Waldchalets Brandnertal - Gentle Traveller

The last stretch to Brand runs through a narrowing valley, ending at the valley head before the Rätikon. Anyone arriving here has long since left the main road behind. Between meadows and the dark edge of a larch forest stand the chalets, barely visible until you are almost upon them. The first impression owes little to a hotel and much to an address where someone actually lives.

Cozy interior of Chalet Zirbe with a wooden design, featuring a sofa, black chair, and large windows overlooking greenery. — Whether while reading, watching TV or simply relaxing, the double-height panoramic windows offer sweeping views of the mountains.

The Location

Brand lies in the southernmost tip of Vorarlberg, close to the borders of Liechtenstein and Switzerland, twenty minutes by car from the alpine town of Bludenz, where train and bus lines end and the mountain road begins. Here the Brandnertal closes into a basin of meadow and forest, overshadowed by the rugged walls of the Rätikon.

Scenic view of Alvierbach with a wooden bench in the foreground, mountains and green hills in the background. — The upper reaches of the Brandtal valley are considered to be among the most beautiful in the Eastern Alps.The Schesaplana rises to a height of 2,967 metres.

The Waldchalets sit at the edge of this basin, where the village gives way to the forest. From the road they are barely visible: five narrow gables, raised on posts, hidden among larch trunks, looking out over meadow and mountain, with no neighbouring house in sight.

Chalet nestled among wildflowers with a mountain backdrop in Waldchalets Brandnertal.

Weathered wooden fence posts with a barbed wire, surrounded by lush greenery and trees in the background.

Backstory

Susanne Durnwalder is from Brand; her husband Hannes is from Bolzano. They met at a wine tasting he held in the village—he had studied agriculture and run a wine cellar before moving to Vorarlberg. In 2018 the couple began planning something that would let them work from home: five chalets on land belonging to Susanne’s family, together with the Älmele Lodge, where they lived themselves until it grew too small after the birth of their second child.

Couple sitting on a bench in front of a flowering vine, with a golden retriever beside them, smiling at each other. — Susanne & Hannes Durnwalder, accompanied by their dog Idefix.

Wooden chalet on a grassy hill surrounded by dandelions under a clear blue sky. — A mountain idyll with historic buildings & lush green meadows.

The first guests arrived in September 2020. The family still lives on the grounds, runs the houses in person, and has added a delicatessen of its own, the Spezerei, which brings together Hannes’s knowledge of wine with his wife’s origins.

Interior & Architecture

Andreas Mikula of the Innsbruck studio architekturhandwerk had already designed the family’s private house before he was commissioned for the chalets. His answer to the sloping site: two-storey solid-timber buildings on point foundations and a steel frame, which barely disturb the terrain and meet torrent-protection requirements.

Interior view of a wooden chalet with a sloped ceiling, featuring large windows overlooking a forested landscape. — The perforated silver fir balustrade opens up the view towards the panoramic windows.

The steep pitched roof with its ninety-degree gable echoes the old Brand farmhouses, and the back-ventilated timber façade is left untreated. Gutters and snow guards were deliberately omitted, so no snow load builds up. Zimmerei Josef Müller erected each shell from prefabricated solid-wood panels supplied by Stora Enso in under a working day; 225 cubic metres of timber went into the build. Inside, clay-wall heating running through both storeys to the gallery provides even warmth—a flue connection for a future wood stove is already in place.

Black wooden chalet partially visible among lush green trees in a forest setting. — 45° sloping roofs without gutters allow snow to slide off easily.

Modern wooden chalets with large windows and red umbrellas, surrounded by greenery and trees in Waldchalets Brandnertal. — The black chalets almost disappear amongst the trees.

A Look Inside

Six units in total: five identical, partly mirrored forest chalets for two to six people, plus the smaller, more rustic Älmele Lodge for two to four, where the family once lived. A steel staircase leads to the recessed terrace and from there into the ground floor: kitchen, dining and living area, separate WC, bathroom and a first bedroom.

Modern chalet interior featuring a wooden dining table, colorful chairs, and large windows with a view of a balcony. — Inside, clean lines define the look, with solid wood furniture made from spruce and fir.

A timber staircase connects it to the upper floor, with a gallery and two further rooms. Floor-to-ceiling windows open onto the Rätikon and the forest; pale, untreated wood and clean lines shape the room. The kitchen is considered down to the last detail: dishwasher, oven, bean-to-cup coffee machine, Sodastream, spice mills. Only a microwave was left out. A television is present but unobtrusively built in, all but vanishing into the wood.

Two people sit on a bed in a wooden chalet, gazing out a large window at a lush green landscape. — View of the larch forest from the bedrooms on the upper floor.

Modern interior of a wooden chalet featuring a dining table, three white chairs, and pendant lights, with a patterned wall. — The kitchen-diner is furnished with Bolich lamps.

Culinary

There is no restaurant, but a breakfast basket is set outside the chalet door each morning with fresh bread, home-made jam, spruce-tip syrup, muesli of your choice and eggs from the house’s own hens, ordered from a breakfast menu handed out in advance. The fridge can also be stocked before arrival on request.

Breakfast table featuring an egg carton, yogurt with fruit, cheese, and jam on a wooden surface. — Breakfast menu featuring homemade jams and eggs from the host’s hens.

Those who want more help themselves in the Speis, a small, trust-based pantry with yoghurt, cheese, wine and other products from Hannes’s range; what is taken is noted on your own slip of paper. For a fondue or raclette evening, the house provides the full set of crockery on request. At the heart of the culinary concept stands the Spezerei in the village, which Hannes runs alone: air-dried beef from Graubünden, cheese from the Brandnertal, wine from South Tyrol and Tyrol, plus coffee from the Schreyögg roastery. Everything comes from a self-defined radius of around two hundred kilometres, reaching as far as Lake Garda. Hannes’s own formula for it: regional, not national.

Breakfast table set with fresh fruits, pastries, and drinks in a cozy wooden chalet interior.

Bowl of yogurt topped with granola, strawberries, blueberries, and apple slices on a wooden breakfast table.

Wellness & Relaxation

There is no pool, and the concept does not miss one. Relaxation happens outdoors, at the sauna beside the chalets or around the open fire that becomes the evening gathering point—firewood ready, talk running late. The guest card brings free entry to the Val Blu indoor pool in Bludenz once per stay, plus free access to the region’s outdoor pools and, in summer, the cable cars.

A scenic view of a natural swimming pond surrounded by mountains, with people swimming and lounging under a red umbrella. — The refreshing Alvierbad: the Brandner swimming pond, just a 5-minute walk from the Waldchalets.

Those who prefer it quieter take the few steps to the house’s own lake, or let the Rätikon’s view catch up with them from a deckchair on the covered south terrace. After a day on the mountain, every chalet has a spacious shower and a powerful hairdryer. Relaxation here stays unfussy: outdoors, by the fire.

Couple relaxing in a wooden sauna, sitting on benches with a window showing greenery outside. — The sauna is located in an old hay barn.

Wooden sauna interior featuring benches, a wooden bucket, and a folded towel, illuminated by warm light.

Surrounding Area

Anyone leaving the chalets need not go far: the Walserensemble in the middle of Brand—old schoolhouse, Walserhus, parish house and church, brought together by architects Bruno Spagolla and Wolfgang Ritsch into a new village centre—shows how historic Walser building fabric and contemporary architecture can get along.

A small white chapel surrounded by a vibrant meadow filled with yellow flowers and lush green trees in the background. — There are many little details to be discovered on walks through the valley.

A little further up the valley, near the hamlet of Innertal, the Alvier stream plunges through the forty-metre gorge of the Kesselfall, a protected natural monument since 1955 and the starting point of the Walserweg Vorarlberg, leading from here past centuries-old Walser settlements to Graubünden and Galtür in Tyrol. Higher up, reachable by cable car, lies the turquoise Lünersee, one of the largest reservoirs in the Alps and destination for an easy circuit with views of the Schesaplana.

Scenic view of a road leading through green fields and wooden chalets, with mountains and blue sky in the background.

Clear blue lake reflecting mountains and trees, with two people walking on a wooden platform nearby.

Anyone taking the twenty minutes to Bludenz finds the car-free old town, with its arcaded lanes, Schloss Gayenhofen, the Laurentiuskirche with its onion dome—and the Remise, a cultural centre in a former railway depot hosting music, theatre, fine art and literature year-round. For something to take home, a stroll along Werdenbergerstraße is worthwhile, its shopfronts tucked behind old façades. And for those who want to go further: Liechtenstein and the Swiss border lie less than an hour’s drive away, a stretch where three countries meet in a tight space.

Activities

For hikers: 400 kilometres of signposted trails, routes to the turquoise Lünersee, demanding high paths in the Rätikon, guided themed walks, the Walserweg Vorarlberg starting in Brand.

For families: An animal trail at the door, a playground with slide, see-saw and sandpit, an easy walk to the Kesselfall, a weekly children’s programme, the house’s lake with a sunbathing lawn.

For golfers: An 18-hole course at 1,000 metres, sweeping views of the Rätikon, minutes from your chalet, the Golfclub Brand with a pro shop.

For bikers: A new gondola with trails from winter 2026/27, the Bikepark Brandnertal, a children’s bike park, a bike room with workstand and wash station.

Participants hold sticks with dough twisted around them, preparing to cook over a grill in a forest setting. — Guests can enjoy a cosy barbecue in the evening near the chalets.

Man in a black long-sleeve shirt and cap stands beside golf clubs, leaning against a wooden wall in a chalet setting. — It’s just a few steps from the chalet to the first tee.

For winter sports fans: The Schedlerhof ski area included, the Egga toboggan run, winter trails, a ski depot with boot dryer at the valley station.

For culture lovers: The Walserensemble in Brand, the Remise cultural centre in Bludenz, the car-free old town, themed tours, a crime trail through the alleys.

For foodies: The Spezerei with regional specialities, a daily breakfast basket with farm produce, fondue and raclette evenings in your chalet, restaurant tips from the hosts.

For those seeking quiet: A sauna next to the chalet, an evening fire pit, a covered south-facing terrace, grounds kept car-free.

For water lovers: The house’s lake along the path, the Val Blu indoor pool in Bludenz once per stay, every outdoor pool free with the guest card.

Details

6 units: 5 Waldchalets (2–6 guests, 65 m² plus terrace) and Älmele Lodge (2–4 guests); dogs welcome in two chalets.
Built 2018–2020; architecture by Andreas Mikula, architekturhandwerk Innsbruck; timber by Zimmerei Josef Müller, Brand.
Fully fitted kitchen, dishwasher, WiFi, parking space per chalet, e-charging nearby; no pool, no restaurant.
Daily breakfast basket; Spezerei and in-house pantry; fondue and raclette crockery on request.
Sauna, fire pit, children’s playground, bike room with workstand and wash station.
Guest card with free local and rail travel across Vorarlberg; nearest station Bludenz, 20 minutes by car; waldchalets-brandnertal.at