Review of Hotel Sonnenburg in Austria: Exclusive Comfort at 1,650 Metres

Mountain experiences and vegan delights

In winter, Hotel Sonnenburg can’t be reached directly by car.

Why? It’s located on the piste, so guests have their luggage delivered by an underground system while they take the cable car to the reception. How cool is that?

When we visited Sonnenburg in the middle of October, winter hadn’t yet fully settled in. But as you can tell from the photos, it had begun snowing, just not yet to the extent that makes Lech Zürs am Arlberg one of the best regions in the alps for skiing from December well into spring.

Thankfully, there is still so much to do at Hotel Sonnenburg outside of the ski season (or if you simply don’t enjoy skiing).

Hiking and cycling are perfect activities the rest of the year and for days you want to spend inside, Hotel Sonnenburg houses a huge library, a magnificent spa area, a cinema, a fitness room and so much more. Oh, and the vegan food options are simply delicious.

Welcome to your next five-starred luxury mountain retreat!

Search for prices and availability at Hotel Sonnenburg here (adlink).

Location

Hotel Sonnenburg is located in the little town of Lech am Arlberg in the western part of Austria called Vorarlberg.

Technically, the hotel is located in Oberlech as it’s about 200 metres of altitude above Lech.

The suite

We stayed in a 50 m² Platinum Suite at Sonnenburg’s Stammhaus with enough space for a whole family and obviously, plenty of room and relaxation for the two of us.

We were greeted with delicious mountain apple juice, a jar of nuts and fresh apples in the living room where we had a comfortable sofa, a chaise longue next to a book box with a selection of 10 books, a desk and a roomy wooden balcony with mountain views.

In the bedroom, we had the most wonderful double bed (we slept extremely well!) and another sofa as well as an ensuite bathroom with a large bathtub, shower and double washbasin.

Both the bathroom and the separate lavatory were equipped with (vegan!) care products.

We loved staying in this bright, stylish and very cosy suite.

See the different room types and prices here (adlink).

Activities and facilities at Hotel Sonnenburg

There’s a lot to do at Hotel Sonnenburg when you aren’t exploring and enjoying the splendid surroundings.

Fitness

We (meaning Alex…) always appreciate fitness facilities at hotels. Getting a workout in is so much easier when it’s just an elevator ride away!

For cardio, there were two treadmills and a cross-trainer.

For weight-lifting, there was a rack of dumbbells going up to 22 kilos each, a barbell bench press with plenty of plates and a home-gym style machine with options for pull-downs, rows, flies etc.

There were also yoga mats to get stretching and flowing.

Spa

The spa area at Hotel Sonnenburg is huge.

Take a swim in the pool or ease tensions in one of the many saunas. There’s also a steam bath, a hay bath, a laconium and an infrared cabin. If you dare, cool off again in the ice fountain.

Massage

There’s a skilled massage therapist working at Hotel Sonnenburg.

We both received 25 minutes of relaxing therapy; the icing on the cake of a wonderful stay.

If you’ve hit the slopes or the trails hard, we can think of no better way to relax afterwards.

Library

Hotel Sonnenburg brands itself as a literary hotel, and we must say that they live up to the name.

Books are everywhere, and you’re always free to take one with you to read in the comfort of your own room – where there’s also a book box with an additional 10 handpicked books.

Breakfast buffet

The breakfast buffet at Hotel Sonnenburg offered a plethora of delicious options.

Vegan amaranth pancakes were, of course, a hit.

And so were the incredible array of nuts and seeds you could use as topping along with fruits and different plant milks or soy yoghurt.

Seriously, we’ve never seen a buffet before with so many different nuts!

The waiter quickly learned that Victoria likes her latte with oat milk, and that she often wants a second one. The level of service was impressive.

Book a stay with Hotel Sonnenburg and try the breakfast buffet yourself! (adlink)

5-course vegan dinner

Every evening, there’s a 5-course dinner that can be served 100% vegan at Hotel Sonnenburg.

The kitchen mainly focuses on local flavours and uses lots of seasonal produce, resulting in some very healthy and tasty dishes.

We were impressed by the chef’s creativity and skill when it came to plant-based cooking. “Best of celery” as a main dish might not sound exhilarating at first, but the different textures, flavours and aromas of the dish blended together seamlessly and produced an umami-rich plate many meat-eaters wouldn’t notice was entirely made of plants. Bravo!

The level of service every evening was excellent. Also, knowing that both the waiters and the kitchen staff truly understand the concept of veganism is very comforting.

Vegan beer and wine is available.

5 things to do in and around Lech

1. Skiing and snowboarding. Of course. Oberlech am Arlberg is the largest connected ski area in Austria. Take your pick of more than 305 kilometres of ski runs from December and into spring.
2. Mountainbike the Burgwald Trail. 3 kilometres and 488 metres of mountain-biking friendly descent for beginners and experts alike.
3. Visit Skyspace Lech. A walk-in art installation 100 metres above Hotel Sonnenburg where “sky and earth seem to encounter one another from a new point of view in the high alpine landscape of Lech”.
4. Go hiking. There are 250 kilometres of marked hikes directly from the hotel in the beautiful alpine landscape.
5. Hit the green. Golf at 1,500 metres in Lech Zürs am Arlberg.

Who should stay at Hotel Sonnenburg?

We can’t think of a better place to stay in the Austrian alps than Hotel Sonnenburg whether you visit in summer or winter.

The level of comfort and service is extremely high here, and so is the beauty of the surrounding mountains – which you can enjoy in all kinds of activities or simply from the pool. The hotel itself is also beautifully decorated.

Hotel Sonnenburg is perfect whether you want to be outside all day and only return for pampering and relaxation in the evenings or for spending all of your time inside reading, meditating, eating healthy and finding your inner balance amidst the alpine meadows.

We can recommend staying here for couples, families and everyone else, really, who enjoy spending time in the mountains in down-to-earth five-starred luxury. We would be happy to return in any season, and if you’d like to stay here too, it’s a good idea to act quickly and book your room well in advance.

Check out their website or search for prices and availability here (adlink).