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It’s just a 20-minute drive from Salzburg’s main train station to Lake Fuschl but the two locations feel worlds apart. Beyond the city are the lush green meadows and mountains of the Salzkammergut region: if it looks like something from The Sound of Music, that’s because it is: this is where the 1965 classic was filmed.

On the eastern shore of the Alpine lake is Schloss Fuschl, built as a hunting lodge in 1461 and once a retreat for Salzburg’s nobility. It has been a seasonal hotel since the 1940s but was recently reopened under the Rosewood banner. “It’s a legacy hotel and many regulars are happy to see ‘their’ castle back,” says Sascha Hemmann, who swapped his role as managing director of Rosewood Bermuda for the Austrian Alps. “If you take away the mountains, it’s like being in the Caribbean,” he adds, without irony, nodding to the calm turquoise waters that line the lakeside resort.

Rosewood’s latest property is its second in the country following the opening of its Vienna hotel in 2022. Fuschl’s 98 guest rooms, including its 42 suites, were fully refurbished and now feature hand-painted minibars and marble bathrooms. In the suites on the upper floors of the historic tower, old walls have been uncovered and layers of paint removed to reveal original 15th-century ornamentation. In the lobby, antlers nod to the lodge’s history, while the corridors are lined with old paintings; the hotel has the world’s largest collection of “old masters” outside a formal museum. 

From after-hours tours to hot-air balloon rides, forest walks, herb picking and umbrella-making, Fuschl offers guests plenty to enjoy. Most people, though, are here to idle, either on a slow ride in the hotel’s own gondola or by indulging in a little pampering in the vast spa, which boasts indoor and outdoor pools, three saunas and a steam room.

There’s a parlour for afternoon tea (try the pastries; you’re in Austria), a Jausenstation serving cold cuts and cheese, and a fine dining outlet that pays tribute to the region’s diverse flavours. Dishes such as Styrian mountain prawns (really) with sauerkraut beurre blanc are accompanied by more than 1,400 wines that have slept in the castle’s cellars for decades, waiting to be uncorked.

For those who prefer to keep to themselves, the hotel’s Saint-Tropez-style beach club serves oysters and lake trout ceviche. The expansive deck, well suited to lounging and diving, is a first for the region. “We underestimated just how popular it would be,” says Hemmann. “So far, hardly anyone has left the hotel. People are at the lake from morning to night.” We can’t blame them. — L
rosewoodhotels.com