Lunz am See, Austria

Refugium Lunz

Price per night from$255.40

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR220.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Refugium Lunz Photos

Style

Berg sanctuary

Setting

Dibs on Ybbs

Explore

More hotels in Lunz am See More hotels in Austria

The ebb of the seasons sets the agenda at Refugium Lunz, a hygge-infused basecamp amid Lower Austria’s wild alpine landscape. Winter days spent skiing are thawed with stints in the mountain-gazing sauna, while warmer months bring crystalline lake swims and hikes through wildflower meadows. And then there are the perennial pleasures: exquisite regional cuisine, fresh-baked cakes to help yourself to, and a crisp riesling on the terrace as the river lazes past below.

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Facilities

Photos Refugium Lunz facilities

Need to know

Rooms

23, including two suites.

Check–Out

11am. Check-in is at 3pm, but both are flexible, subject to availability.

More details

Rates include an à la carte breakfast.

Also

Unfortunately, Refugium Lunz is not suitable for guests with limited mobility.

At the hotel

Hiking kit and bikes to borrow, paid laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, swimming bag, tea-making kit, minibar, free bottled water and Saint Charles bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Plenty of the rooms have their own outdoor spaces and picture-perfect, pastoral views, but we’ve been seduced by the Sauna Room, with its private sauna out on the river-gazing terrace.

Poolside

The heated outdoor pool looks out over the pretty village and forest-swathed mountainside. There’s a counter-current system if you feel like exerting yourself, and sunloungers and day-beds for those who don’t. The pool is open year-round from 7am to 9pm daily.

Spa

Get yourself to the Garden House after a hard day’s adventuring — the sauna will soothe mountain-weary limbs, and the relaxation room was made for holing up in with a herbal tea. Two guided yoga sessions are held daily, but you’re free to find your own flow in the airy, timber-clad yoga studio whenever you want — you’ll find mats, blocks, meditation kit and basic fitness equipment in there. There’s also a treatment room tucked into the top of the oldest part of the hotel, with woodsy views from the bed; check the board at reception for the treatments available that day.

Packing tips

Each room has a curated stash of classic and bestselling books, so ditch the stack of holiday reads and save the suitcase space for sweet homewares and Saint Charles bath salts from the hotel’s shop.

Also

Owners Joachim Mayr and Heinz Glatzl gave Refugium the happy ending every abandoned building dreams of: discovery by an architect-carpenter duo with a Viennese design studio, historic features restored and interiors co-crafted by their artisan pals.

Pet‐friendly

Dogs are welcome (and will have treats waiting for them) in Garden Rooms for a nightly charge of €30 each, on request and subject to availability. See more pet-friendly hotels in Lunz am See.

Children

All ages are welcome. There are family and connecting room options, and babysitting can be arranged on request for €20 an hour.

Food and Drink

Photos Refugium Lunz food and drink

Top Table

Sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows means you’ll have the mountain-flanked village as your evening backdrop.

Dress Code

Natural fibres in rustic hues, and rosy cheeks fresh off the mountain.

Hotel restaurant

At the hotel’s restaurant, head chef Christian Metzger puts a contemporary spin on classic Austrian cuisine. Menus are pared-back and produce-forward, shifting with the seasons — and whatever he’s foraged or sourced from his network of sustainable, local suppliers that day. On Wednesday evenings, Metzger serves a tasting menu at a communal table, offering a chance to peek behind the curtain at his creative process.

The salon kitchen is open round the clock, operates on an honesty basis, and is rather like rocking up, plate in hand, to an epicurean friend’s pantry. You’ll find seasonal quiches, cheese boards, a prosciutto-slicing machine and fresh-baked cakes, and — natürlich — outstanding coffee to wash it down with. The kitchen opens onto the church square, so you can think of it as your personal pavement café.

Hotel bar

 The hotel doesn’t have a separate bar, but there’s a well-stocked wine fridge in the salon kitchen that’s yours to raid whenever the need arises.

Last orders

Breakfast is served from 8am to 11am daily. The restaurant is open for dinner from 5pm to 9pm, Thursday to Saturday. On Wednesdays, it’s only open for the communal tasting menu from 6pm. On Sundays, it’s open for lunch and dinner, from noon to 9pm.

Room service

There’s no separate room service menu, but drinks and light bites can be brought to your room on request.

Location

Photos Refugium Lunz location
Address
Refugium Lunz
Kirchenplatz 3
Lunz am See
3293
Austria

You’ll find Refugium Lunz in the lakeside village of Lunz am See in Lower Austria’s Ybbstal Alps, snug between a forest-blanketed mountain and the River Ybbs.

Planes

The hotel is a two-hour drive from Vienna International Airport. Staff can arrange transfers on request for €350 each way.

Trains

Direct trains from Vienna Central Station and Vienna Airport (among other national and international hubs) run to Lower Austria’s capital, St Pölten. From there, you can hop on a connecting service to Scheibbs Station, a half-hour drive from Refugium Lunz. Transfers from the station can be arranged on request for €80 each way.

Automobiles

Step outside and you’re in prime hiking and biking country, but for skiing or scouting out the rest of the region, a car will come in handy. There’s free parking at the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

Hiking and cycling trails loop around Lunzer See, the alpine lake that’s a short walk from Refugium Lunz. On warm days, it makes an idyllic wild swimming and boating spot, too, equipped with all the essentials: a dock, cafés and an ice cream parlour. More hiking routes weave off through wildflower meadows and up mountainsides — ask hotel staff for their go-to trails, which include one that summits Scheiblingstein, and a three-lake tour taking in Mittersee and Obersee, too. The Rothwald, the region’s closely protected primeval forest, can only be explored on pre-booked guided hikes. Happily, the House of Wilderness, a museum where you can learn about the ancient ecosystem and its conservation, is just opposite the hotel.

During ski season, Maiszinken’s gentle slopes make it a great spot for families, and old hands should head to Hochkar for a challenge. The Seeau Trail is a scenic cross-country skiing route suited to most skill levels. And for full fairytale immersion, try snowshoeing through hushed winter landscapes and across the frozen lake.

Local restaurants

Set on the shore of Lunzer See, Seeterrasse serves classic Austrian pub fare including schnitzels, warming fish soup and home-made wurst. Treffpunkt Wildnis is a laidback spot in the village for pizzas and traditional house specialities, like grilled trout and fried potatoes doused in garlicky white wine sauce.

Local bars

Come sunset, you might find a cold beer or coffee calling to you, out on the terrace at Café Platzhirsch.

Reviews

Photos Refugium Lunz reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this homely hotel in the Ybbstal Alps and unpacked their salopettes and swimsuits, a full account of their riverside break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Refugium Lunz in Austria…

The centuries-old building that Refugium Lunz occupies has a past as both an inn and a family home. And in its latest incarnation, that ‘make yourself comfortable’ essence has been preserved like a treasured heirloom, buffed by mindful modern additions. 

You feel it as you’re helping yourself to thirds of sheep’s cheese and charcuterie in the open kitchen, or over a game of chess by the fire in the 16th-century parlour. If you want to bike through primeval forests or backstroke in an alpine lake, hero-host Fanny has the kit handy and recommended routes at the ready. Homebodies can admire the evergreen slopes just as well from the pool, and find their solace in the sauna. In the restaurant, chef Christian champions regional produce and forward-looking, sustainable practices to cockles-warming effect. In these snowglobe-like surroundings, a gentle shake-up has paid off.

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Price per night from $249.60

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