Relaxing and being pampered – that was our ideal vision of a successful holiday. For once, a really great hotel where you get the courses served to you and I don't have to keep running to the buffet. Furthermore, we wanted to all be in warm water during the day, so a pool or a thermal spa would be ideal. We tried the Hotel Paradiso in Bad Schallerbach, which offers great comfort with its 4-star superior rating and combines all these wishes with the immediately adjacent thermal spa. Here you will find our field report of a weekend as a family with small children at the Hotel Paradiso in Bad Schallerbach:
Family holiday at the Hotel Paradiso in Bad Schallerbach
The 4-star superior Hotel Paradiso in Bad Schallerbach in Upper Austria offers a diverse range of activities all year round for families, couples, singles, and best friends. We were able to relax really well here and show you how we got on:
Wellness with pool and sauna
The hotel has a 3,600 m² relaxation oasis, where you can find feel-good places such as the Balinese palm house, the Japanese tea house, a large sauna world, and a wonderful outdoor pool. In the 15 m high Balinese palm house, there are many comfortable relaxation loungers available where you can rest very well. Here you will also find infrared cabins, a palm sauna, as well as a steam aroma grotto and a solarium. Cuddle loungers, bamboo water beds, and numerous relaxation loungers serve for subsequent resting.
The cuddle corners for couples and water beds with a selection of music for pleasant hours are really great. In the Japanese tea house, a nude area is also offered, which is reserved for adults and teenagers aged 15 and over. In 6 saunas and steam baths, the day becomes too short. A highlight for us was the hotel's own thermal outdoor pool (35° C all year round) with a waterfall and great bubble loungers. Here you can wonderfully enjoy nature, as an extensive park with tall trees belongs to the facility. In good weather, you can also enjoy the day outside on a lounger or in a hammock. Right next to it is a juice and tea bar, where you can take drinks and make yourself a tea, as well as eat fresh fruit.
In the hotel, you can participate in health and sports programs; there is also a separate therapy pool and a fitness room.
Room
The Hotel Paradiso offers 150 rooms and suites in different categories. Cozy double rooms, a spacious family suite, an exquisite suite, or a room in Bad Schallerbach with a Samina Power Sleeping System – you have a large selection here. The double rooms are available in different sizes and have a terrace, balcony, or a panoramic view. In the family suites, there are separate sleeping areas for parents and children. For couples, the romantic Colorama suites with a four-poster bed and double whirlpool or the exotic Asia suites with two balconies and air conditioning are recommended. A special bed system is offered by the Samina Power Sleeping Rooms – double rooms and suites for a pleasant sleep.
We decided on a family suite, where we and the children had our own area, each with a double bed. Each area had a flat-screen TV and spacious cupboards. A nice balcony with seating was included with one area. The bathroom was also very spacious, with a separate toilet and a shower with many shower heads. In the room, a bath bag with bath towels and a bathrobe, as well as terry slippers, are provided during the stay.
Restaurant
We had half-board, so we could eat breakfast, cake in the afternoon, and dinner in the restaurant. The breakfast buffet is daily from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. and offers quite a lot for a good start. Eggs with bacon, omelet, fruit and vegetables, pastries, numerous types of honey and jam, as well as muesli and a very large juice buffet sweeten your morning. I really like that there are real juices here and no artificial juices. In the morning, you have free choice of seating and can get everything from the buffet, except for coffee and cocoa, which is ordered and brought directly to the table.
In the afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., an Austrian strudel and cake buffet is offered, where there are many tasty classics to feast on, such as Sacher cake, curd or apple strudel, fruit sheet cake, or berry tarts. But savory items are also offered; for us, there were also bread rolls, bread, and spreads.
In the evening, the highlight for me was the really great 5-course gourmet menu from 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. Here, really great regional specialties are served, combined with fine wines from the wine cellar. Salad and soup are fetched from the buffet, the rest is brought to the table. I think it's great that there is a separate children's buffet for kids with classics like nuggets, fries, pasta with Bolognese sauce, and sweet desserts like chocolate muffins, doughnuts, or pancakes. Only the play corner for the little ones is unfortunately missing here once again – this way, parents could still enjoy their menu and wouldn't have to hurry so much.
Afterwards, you can let the day fade away in the impressive bar. A great many cocktails and drinks are offered here; there is often an evening show or television broadcasts, as in our case, the European Championship football match.
Or you can go to the public thermal spa again, because it has excellent opening hours:
Tropicana (Monday to Sunday) from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. (!)
Aquapulco (Sunday to Thursday) from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Aquapulco (Friday to Saturday) from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. (!)
Sauna: (Monday to Sunday) from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.
The access through a heated "bathrobe corridor" to the public thermal spa is, of course, really great:public thermal spa:
Therme Schallerbach
The thermal spa is wonderful for children with its pirate world. Here there are 5 slides, a water play garden in the outdoor area with further slides, a Baby Bay (with 36°C), a Baller Baller Deck for babies and small children, a wave pool at certain times, an Aquaplex 5D cinema, and an adventure path high above the pirate bay:
AquapleX – 5D cinema
In the thermal spa, there is a large screen where films can be watched in swimwear. With special effects, it becomes a 5D cinema.
Captain Splash – Austria's largest water play garden!
In the garden of the thermal spa, there is an open-air facility with really great interactive water play equipment, 4 slides.
Baby-Bay
For the youngest, an island is beautifully surrounded by palm trees and crawling and climbing activities; here, first sliding experiences can be made, water play equipment invites you to play. Mother-child areas with nursing booths and changing tables were also thought of here, and a small baby galley completes the offer.
Pirate bay with wave pool and show
In the large pool of the pirate bay, a sea wave storm occurs every half hour. Top pirate "Captain Splash" always offers an exciting music, water, fire, and light show.
In the pirate grotto, a large whirlpool provides huge fun and you can take fast laps.
Funny Splash
In the pirate bay in the "beach area," a large pirate ship provides fun; 2 slides and a large water barrel that empties itself again and again are ideal for the children.
Chango’s adventure path
Are you already all soaked from all the swimming? Then off to Chango’s adventure path. In the thermal spa, there is a 100 m long high-altitude circular path over the pirate bay, with viewing platforms, suspension and rope bridges, and a crawl tunnel.
Baller Baller Deck
Interactive water play equipment, water cannons, pumps, water wheels, and splash attractions are located here on the Baller Baller Deck and provide a lot of action.
5 slides
For us, the slides are a really big attraction. Here you are spoilt for choice:
- Kamikaze: black slide with a gradient of up to 50%
- Black Jack: Cool dark slide with specific sound and light effects
- Snaky: Family sliding fun on a blue slide: by the way, the longest snake in the world!
- Kraken: here you need a tire, here you slide through the tentacles of the kraken with computer animation, and much more.
- Canyon: also a fun blue family slide, here you slide through rapids and grottos
“Cabrio-Therme” Tropicana
Caribbean feeling arises in the Tropicana thermal spa. Here, the thermal lagoon lures with a pleasant 35°C warm thermal water, whirlpool loungers, bubble seats, massage jets, and a pool bar. Here you can also find the coral grotto (24-26°C), where you can observe colorful sea creatures on bubble seats in the 20,000 l aquarium. Here you can also swim outside and find a Tropicana sandy beach.
In the Colorama pool, a darkened pool area with 34°C warm thermal water, underwater music, and a 15-meter-wide cinema screen, you can chill wonderfully.
Furthermore, there are: Panorama pool (34°C) & Whirlyacht (36°C) panorama outdoor pool with whirlpool fun in the water massage street and in the South Sea yacht that can hold up to eight people, 3 health pools (brine bath 36°C, sulfur grotto 38°C, and iodine-selenium health bath 36°C).
Sauna
You should definitely take a look at the sauna; the sauna mountain village "AusZeit" is on three levels and with over 4,000 m² of feel-good area, it is simply huge and offers an immense amount. Over 40 sauna and relaxation attractions are available in the adventure sauna, e.g.:
- Rock crystal infusion sauna 80°C
- Poacher infusion sauna 90°C
- Mild herbal sauna 55°C
- Oven sauna 70°C
- Infrared room with a view
- Mountain mist steam bath
- Aroma grotto steam baths
- Alpine hut infusion sauna 90°C
- Mine sauna 75°C
- Treehouse sauna with a view 75°C
- Must barrel adventure sauna 85°C
- Dirndl sauna for ladies (250 m² sauna luxury exclusively for ladies)
- numerous relaxation places and quiet rooms
For cooling down between the individual sauna sessions, there are immersion and bathing pools in the textile-free sauna outdoor area.
- Immersion pool 10°C
- Mountain lake 24°C
- Thermal pool 34°C
- Whirlpool 36°C
- Salt grotto in the natural stone vault 35°C
- Kneipp pool (WITH swimwear)
In the "Pirate Thermal Spa," there are some chairs and lockers where you can deposit your things. In addition, you can eat really well in the 'Galley'. Here there are good salads, soups, main courses, and of course desserts, so you can strengthen yourself very well. In summer, you can also sit outside.
Video Therme Schallerbach – Aquapulco – Pirate Thermal Spa
Conclusion
We liked the holiday very much. The hotel offers a lot and is also well suited for families, even if it is a bit more upscale and quieter. The food is really a dream and the rooms were very cozy. In the evening, we liked to sit in the impressive bar – here the roof beams and the fire bowls fascinated us. Everyone in the hotel was very friendly and helpful.
Since I celebrated my birthday at the hotel, my husband ordered a cake and sparkling wine to the room. That was great.
There are very many loungers and quiet rooms, so you can always find a place here. On departure, you can still use the hotel's amenities all day and change very comfortably in the day changing room. Here you can find lockers, a changing cubicle, shampoo and shower gels, as well as hair dryers.
My only small drawback is once again the missing play corner in the evening, where the children can play while the parents are still enjoying their menu. Also, perhaps a children's pool or a small playground is missing outside – the area is nicely large. For older children, there is a playroom where computers and game consoles are set up.
Although I also have to say, I'm not so sure if the hotel wants to attract so many families. It is actually geared more towards people without children with many facilities. On the other hand, it is so ideal that you can go straight over to the pirate world.
We were in the hotel's thermal spa a lot, where the children could swim and dive a lot. With the juices and the fruit, we were very well looked after. During our stay in June, there was very little going on here and we could really enjoy it. On the other hand, there was unfortunately a lot going on in the pirate world, so we often had to wait quite a long time at the slides. Also at the wave pool, there were so many people in the pool that you could hardly swim properly. There were no more chairs available, but there are lockers everywhere where you can stow your belongings. With the children, you hardly get to sit down anyway.
For us with our 7-year-old children, it fit very well and we would like to come back.
Photos by Sabine, meinhaushalt.at
