Even during the height of winter ski season, you can still hear the rhythmic pop of a tennis ball hitting a racquet around Stanglwirt, a decades-old luxury resort in the Austrian Alps near the tony mountain town of Kitzbühel. While Stanglwirt is now known for its laundry list of world-class amenities (including a fantastic wellness program), tennis is in fact what put it on the map. Through tennis management firm Peter Burwash International, Stanglwirt expanded its entire tennis program in the 1970s and 1980s, including building more facilities to accommodate tennis camps—a novelty at the time.
“Word got round that a bunch of American coaches were based in the middle of the mountains of Austria, which only added to the novelty and people started to come,” says tennis director Phil Azar. Developing a following in the German-speaking region of Europe just as players like Boris Becker and Steffi Graf were becoming international stars helped Stanglwirt become the must-do tennis resort in Central Europe. “The vast majority of hotel guests were made up of tennis aficionados,” Azar adds. “Some who would come back four or five times a year to attend the same camp program.”
Tennis’ popularity has risen significantly all over the world during pandemic lockdowns due in large part to the sport’s social-distancing-friendly setup. And hotels are only too happy to accommodate this growing interest. Azar says there’s been an uptick of travelers visiting Stanglwirt from the US and UK, who come to enjoy central Europe’s largest tennis facility in a luxury resort. They’re seduced by week-long adult and kids camps as well as celebrity events that are hosted throughout the year. But because of Stanglwirt’s reputation, tennis die-hards can also spot top-ranked players like Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev around the grounds.
Many other European properties are building out their tennis bonafides with similarly elevated initiatives. Bürgenstock Resort in Lucerne, Switzerland is known for its gorgeous indoor tennis courts called Diamond Domes, which are built with wood ceilings in a striking honeycomb pattern. It partnered with another tennis management firm called LUX Tennis in 2022. In addition to pro-level instruction, Bürgenstock has also hosted a number of high-profile events with iconic tennis players like former world number one Martina Hingis. Since this partnership launched, Bürgenstock reported a 15% increase in all tennis-related bookings.
But whether you’re looking to work with a tennis pro to beef up your serve or just want world-class tennis facilities to play in while on vacation, options in Europe, where tennis has always had a solid following, are getting better. Here are our picks for six such resorts where you can book your next great tennis holiday.
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Located at the foot of the jagged peaks of the Kaiser Mountains, about 30-minutes from the glamorous ski town of Kitzbühel, Stanglwirt is a one-stop-shop resort if you’re looking to get as much out of an Alpine vacation as possible, especially if that includes tennis. Stanglwirt built its renown around immersive tennis camps decades ago, and you can still where you can commit to these week-long all-tennis-all-the-time packages. But if you’re looking to include tennis more casually into your stay, there are plenty of opportunities to join round-robin sessions with fellow guests, take tennis lessons from the PBI pros, or just rent a court (there are six indoor hard courts and eight outdoor red clay courts with gorgeous views of the Alps) to hit on your own for an hour. And then head to the massive spa (with its Barbara Sturm facials, indoor and outdoor pools, plus three steam baths) to relax your weary bones after.