03/09/2026
Bad Gastein was once known as the Monte Carlo of the Alps. Then the town fell quiet. And perhaps that was precisely its good fortune.
Since the early 2000s, people with vision have been bringing Bad Gastein back to life—not by polishing away its past, but by allowing something new to emerge from it.
You might call them the “Dreamers and Doers of Bad Gastein”: a loose community of creative entrepreneurs, hoteliers, artists, dropouts, newcomers and locals. People who run distinctive, independently owned hotels and businesses with a personal signature—and, in doing so, breathe new life into the town.
One of them is Ike Ikrath, who, together with his wife Evelyn, is behind the Miramonte and Haus Hirt hotels.
Ike speaks with a charming Viennese accent that makes even the most complicated things sound just a little more elegant. When he talks about Bad Gastein, its old grand hotels or the world of hospitality, it quickly becomes clear that personality matters more to him than standardised perfection.