Kaiserlodge: Austrian Autumn Paradise

When I think back on our weekend at Kaiserslodge, the first word that comes to mind is "details." The Kaiserlodge is the most detail-oriented hotel I have been in for a long time. 
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The trip to Austria was very relaxed. We took a direct train from Zürich, and they even had a family wagon with kids cinema. In about 4.5 hours, we were in the tiny station of Kufstein and after a quick taxi drive, in Kaiserlodge. To give you a rough idea where it is, in between Munich, Salzburg, and Innsbruck.

This luxurious "nature hotel" looks like a huge beautiful cottage. That is exactly what it resembled from outside: a charming cottage. All constructed in the traditional Tirol way and with a form similar to the mountains in the background. As soon as you get in the smell slaps you in the face, a good slap! It smells like different kinds of trees. Most of the hotel is wood, and you can smell it. It is like being at a sauna and a Forest at the same time.

The rooms we suited for families or couples. One room had a huge bed where we could sleep the three of us and had an extra bed with a room separator, and the other room had a big bed and a bunk bed so that you could fit about eight people... just like a small cottage.

The terrace was one of the highlights for us. We love water, and all suites have a terrace with access to the outdoors lake. Yes, it was raining, but thank god we aren’t made of cotton candy. We both enjoyed dipping to the lake even if it felt like it was freezing that day.

​We were there on a rainy autumn weekend. Typically on a weekend like that is is hard to find a place to have fun indoors and outdoors and less with a toddler and a newborn, but Kaiserlodge made it possible.

​We watched the rainbows after meditation yoga and laughed out asses off while making pictures infront of the rainy mountains

​Kaiserlodge is quite young. Just celebrated its 2nd birthday on October 14th, and it’s the baby project of Kaiser, the oldest hotel from the same owner that is right next to Kaiserlodge. You can actually walk from one hotel to the next and use their facilities. I loved to walk around and see some unique stuff, like the halls filled with pictures of recurrent guests or the handprints of the kids that stayed at their kid's club.

​The kids club! Most parents love the kids' clubs. I am pretty ambiguous in my feelings about them. I feel quite guilty about leaving Pepa in some of them. Sometimes they seem too small, or I feel it is a pity to be indoors with strange people with not much to do but sit and watch tv.
​But once I saw the program and facilities of Kaiserlodges kids club, I was dying to let Pepa try it and spend some relaxed time together with Otis. ​ 

​It was adventure pure. Remember it was raining, so most outdoors activities were off for kids, but indoors was just as good. They had a full area for climbing and jumping and discovering, a big kids cinema with great films going all day long and an activity area with all the tools you can imagine to have fun: face painting, reading, creating stuff and more. Pepa was so happy that she didn’t want to leave after the 2 hours I planned for her to be there... I lost her to their great kid's club, and it didn’t feel bad at all! This playground was made in cooperation with Wehrfritz / HABA.

We had a great itinerary planned as an after Oktoberfest detox: First, we started with some "breath walk" with Fateh Singh. Breathing and walking comprise two of our simplest activities, yet they are also two of our most powerful actions. By bringing them together in a systematic and meditative way, we can enhance our physical, emotional, and Spiritual Fitness.
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​It is a training method from Kundalini yoga. We walked through the forest, learning how to breathe and walk, being aware of our bodies and our movements. A bit harder than it sounds and very relaxing. The bit of rain made it even more magical to walk in the mostly forest.

​We tried the Wellness Trend: Forest Bathing. This is known to the Japanese as shinrin-yoku. Shinrin in Japanese means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.” So shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our senses. 

Laura Keuthen was our leader through the Woods. Don’t think this is exercise, or hiking, or jogging. It is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Shinrin-yoku is like a bridge. By opening our senses, it bridges the gap between us and the natural world. What helps us being healthy and happy. No pictures of this as you aren’t supposed to have a phone or camera with you. ​

​The third seminar was "healing with herbs" with Gerti. We discovered the different healing properties of herbs and natural products. We started making the fastest bread with sweet bread clover. Pepa loved being able to mix and make buns before heading again to the kids club for their night program.

​We learned how lemon, quark, bicarb and sauerkraut can help to heal your intestines when you have celiac disease and that Curcuma and bicarb can help with cancer. We all prepared stuff together and ate it afterward. Very rewarding and very detoxing.

​What was very relaxing and detoxing was their spa area. I fell in love with the indoors/ outdoors pool overlooking the Austrian mountains. It was hot and steamy inside, and I got Otis butt naked and enjoyed the beach weather. 

​You can see how relaxed he was once we got inside. Pepa found some four-year-olds, and they were swimming from the inside to the outside pool back and forth. 
I was enjoying fresh detoxing teas on my chase long with Otis on my chest, sleeping, and watching nature. Can this be more relaxing? No.

​But can I finish this post without talking about food? Never! The food at Kaiserlodge was tremendous, and they were very flexible. The first night was vegan food planned, but as you may know, I am on the keto diet, and I have celiac disease. They managed to bring me some great pork medallions with salad in no time, Pepa got this beautiful dessert plate, and we both enjoyed the seasonal pumpkin cream that was delicious. Pepa’s risotto and amuse bouche was terrific. 

Pepa’s risotto and amuse Boucher was terrific. The second night during the herbs seminar, she was feeling like her favorite sandwich, and they went to the kitchen and made that avocado cheese and mayo sandwich. She was so happy about it. What a service!

​But for me the best was breakfast. You can cross the things you want to eat just like in Transit, remember? Or order a full breakfast, like this emperors breakfast (with it the mimosa as I was on the detox) what a treat! Can I get this served every weekend at home? 

​All together this place was the best getaway for a Fall Weekend, Pepa didn’t miss the outdoors as we went for walks on the Forest and had fun at the awesome kids club.

​In winter, you can rent equipment even for kids, and if it doesn’t fit properly, you can change it down at the slopes. I can totally imagine coming for a cross-country weekend with the kids, and in summer, it must be beautiful as well.