Das Moerisch – A Relaxing Weekend Getaway in Carinthia

On top of a hill right above Lake Millstatt in Carinthia and at the foot of the mountains lies the 4-star superior hotel Das Moerisch.

Founded in 1872, this countryside hotel has always been a popular address for people looking for a weekend getaway with a little bit of extra.

Whether for individuals, couples, families or golf fans – the hotel Das Moerisch is always a good place to spend your holidays.

While looking for a nice hotel for our next weekend trip, my boyfriend and I stumbled upon Das Moerisch and added it immediately to our list of possible candidates.

It’s a lie if I say we booked it right away, I mean let’s be honest, finding the right hotel is never easy. Especially not when it’s a wellness hotel where I just want to relax, be pampered and stuff myself with tons of food. 😀

In the end, the above-mentioned facts, the rest of the hotel facilities (more details later) and the great reviews convinced us to book our 3-night stay.

And not for a single moment did we regret our decision!

Location of Das Moerisch Hotel

As already mentioned at the beginning, the hotel can be found near Lake Millstatt in the state of Carinthia. Carinthia is the southern Austrian state which borders Slovenia and Italy.

The next bigger cities close to Das Moerisch are Villach, Klagenfurt and Lienz. Due to its location, off the beaten track, the best and easiest way to get there is by car.

However, if you come by plane and land in Salzburg or Klagenfurt, the hotel will happily help you to organize a shuttle. You need to let them know in advance tho.

It’s an approximate drive of 1,5 hours from either airport. Since my boyfriend and I traveled from our home in Lower Austria, it took us three hours to get to Das Moerisch.

During the drive, we could enjoy the beautiful landscape and breathtaking mountains so time passed by very quickly!

Our Stay at Das Moerisch

It was already late in the evening when we arrived at the hotel. We booked a total of three nights and left on a Friday right after work.

Exhausted from a long working week we both were more than ready for a wellness weekend to recharge our batteries.

As we entered Das Moerisch, not only the staff at the reception but the hotel owner himself, Sigi Moerisch, heartily welcomed us.

The check-in process was very fast and smooth and we already got our dinner menu for tonight. Before we headed to dinner tho, it was time to check out our room for the upcoming three nights.

Cozy & Big With a Panoramic View

With a total of 40 rooms in 11 different categories plus an extra holiday home not far from the main building, Das Moerisch leaves no accommodation wish unfilled!

Our room was a 30 square meters large superior double room with a big balcony to the south. From there, we had the perfect view of the garden area, the golf course and scenic mountains.

Besides a large, cozy bed other facilities in the room included a sitting area with two upholstered armchairs, an enormous wardrobe with enough space for all our clothes, a minibar, another big shelf with drawers and of course a flat TV.

Our bathroom was very spacious with a large washbasin featuring a drawer and a giant mirror. My absolute favorite part was the rain shower tho!

Different amenities like shower gel, shampoo and body lotion couldn’t be missing, of course.

So, enough time was spent checking out our room. It’s time to head for dinner, we’re starving!

The Best Vegan Dinner I Ever Had!

I guess based on the heading you can already tell that I liked the food.

Well, “liked” is definitely a big understatement. “Loved” is by far the much much better word. Yes, I wanted to dig myself into that deliciousness, literally.

You can 100% believe me that I’m NOT lying and that on all three evenings, I ate the best plant-based food since I turned vegan a few years ago!

Each of the dinner menus consisted of four courses: A cold starter, a soup, the main course and the dessert.

Moreover, there was an enormous buffet with at least 10 different salads including lentils, arugula, lettuce, beans and potatoes – yes just any salad you can imagine! Plus freshly baked baguette and a wide range of oils and vinegar to try.

Just to give you an idea of what tasty food I got, here are some examples of the different courses I got served:

For instance, the cold starter on our second evening was smoked tofu with pumpkin seed breading on a bed of glass noodles, decorated with asparagus and caramelized peanuts.

Hungry? Yes, me too.

It’s hard to choose which soup was the best as I enjoyed them all. However, I think my favorite was the red beet soup with caramelized strudel dough and wild garlic froth.

Of the three main courses, there’s one that clearly made it to first place: Vegetable chimichurri with sweet-sour pear ragout.

Followed closely by vegetable moussaka with wild garlic sauce.

And last but not least, I happily present you two of the most mouthwatering plant-based desserts you’ve ever seen!

First, chia pudding with rhubarb sorbet and an almond chocolate biscuit. Second, berry sorbet and fluffy cake duo on a sweet apple ragout – lovingly called “Moerisch’s Garden of Eden”.

Decaffeinated Coffee With Soy Milk? No Problem!

With all the daydreaming about the dinner, let’s not forget the breakfast buffet which also deserves to be mentioned here!

A large fruit plate with both, exotic and regional fruits, a vegetable platter, jam, several kinds of bread and other pastries, cereals, plant milk, fresh juices and smoothies – nothing more I would possibly need in the morning.

Well, admittedly, there was one extra wish I had: A decaffeinated Café Latte with soy milk.

At first, I had doubts if they could fulfill my special wish but the staff was very courteous and brought me what I ordered, plus some extra milk foam on top. Yummy!

Btw, for all the non-vegans: There’s a lot for you to eat as well, whether it’s meat you’re craving or some cheese.

Unlike me, my boyfriend isn’t vegan so he went for the meaty dishes at dinner. From what he told me, he enjoyed every single dish as well!

Time to Recharge Our Batteries

Besides the food, the main reason why we booked a weekend getaway at Das Moerisch was to simply escape from daily life and relax our body and mind.

And I can tell you, we couldn’t have made a better choice for it than this hotel!

The spacious spa area consisted of three different saunas. An infrared sauna, a bio sauna and my personal highlight – a Finnish sauna that could be heated up to more than 90 degrees celsius.

Latter is just perfect to sweat out all toxins of your body!

In addition to the various saunas was an aroma steam bath, a special shower cabin with ice fog and tropical rain function and the so-called “Sonnenwiese”, a room with a sunbed beneath an infrared heater.

Between our sauna sessions, we spent a lot of time chilling in the lovely relaxation area while listening to calming music played through loudspeakers distributed in the room.

Different sorts of tea, fresh apples, dried fruits, magazines and fluffy blankets were available for us at any time.

Slippers and bathrobes we already got provided in our room together with a matching swim bag.

Just a few steps away on the same floor was a separated pool area with a large, heated swimming pool.

The most awesome part of the pool was the fact that it was divided: Half of it was inside and the rest was outside under the open sky.

Swimming outside in the warm water while admiring the stunning mountain view was one of my absolute favorite moments at Das Moerisch!

Massage & Beauty Treatments

Do you know what can’t be missed to have THE ultimate wellness weekend experience?!

Exactly, a massage!

Whether you’re already fine with a partial massage or want to have something more extra like lymphatic drainage, aroma massage or foot reflexology. There’s a certain type of massage for everyone.

Initially, I wanted to have a whole-body massage but except for a 30-minute time slot, everything was already fully booked. So I went for a partial massage with a focus on my neck and shoulder tensions.

The masseuse really did an amazing job and the previously tensed parts of my back felt so much better afterward.

That’s probably because she also used a bit of the trigger point massage which works wonders against tensions!

Another treatment I can highly recommend is the one-hour intense facial. A combination of cleansing, peeling, mask, steam, microdermabrasion and face massage made my skin feel completely renewed.

Other types of beauty treatments include pomace peeling, Thalassotherapy and many many more!

What Else to Find at Das Moerisch

Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky with the weather at all. It was almost always cold, windy and rainy so we spent most of our time inside, which is a pity because there’s so much to see and do around the hotel.

The entire garden area, for example, is a true masterpiece. Especially the recently finished “Garden of Eden” with a natural pond, a gorgeous pavilion and palm trees is very inviting on warm, sunny days.

An avenue lined with huge poplar trees leads to another small pavilion that adjoins the 18-hole golf course – a paradise for old and young golf players.

Thanks to its great location, Das Moerisch is also the perfect base for day trips to nearby cities such as Villach, Klagenfurt or the Triglav National Park in Slovenia.

Even adventure seekers and mountain addicts can find many good hiking trails and biking opportunities around Lake Millstatt.

Btw, speaking of Lake Millstatt, as a guest of the hotel you can enjoy free entry to two of the many nice seaside resorts.

So, if you haven’t booked your stay at the hotel Das Moerisch yet, what are you waiting for?!

Check out: A Relaxing Weekend at The Hotel Laerchenhof Katschberg

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