Hotel Badeschloss

Celebrating bathing culture.

The hotel Badeschloss celebrates its own history, while taking a playful approach to bathing culture. It is a place where the past meets the present, and its atmosphere is vibrant and sociable.

The 102 guest rooms of the Badeschloss are spread out across the original building and the 13-floor newbuild behind it. “The facade was designed as a double-skin, coloured-concrete construction,” Markus Kaplan of BWM Designers & Architects explains. “The fact that the skins have different thicknesses gives the facade a lively appearance and a relief-like character that blends into the Alpine surroundings,” adds BWM project manager Martina Lehner. This principle extends to the different designs of the windows: Ornamental brass balustrades add sparkle to the otherwise rock-like structure. The upper storeys feature bay windows that project beyond the facade and serve as decorative elements and “display cabinets” for bathtubs. In this way, the bathing culture theme is communicated to the outside world. The proverbial – and literal – crowning glory is the infinity pool on the roof; the glass crystal steps into the pool take centre stage and are a reference to the glass domes on the roof of the Bad Gastein conference centre, planned by architect Gerhard Garstenauer.

The name says it all.

The entrance area of the new Hotel Badeschloss is located directly on Straubingerplatz. Guests are greeted at a small concierge desk; then they go down a tunnel to reach the lift to the first floor. The individual zones in the lobby transition smoothly into one another, underlining an easy-going lifestyle and an inspiring sense of community. This area is geared to an openminded audience consisting of both guests and locals of all ages.

The name – Badeschloss – means “bathing palace”, which perfectly describes what the hotel is all about. The community table is clad with white tiles, the yellow table in the lobby is reminiscent of a diving board, the guidance system is inspired by swimming pools, as is the open kitchen. A long wall of lockers – which recalls the changing rooms in public baths – serves as a cloakroom for locals who want to join the party.