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Comment by ggambetta | Hacker News Reader

Peter Zumthor is one of my favorite architects <3 Therme Vals is just spectacular [0]. Zumthor is all about plain surfaces and 90 degree angles (maybe he used the Wolfenstein 3D editor to make his plans?) but somehow Therme Vals feels like being in an underwater cavern.

I don't know if I'd live in a house designed by him (although the author of this article seemed to love it). Might be too minimalistic -- thinking of the Kunsthaus in Bregenz for example. Of course this cabin is made of wood, not concrete. But in terms of a house that feels like a home, I'd go with Alvar Aalto; his designs ooze cozyness in a way that Zumthor's don't, and for a famous architect, they feel surprisingly pragmatic and sensible :)

[0] https://7132.com/en/therme/thermal-baths-and-spa/overview

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The problem with the Felsentherme is that it was sold off to an investor, who intentionally wanted to make it exclusively available to well heeled hotel guests.

While you can still visit it as a non-guest you need to reserve in advance and prices are 60 francs (~60$) on Monday / Tuesday and 80 francs on other days.

Even though Switzerland is an expensive country such prices for a spa visit without any extras are beyond the outrageous.

Hmmm just checked Hürlimann Spa in Zürich and the day pass is CHF 39, so CHF 60 for Therme Vals doesn't look outrageous at all?

Are we even talking about the same complex? Felsentherme is in Austria, apparently?

In Switzerland everything is expensive, but it is still worth it even at 60 francs.

The poster has a point, though, in that after the sale the vibe changed. The connected hotel used to be reasonably priced for their smaller cabins/rooms to stay the night after a soak in the Therme. Now the entire Hotel is focused on Chinese/middle-eastern wealth clients. They even have (or at least used to last time I checked ~2019) free helicopter pickup within Switzerland if you stay there (as if heli traffic in the valleys wasn't annoying enough already).

I used to go there after hiking in the mountains for a couple of days, and it was a fantastic cap to a short excursion into nature, spent without showers in mountain huts. It's just not possible anymore - and apparently not desired by the new owner.

-- Indeed, we didn't want to support that hotel, which is why we stayed in Leis. I'll add that to my post.

-- Like everything in Switzerland, it was easy to reserve spots online. I think we went on a Monday. Therme Vals is a well-designed space, and the spa experience includes ~18 different zones and temperatures. Some of them are gimmicks, but nonetheless delightful play of space, sound, temperature and texture (stone).

Our family isn't into the pampering-spa experience, but I think all of my children can still describe that place 1yr after---worth it for me.

We also visited Therme Vals; that was the point of our trip. While I love the majesty of stone Vals, which have these huge stone slabs that hang above your head with small gaps, his houses in Leis are the human-scale version of his emotional approach to space.

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