Rote Wand Gourmet Hotel

About Rote Wand Gourmet Hotel

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Rote Wand stands in the hamlet of Zug, just above Lech, where Josef and Burgi Walch opened a café and guest house in a 1651 Walser farmhouse in 1959. Today it is a design hotel of 62 rooms and suites in five houses connected underground, with a 1,500 m² spa, indoor and outdoor pools, the Rote Wand Stuben and the Chef’s Table.

In Zug, above Lech

Rote Wand began with an old Walser farm built in 1651 at Zug no. 5. Josef Walch senior and his wife Burgi turned it into a café and guest house, and the first guests arrived in 1959. Josef, a ski instructor by day, collected guests from Lech by horse-drawn sleigh for fondue, which he brought to the Arlberg. His son Joschi took over in 1987 and built the modern hotel: today five houses connected underground, a member of Design Hotels.

The spa

The spa covers 1,500 m². There is an outdoor Finnish sauna, a brine steam grotto, a bio sauna and an infrared sauna, and a relaxation room with loungers and tea from the samovar. Women have their own area with a Finnish sauna, a steam bath and a relaxation room, and the family sauna allows swimwear so that parents and children can go together. From the indoor pool, a staircase leads to the outdoor pool, heated all year, with a view of the Madloch.

“Because food connects,” in the hotel’s words.

Sauna master Lukas Barani leads infusion ceremonies on Tuesdays and Fridays at 5.45pm and 6.45pm with essential oils, homemade hydrosols and herbs. Red Beauty uses Susanne Kaufmann products, Red Massage covers sports and relaxing massages, and there is a fitness room with Technogym equipment and a daily yoga, Pilates and gymnastics programme.

Rooms and suites

There are 62 rooms and suites in local wood and natural materials, from Rote Wand Rooms and mezzanine rooms to junior suites, family suites and the Rote Wand Lodges, equipped almost like apartments. The Rote Wand Suite has a free-standing fireplace and a hi-fi. In winter every room has a private ski locker with boot warmer.

Eating and drinking

The All-in Culinary Experience includes breakfast served at the table, a late lunch, cake time and the dinner menu. The Chef’s Table, in Zug’s old schoolhouse of 1780, is a 16–19 course evening led by head chef Julian Stieger, formerly of Geranium, Eleven Madison Park and Steirereck. The Rote Wand Stuben serve Austrian classics and the house fondue menus, and Friends & Fools brings experimental dinner events.

Our advice: book the Chef’s Table well ahead, keep one night for fondue in the Stuben, and catch one of Lukas Barani’s sauna ceremonies.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Rote Wand Gourmet Hotel before you go.