Dr Sepp Fegerl  oversees the new outpost, built in the mountain-fresh environs of Altaussee. The idyllic setting and cutting-edge technologies are selling points.

Photo by freeimages.com/Johanna Ljungblom

Location 9/10
Bucolic is an understatement. On a pristine plateau at the foot of the Loser mountain, the hotel opens on to the shores of emerald-green Lake Altaussee, a wonderfully healing place to swim.

Style/character 8/10

Feels like a giant, minimalist chalet with enormous spaces, pale wood and interiors in the colours of nature. Guestrooms are calming; the large bathrooms have leaf-green tiling, and high-tech lavatories; the pool area has floor-to-ceiling windows through which mountain scenery floods.

Facilities in the spa 9/10
The ground floor encompasses a beauty parlour, pool, watsu pool, gym, three saunas and steam room. The medical floor includes a plethora of treatment rooms and a hydrotherapy section with salination booth, footbath area and detoxing salt and mud treatment rooms.

The treatments 9/10

The main event is the back-to-basics, Mayr “Cure”: eating very lightly, consuming water, Epsom salts and alkalinising  powder, eliminating toxins, and abdominal massage. Additional optional treatments include kinesiology , personal training, watsu, Pilates, antioxidant drips and hypoxia  training.

Food & drink 7/10
You may be allowed a smorgasbord of vegetables, grains and animal proteins or forced to endure a diet of broth and day-old spelt bread  till your gut sorts itself out. You must chew assiduously, and gossiping while eating is outlawed.

The details
Seven nights cost from €2,490/£1,970, including full-board, initial/final medical consultation; four abdominal treatments and applied kinesiology testing.

 

This article was written by Lydia Bell from The Daily Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.