The lake-view hotel in Austria with ever-warm See-Bad lake pool
Swim in purest lake water
At the Hotel Hochschober you can swim outdoors throughout the year in a 25m pool, in pure lake water and in the fresh air. In both summer and winter the See-Bad water is a constant 30 degrees Celsius.
The beginning of an idea
What to do with a lake-view hotel but with no opportunity to swim in the clear lake water? It is, after all, rather cold in the Austrian mountains.
Senior boss Peter Leeb, himself a devoted swimmer, pondered long and hard on a solution to this problem. It had to be practical and above all environmentally friendly. The basic idea for his approach was found in a dissertation paper published at the University of Graz in Styria. However it would be another 10 years before the hotel pool at Lake Turracher See was to become reality.
An innovation in Carinthia: the ever-warm See-Bad lake pool
In 1995 the Hotel Hochschober opened the Alps' first heated lake pool, at a swim-friendly size of 25 x 10 metres. The pool contains only lake water, which is heated to 30 degrees by a specially designed system.
Swimming throughout the year
Depending on the season you can swim into the sunrise, do your lengths in the morning mist or watch ice skaters and winter walkers as you swim about Lake Turracher See. In winter, the See-Bad pool is the only open patch in the otherwise frozen Lake Turracher See.
Banks and boats
During the summer, the See-Bad pool forms the heart of our Alpenstrand "beach". Taking in the majestic mountain and lake view, you can sunbathe here on comfortable loungers, rest in mountain-proof wicker beach chairs, or explore the lake by boat or water bike.
Technology and innovation
The patented and, at the time of opening, world's first heated lake pool works on a very simple principle based on a peculiarity of physics by which water is at its heaviest at 4 degrees Celsius. Warmer water therefore floats above the colder water.
Floating stainless steel pontoons mark the surface boundaries of the 25 x 10 metre pool. These boundaries extend 3 metres below the surface to keep the heated lake water in the enclosed pool area.
Below the lake pool is open, since the colder water underneath forms a natural boundary. This also enables an ongoing water exchange. The full volume of heated water is replaced once every 10 hours. This way, we can avoid any form of additives or chemical treatment of the water.
To heat the water in summer a thermal heat pump adds low-level heating. In winter we use the environmentally friendly energy from the nearby wood chip plant.
