Austrian Alps

Austria's Alps run on family hotels. In Tyrol, Salzburg and Vorarlberg the same families have kept their houses for three or four generations, and it shows in the details: rooms panelled in stone pine, a wellness floor with a proper sauna culture, a kitchen that cooks from the farm next door. Lech and Kitzbühel supply the grand names, but the strongest addresses are often in the Bregenzerwald, the Zillertal side valleys or around the lakes of the Salzkammergut, where architecture has moved on from Alpine kitsch.

Travellers find advantages here that are hard to match. Children are welcomed without fuss, almost every house takes dogs, and the concept of the Wanderhotel with its own guided walks is an Austrian invention. Insiders come in September for stable weather and empty huts, or in March for long ski days. A regular takes half board without hesitation and books the quiet annexe rather than the busy main house.