Review: Mount Med, Austria spa review

Why go?

An hour from Innsbruck, Mount Med delivers on style as well as substance. Built from the bones of a 12th-century hostelry, its hub is a vast, glamorous lounge bar complete with mixologists shaking modern-day mocktails under the ancient beams. It’s a sociable space that comes without a trace of white-coat sterility and underpins a central tenet of this spa’s health concept, “joy of life”.

Alexander and Stephan Papp, the urbane brothers and qualified doctors behind this wellness resort, have 50 years of medical experience between them and the latest state-of-the-art equipment to hand to ensure that learning to live longer for guests is also fabulously good fun.

What's the backstory?

Medicine is deep in the brothers’ DNA. Their father Professor Christoph Papp is a famous plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgeon in Austria and a visiting professor at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in the United States. While Stephan specialised in trauma surgery, orthopaedics and sports medicine, Alexander followed his father’s footsteps into aesthetics.

Alexander’s quest to ensure optimal outcomes for patients post surgery led him to drill down on their pre- and post-operative lifestyles to see what adjustments he could make to ensure long-term success. Over the course of 10 years and 700 patients, he developed a method that produced startling results and has evolved into Mount Med’s Mylife Changer programme.

They were looking for a base to launch the concept when they were approached by the developers of one of Austria’s oldest guesthouses, the Kellerwirt. The characterful 850-year-old property is in the postcard-perfect town of Oberau, surrounded by pure air, pristine peaks and crowd-free forest trails that inevitably propel guests towards a stress-busting nature immersion. Crucially, for medical interventions, Oberau is just a 15-minute drive from the private hospital where Stephan Papp is head of radiology, so Mount Med guests are fast-tracked for everything from next-day blood results to MRI scans, thanks to full access to the hospital’s laboratories and equipment.

The good doctors have meticulous about the medical side of operations, spending two years cherry picking the best new technologies and recruiting a team of doctors and therapists from some of Europe’s most respected spas including Lanserhof, Chenot and the Mayr clinics.

What’s the wellness concept?

Mount Med’s 360-degree approach begins with a round of advanced integrative diagnostics and imaging tests to determine each guest’s biological age and constitution. This process flags up under-performing functions from posture and heart health to fat-burning efficiency and cognition levels.

The doctors devise a programme based on the test results and the guest’s personal aims. Key focus areas are preventative care and checks-ups, sports medicine and optimisation, aesthetic medicine and sleep quality, backed up by a hospital’s worth of biohacking and high-tech touchless treatments as well as holistic therapies.

An important element of the concept is that guests shouldn’t go hungry and definitely not starve. Unlike many competitors, Mount Med’s restricted diet is heavy on animal proteins, which make up around 60 per cent of the daily menu. There is very little fruit and no refined sugars (the birch syrup in the mocktails is actually much nicer anyway). Unusually, coffee is also allowed.

The Papps believe this diet activates autophagy, the body’s natural regeneration system by which cells recycle or excrete damaged or degraded components. Usually, this process is stimulated by fasting but Mount Med believes that “de-sugaring” a person’s diet has the same effect, reducing inflammation, activating cell metabolism, boosting fat burning, reducing cell stress and helping to maintain optimum weight, without losing muscle. There are alternative diets for vegetarians  (Green Local Hero) and double portions for athletes and those who do not want to drop kilos (Health Optimiser). The overall objective is to educate guests in how to have a sustainable and enjoyable eating plan that continues post-stay and are optional cookery classes to help establish the ground rules.

What are the signature treatments?

The Gharieni’s RLX Satori Wellness Lounger, a vibrational and binaural sound treatment that will leave you bright-eyed, bushy tailed and feeling like you’ve had a brilliant night’s sleep, all in 25 minutes.

The MyGlow Aquafacial with Bipolar Radiofrequency & Hyaluronic Acid Mask is such an effective airbrush, it will have you wondering why anyone bothers with botox. But you can get that here, too, if you want.

The Emsculpt Abdomen is a non-surgical body contouring procedure that tones and strengthens the abdominal muscles. Basically, the lazy person’s way to a six pack. The Emsella Treatment chair does the same for the pelvic floor, generating electromagnetic currents that cause pelvic floor muscles to contract and relax rapidly.

Which therapist should I book?

For massages, ask for Sylvia whose extraordinary hands somehow work deep into the muscles relaxing them without inflicting torture en route. For facials, Maria is able to coax complexions to a glow that hours of TikTok filters can’t match.

What makes it different?

The overall design feels more luxury lifestyle than clinical chic – a knack that few spas have achieved so successfully, which means this is a much more relaxing place than many rivals. The public areas are wonderfully welcoming, with velvety sink in sofas in a palette of greens and russets. The restaurants have handmade porcelain crockery and luxury Riedel glassware as well as five-star food. Bedrooms are creamy cocoons that wouldn’t look out of place in contemporary hotels in global capitals. Their calming honey-toned woods, lots of natural light and interesting textures create airy, calming spaces.

The spa facilities are next level, too. There are significantly more lounging options than in most medi-spas and the pools and thermal suite cover a whopping 3,500 sq metres. The attention to detail even extends to creating individual ambiences for each of the five steam and sauna rooms including the forest clearing steam room which feels like sitting in a fairytale glade.

The gym is impressively kitted out including excellent Keiser & Milon machines, which bring a fun gaming element into exercise as users must control how they push or pull weights to remain within an undulating path to score highly. It also has its own diagnostics and therapy suite.

Anything else to mention?

The food, overseen by executive chef Boris Meyer, formerly at three Michelin-starred Noma, in consultation with Luigi Schiavo, Professor of Applied Dietetics of Italy's University of Salerno, is exceptionally good. Dishes are imaginatively constructed, packed with flavour and beautifully presented.

Final word

This resort stylishly bridges the gap between luxury resort and high-class medi clinic and has created a concept that is effective and easy to maintain long term – and you’ll feel like you’ve had a “proper” holiday too.

Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a 4 night Quick Prevent programme from £2,399 per person sharing, including transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the programme