The Kempinski Hotel Berchtesgaden delays its new spa to spring 2029 and closes its outdoor pool

The Kempinski Hotel Berchtesgaden will not have its enlarged spa until spring 2029, three years later than planned. Yet work has only just begun in the Bavarian Alps: the heated outdoor pool has been closed since 5 October 2026, but the hotel remains open.

An enlarged spa now due in spring 2029

Presented to Berchtesgaden’s municipal council in November 2022, the project was due to start in 2024 and take two years at most. The owner, the Bavarian public bank BayernLB, attributes the delay “mainly” to geopolitical, and therefore economic, uncertainty. Since 2022, the energy crisis and the steep rise in construction costs have also taken their toll, even if the bank does not mention them. The works are expected to last around two and a half years.

Outdoor pool closed since 5 October

Since October 2026, major works have been under way in the outdoor part of the spa and in the hotel courtyard. The heated outdoor pool, which faces the mountains, is therefore closed. A site access road has been laid out on the Eckerbichl, the plateau on which the hotel stands; BayernLB promises disruption “as minimal as possible”, without going into detail.

What stays open this winter?

The hotel says so on its website: the indoor pool, saunas, treatments and gym remain accessible as usual. The bank warns, however, that a full, temporary closure of the spa will be “unfortunately unavoidable” to modernise the existing facilities, without saying when or for how long. Closing the entire hotel for four to six weeks, an option mentioned in 2022, is no longer on the table. Before booking a wellness break, it is wise to check the dates with the hotel.

1,500 m² and five pools by Klaus Keune

The project remains “essentially unchanged”. Designed by Munich architect Klaus Keune, it adds more than 1,500 m², partly underground, with five new outdoor pools, larger saunas, more relaxation areas and terraced outdoor spaces. The current spa has an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, three saunas and a waterbed lounge. For comparison, read our review of the MOHR life resort, at the foot of the Zugspitze.

BayernLB keeps the bill under wraps

BayernLB, majority-owned by the Free State of Bavaria, gives no figure for the cost of the works; in 2022, there was talk only of “several million”. Public subsidies will be used “if the rules allow”, for example for energy-saving technology. The bank expects a rise in energy consumption that it considers “not significant”.

On the Obersalzberg, 1,000 m above sea level

Opened in 2005 under the InterContinental brand, the hotel has been operated by Kempinski since 2015 on behalf of BayernLB. It has 138 rooms and suites and chef Ulrich Heimann’s restaurant PUR, which holds two Michelin stars. It is part of the concept drawn up by the State of Bavaria for the Obersalzberg, next to the Dokumentation Obersalzberg documentation centre, opened in 1999, which traces the history of the site and of the Nazi dictatorship. The Kempinski group is also pursuing the relaunch of the Augustine in Prague; for more mountain inspiration, see the new luxury ski hotels this winter.