The best family hotels in the Alps

A llama farm, adventure playground, kids club with an art studio and ball pit, an indoor water slide, a kids pool open 24 hours for those early morning wake-ups and a children’s menu with all the trimmings (including the tastiest homemade chocolate cookies) all enjoyed with the grand backdrop of the beautiful Austrian Alps. There isn’t much this hotel doesn’t have to keep littles and larges entertained. We quickly realised when booking in our 6-month-old and selecting the ‘baby package’ that little Daisy was just as important as we adult guests. A cot, baby changing station, daily homemade porridge, baby monitor and pram are all provided to make packing lighter. There’s entertainment all the way to teens, including horse riding trails, a games room and paddle boarding on the hotel’s natural pool.

Forsthofgut has been passed down through five generations since 1617, with quality family time spent in nature at its core. The hotel is centred around a beautiful infinity pool which stretches out into a natural plant-filled pond, which you’ve most likely seen splashed on your Instagram. There’s also a wooden sauna with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the mountains, a steamy 45-degree adults-only onsen pool and a fine dining Japanese restaurant all sitting at the centre of the resort. Older guests, whose main attire for the duration of the stay is a white fluffy robe and branded slippers, spend the day milling between the waldSpa and flopping on one of the day beds or cabanas that are dotted around the bright green lawn lined with huge budding hydrangeas. Check the kids into the Minded Kids Club and make the most of the wellness haven adults-only WaldSpa, a huge complex with multiple floors of treatment rooms, saunas, steam rooms, a swim-out infinity pool, quiet relaxation rooms filled with loungers, open fires and tea stations. On the top floor, there is no fabric, an all-nude policy for those who enjoy to bare it all in the sauna.

Adventure, fresh air and alpine landscapes are best enjoyed up the local cable car, a short five-minute walk away. Once at the top, enjoy the slopes, a real hot spot for skiing in winter, mountain biking in dry season and sipping a spiked hot chocolate or local brew any season. Sophie Knight