The ultimate multi family chalet experience adds even more luxury to Lech

The Arula Chalets elevate a family ski holiday, even in the already highly elevated Austrian resort of Lech. Andrew Dent stayed recently and can’t say enough good things about this extraordinary experience.

The Arula Chalets, Lech, Austria

The Arula Chalets is the ultimate group chalet holiday

Is there a special occasion coming up in the family? Have you not got together with your old college friends for a while? We all know there is nothing more fun than getting a group together for a ski holiday in The Alps. Fortunately for you, we have gone and done the research for you and found the ultimate group chalet for family ski breaks in Austria.

Master bedroom, The Arula Chalets © Tiberio Sorvillo

The Arula Chalets in the fashionable resort of Lech, comprise two chalets in fact: Arula 1, sleeping 22 guests across 9 en-suite rooms and Arula 2, sleeping 8 guests across 4 en suite bathrooms. They can be booked independently or can be connected if you want to really get the party started. More about the chalets later. Let’s explore the resort of Lech first.

Snowboarding, Lech © Christoph Schöch, Lech Zürs Tourismus

Lech lives up to its stellar reputation on every level

Lech has a reputation for being for the rich and famous, and indeed they do come. Royalty to business titans have been visiting for generations. To cater for this crowd the village has a wide selection of 5-star hotels offering wonderful service. It is also possible to find family run hotels that are more affordable. But with the arrival of The Arula Chalets in late 2018 the game changed.

The village of Lech sits at 1450m. The ski-in-ski-out area of Oberlech (where Arula is situated) is more like 1650m: those 200m can be important in these snow challenged times. Lech Zurs, as it is commonly known, is part of Austria’s largest connected ski area, the Ski Arleberg region. This also includes St Anton. There is now full connectivity to St Anton from Lech so, for those who like adventure, it is possible to do a full, (but long) day tour to the legendry St Anton.

Skiing above Lech © Sepp Mallaun, Lech Zürs Tourismus

Almost 50% of runs are Blue, making Lech a family ski paradise

Closer to home, Lech is a family ski paradise. With nearly 50% of the runs being Blue it is a perfect resort for the kids. But don’t worry the resort also has some testing reds and bumps for those wanting to stretch themselves. For the experts and adventure junkies in the group, Arula has a partnership with local freestyle World Champion Nadine Wallner (@nadinewallner). We went out together for the day, and not only is she a lovely person, she is a great guide and (occasional) teacher. She has pretty crazy stories of her time on tour and now her days as a Red Bull extreme athlete. I would highly recommend asking the Chalet to organise time with her, at £1,000 a day it is good value.

Evening in Lech © Tiberio Sorvillo

Lech keeps everyone happy, on and off the slopes

Although most of you might be there for the skiing, the key to a large group trip is to find a resort that caters for all interests, even for the non skiers. Lech and Arula score well here. The ever helpful chalet staff can organise a multitude of non skiing activities including: cross country trails, snow shoeing, ice skating and horse drawn sleigh rides. Alternatively, you could just a potter around the charming town.

Living area, The Arula Chalets, Lech © Tiberio Sorvillo

The Arula Chalets even elevates holiday reading

Wellness and fitness are also a big deal at Arula. All manner of yoga experiences can be arranged and personalised to your own goals. And once you have finished with all of that, you can take a book from the extensive library and sit on the private deck in your own world. The chalet employed a ‘Book Concierge’ to curate a vast and fascinating selection of books. No, I hadn’t heard of a Book Concierge before either!

Outdoor fun, Sharky & George, The Arula Chalets

In-chalet entertainment for kids from Sharky & George

Kids have also been given the Arula magic star dust. New for this winter The Arula Chalets have teamed up with the UK’s top family entertainers, Sharky & George, in what is their very first chalet partnership. The Sharky & George team will work with you to personalise activities, but frankly, you might as well leave it to the experts.

Making the most of the chalet facilities and Lech’s natural playground, action-packed fun and games await for kids. From movie making and screening in the chalet’s cinema room, explosive science workshops, and hands on cooking and chocolate making classes with the Head Chef to treasure hunts, talent shows and discos, complete with UV lights, lasers and smoke machines.

As spacious and amazing as the chalets are, the Sharky & George team will also get the kids outside to embrace the outdoors.  Some of the cool stuff kids can do in this winter playground includes sledging, snowshoeing and igloo building.

Indoor pool, The Arula Chalets, Lech

One of the best spas in Lech is private, and all yours

After a hard day on the slopes, or not as the case may be, The Arula staff will be all set to welcome you back to the chalet. Tea, cakes, champagne whatever your tipple may be, will be ready and waiting. After that there are a selection of recovery options to hand. Naturally each chalet has its own hot tub on the deck with stunning views of the mountains all around. But Arula 1 goes all out with it’s SPA area. There is a 14m indoor pool, not one, but two saunas (Finnish and Bio), a steam bath, massage room and relaxing zone with salt stone walls and water beds. The latter was very popular with our group.

Dining at The Arula Chalets, Lech © Tiberio Sorvillo

Evenings are worth dressing up for at The Arula Chalets

After the relaxation time (or nonstop drinks in the hot tub), it is time to get spruced up for dinner in the magnificent dining room. Although I’m sure not all folks get dressed up, you can do you after all. But the setting is cool, modern and elegant so it is worth packing a few nice things to wear, in my opinion. The food is sophisticated mountain style and the wine is generally locally sourced Austrian. But there is a full cellar with a range of quality wines and champagnes if you want to go a bit ‘off piste’. Nothing is too much trouble in terms of requests or dietary requirements.

The ‘party room’, The Arula Chalets © Tiberio Sorvillo

The fun doesn’t stop once dinner is over. There are various options to choose from here. Clearly one is bed, and that would be a wise choice as the beds cocoon you like no others. However, the majority of the group will want to stay up for a bit and Arula offers more different spaces for different folks.

Some might to head to the cinema room for a movie or a video game or two. But I personally enjoyed the ‘party room’. Here there is a piano for impromptu singalongs, as well as a casino and card table. Although the most popular with our group was the shuffle board. A slightly infuriating game where you have to roll your puck down the board and try and bring it up short of the end gutter: harder than it seems, and harder still after a good dinner and some wine.

The Arula Chalets in Lech are not cheap. But this is a special time together with friends or family, so you deserve it. Plus, you are paying for the combination of a world class ski resort and world class personalised staff in what is a world class designer chalet, and that’s worth it. Start calling your friends now.