Anzère Spa & Wellness

Anzère Spa & Wellness occupies the centre of the car-free resort village of Anzère, on Place du Village, about twenty minutes' drive above Sion in Valais. It is the resort's own public bath rather than a hotel facility: it has its own address, telephone number and reception, publishes its own tariffs, and is open to anyone who buys a ticket. Three-hour entry to the pool area costs 20 francs for adults and 15 for children aged 6 to 15, children under 6 enter free, annual season tickets are sold for both the pool and the wellness floor, and residents of the neighbouring communes of Ayent and Arbaz get a preferential rate on production of their local card. Holders of the multi-resort Magic Pass with the Baths option get in as well, though limited to two hours.

The bathing area is built around water at 33 degrees that reaches indoors and outdoors, with massage jets, bubble beds and a waterfall; the operator makes a point of the heating being a wood-pellet system rather than fossil fuel. Upstairs from the family bathing is a wellness floor of 1500 square metres reserved for visitors over 16, holding a jacuzzi at 36 degrees, a hammam at 40, a sanarium at 70, an indoor sauna at 90 and a further sauna outdoors at 80. Three hours there costs 29 francs, and overstaying either area is billed at five francs per extra half hour.

Beyond drop-in bathing the house runs a full programme of courses and events: swimming lessons, baby swimming, aquabike and aqua-trampoline classes, children's birthday parties and hen-party packages. A treatment menu built on Payot products covers relaxation, Swedish and deep massage, lymphatic drainage, Lomi-Lomi, Breuss spinal massage, hot-stone with argan oil, Ayurvedic Abhyanga, shiatsu, reflexology and recognised therapeutic massage, bookable online. The bath opens every day of the week from 09:45 to 20:00, with last admission an hour before closing, and shuts for roughly two weeks each autumn for maintenance.