Lunch on the terrace of Lech’s Hotel Aurelio comes with a bird’s-eye view of the enchanting village below – and with the soundtrack of skiers swishing past as they navigate the gentle slope just a few feet away. The sun is out, rendering the surrounding snow-covered mountains almost incandescent, and well-heeled hotel guests – chic in spite of their cumbersome ski gear – mill on the deck soaking up the rays.
I am in Austria’s Arlberg region, commonly referred to as “the cradle of Alpine skiing”. It’s the kind of place where you shouldn’t be surprised to bump into royalty – Princess Diana brought princes William and Harry to Lech to learn to ski; it is the go-to destination for the Dutch royal family; and King Juan Carlos of Spain and King Abdullah of Jordan are long-standing fans.
It’s easy to see the appeal. The numbers are oft-recited and impressive in themselves: the Arlberg region is where Hannes Schneider invented modern ski techniques almost a hundred years ago; it offers 340 kilometres of pistes of varying degrees of difficulty; 200km of powder runs; more than 1,000 winter-sports instructors at a range of dedicated ski schools; and a sophisticated network of lifts and cable cars (many of which offer heated seats for those concerned about the comfort of their posteriors). Most importantly, the white stuff is all but guaranteed during the ski season – there’s an average seven metres of snowfall every winter, and snow cannons on 56 per cent of the slopes.
What the figures don’t capture is the crispness of the mountain air, or the raw, humbling beauty of the powdery-white peaks. In terms of topography, temperature and aesthetics, this is about as far from the UAE as you can get.
According to Paul Kleinekorte, the director of Pure International, a real-estate and marketing company specialising in ski properties, with a portfolio that extends from Arlberg to Canada’s Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, there are plenty of elements that set Arlberg apart as a ski destination: “High altitude, good snow records, great off-piste skiing and a variety of attractive villages offering something for all tastes, including luxury shopping, great restaurants, a traditional Alpine atmosphere and a [lively] party scene.”
But, as the Lech-born-and-bred Axel Pfefferkorn, the general manager of the Aurelio, tells us, there is more to Arlberg than skiing. There is plenty to do here outside of the winter season – from mountain biking and hiking, swimming and fishing in natural lakes, golfing, rock climbing and a whole host of other outdoorsy pursuits, to the annual Bregenz Festival, which takes place this year from July 22 to August 23, and offers magical opera performances on the shores of Lake Constance.
For those wishing to escape the UAE’s oppressive summers, or indulge their love of skiing on a more regular basis, a holiday home in Arlberg could be just the thing. But property is hard to come by in these parts. Limited land, strict rules regarding development and foreign ownership, and a tendency for owners to hold on to existing properties mean that acquiring your own little piece of the Austrian Alps is a tricky business.
At present, Pure is offering three exceedingly rare opportunities for a lucky few to pick up a property in Arlberg, with off-plan projects in Lech, St Christoph and Wald am Arlberg. At the top end of the scale is the Chalech development in Lech, a collection of four chalets that will be managed by the Hotel Aurelio. Each chalet features between five and eight bedrooms over three floors, and a private pool, while communal facilities include a spa, lounge, restaurant and reception area. Prices range from between €6.2 million (Dh24.2m) to €7.6m (Dh29.6m) per chalet and while Lech is one of the most expensive ski resorts in Austria, prices here compare favourably to leading Swiss resorts such as St Moritz. “Every chalet has its own wellness area, which is unique,” adds the project’s developer Reinhard Wolf.
The sleek interiors of the Aurelio offer a taste of what buyers can expect from their investment. The hotel is an artful hybrid of high-end spa retreat and cosy Alpine cabin – all locally sourced lightwood, neutral calming colours, sculptural furniture and dramatic design features (including stark, oversized antlers on the wall, which offer a playful twist on traditional motifs).
Twelve kilometres away, in the sedate hamlet of St Christoph, the Arlberg Hospiz Hotel & Spa is a rather more traditional affair. Dark wood, hidden passageways and a roaring fire in the main restaurant hint at the history of this five-star hotel, which started its life in the 14th century as a refuge for travellers attempting to cross the treacherous Arlberg massif. The current hotel was built on this site in 1959 and, in spite of its fine-dining restaurants, luxurious spa and extensive collection of contemporary art, retains an old-world, inn-like charm.
Here, too, there are opportunities to invest. An extension of the hotel, the Arlberg 1800 Residences (1800 being a reference to the altitude of St Christoph, a source of great local pride) will feature two chalet-style buildings with 18 suites of between two and five bedrooms. Due for completion in December, the buildings will be connected to the hotel via an underground passageway, and residents will be able to avail themselves of hotel services such as daily housekeeping, not to mention the numerous dining options and welcome solace of the spa. With prices ranging from between €995,000 (Dh3.9m) and €3.65m (Dh14.2m), Arlberg 1800 also offers ski-in, ski-out opportunities, with a ski lift and ski academy located just across the road.
Also planned for the Arlberg 1800 site is an 1,830-square-foot concert hall and 4,090 square feet of gallery space that is being dubbed “the highest art gallery in the world”. Art is the cornerstone of the new development, as the hotel director, Florian Werner, is an avid collector.
“We have a programme called Young Artists in Residence, whereby I invite artists to come and stay in the Hospiz to create artwork for the hotel,” Werner explains. “This results not only in interesting, provocative and refreshingly individual pieces of art, but also in an active dialogue. Installations, paintings and sculptures create new and exciting accents at this renowned luxury hotel on the Arlberg and the new gallery at Arlberg 1800.”
Construction of the project has started and while strict planning laws dictate that the exterior of the buildings cannot be modified, there is still time for buyers to custom-design the interiors of their properties, says Kleinekorte.
There is a catch, however. Eager to ensure that these quaint Alpine villages can accommodate guests throughout the year and are not transformed into ghost towns outside of the peak ski season, local laws dictate that all properties must be rented out when they are not in use by their owners. As Kleinekorte explains: “Austria has a strict ‘warm-bed’ policy in its popular locations to ensure that there are enough beds to meet tourism demand. Therefore, owners in both Chalech and Arlberg 1800 are obliged to rent out their property when they are not using it themselves.”
It’s easy to understand the reasoning behind the policy, but is it not a deterrent for buyers? “Many clients understand this rental policy and are happy to comply,” says Kleinekorte. “Most of our clients are busy business people who only have time to ski a certain number of weeks a year, ie school holidays and/or festive periods. For them, the rental income aspect is attractive. High-season week-rental income starts at €16,000 [Dh62,375] for a two-bed in Arlberg 1800 up to €117,800 [Dh459,000] for a seven-bedroom chalet in Chalech.”
Properties are designed and managed in such a way as to make this transition as easy as possible. At Skyfall, a stunning new four-chalet development in St Christoph, also managed by the Hospiz Hotel, dedicated storage space ensures that family valuables can be kept securely out of sight when owners are not in situ. And the hotel will take care of cleaning up, changing bed sheets and all other details, making sure things are just how you like them before you arrive.
For those who would rather not share their home, a third Pure International project, the Arlberg Chalets in Wald am Arlberg may appeal. The 35 flats and 18 chalets here are also being developed by Wolf and while they do not offer the same access to the slopes (you’ll need to catch the bus that runs right outside your door to get to the snow), and arguably lack the prestige of a Lech or St Christoph postcode, they do come with rare “second-home status”. One-bedroom chalet apartments start at €195,000 (Dh760,000), while the two- and three-bedrooms start at €417,500 (Dh1.6m), offering a slightly more affordable but no less enticing entry point into Arlberg’s much-coveted and ever-elusive property market.
sdenman@thenational.ae
