GrandHotel Lienz is recognised by the World Travel Awards as Europe’s Leading Wellness Hotel.

Member of the Polish national football team have been making their final preparations for the Euro 2012 championships at the award-winning GrandHotel Lienz in Austria.

Poland will open the tournament on Friday, playing the first match against Greece at the National Stadium, Warsaw.

Ahead of the encounter the team underwent a series of fitness tests at the hotel, which is recognised by the World Travel Awards as Europe’s Leading Wellness Hotel.

Players were also offered an opportunity to enjoy the world-class training facilities at the hotel, as well as indulging in a spot of in trout fishing, white river rafting, golf, horseback riding and bicycling.

Poland will also face Russia and the Czech Republic in Group A of the tournament, with the hosts hoping to use home advantage to make it through to the second round.

The team enters the tournament with a FIFA ranking of 65, the lowest in the tournament.

Coach Franciszek Smuda has called on talent from foreign leagues to help ease the country forward.

Of the final 23-man squad, eight are currently under contract with clubs in the German Bundesliga, with two-time defending league champions Borussia Dortmund alone have contributing three players.

Captain Jakub Błaszczykowski, prolific striker Robert Lewandowski and defender Łukasz Piszczek are likely to form the backbone of the team.

GrandHotel Lienz

A gleaming gem in East Tyrol, GrandHotel Lienz mixes the best of modern and traditional, and sits in a glorious setting, framed by Austria’s tallest mountain, the Grossglockner, and the Lienz Dolomites.

The medieval town is also home to two world-class ski areas, Zettersfeld and Hochstein, and hosts a World Cup race.

In summer it serves as the gateway to the Hohe Taurern National Park, an incredible wilderness reserve of glaciers, soaring peaks and rare wildlife.

The five-star property, which was built from scratch on the banks of the River Isel, has deployed the very latest in energy-saving technologies, and it is serving as a blueprint of a carbon-zero future.

Features include a glacier feed from the River Isel that keeps the rooms cool in summer; hot water is produced through a central plant which serves most of the town and uses wood chips; solar water heaters on the roof heat the indoor and outdoor swimming pool.

Further energy is gained through a very efficient heat exchange from the largest underground lake in Austria.

The hotel contains 76 suites with landscaped terraces, indoor/outdoor swimming pool, lobby bar with open fireplace and a conference center with up-to-the-minute communications facilities. The hotel’s restaurant features international and health-oriented menus.