About Vaughn & Sons
Innsbruck's Botanical Spa, Built by a Family with Deep Alpine Roots
The Vaughn family has been engaged in plant-based wellness for three generations — the spa is the current expression of that ongoing commitment.
The Story Behind the Name
The spa's founding in 2011 was not a career pivot — it was a logical extension of how the Vaughn family had always understood health. Thomas Vaughn Sr. spent the 1980s and 90s running a small herbal dispensary on Maria-Theresien-Straße, sourcing dried botanicals from Tyrolean mountain farmers and compounding tinctures for local physicians who still believed in plant-led adjuncts to conventional care. His sons, Thomas Jr. and Daniel, grew up in that dispensary — learning plant names, understanding the difference between wildcrafted and cultivated arnica, and absorbing the idea that a product's integrity starts with its ingredients. When they opened Vaughn & Sons, the dispensary's ethos came with them: source rigorously, explain honestly, and never replace efficacy with novelty. The name acknowledges the inheritance and the ongoing family dialogue about what genuine botanical wellness should look like.
Our Therapist Team
We employ eight therapists, all trained to at minimum Level 3 in massage and aesthetics and holding additional qualifications in either aromatherapy or phytotherapy. Continuing education is a condition of employment: each therapist attends at minimum two specialist courses per year, funded by the spa. We also run an in-house botanical education programme three times a year — a two-day immersion during which the team works with the season's fresh plant material, studies the chemistry of key actives, and re-calibrates treatment protocols accordingly. Our front-of-house team is small and deliberately so; repeat guests tend to book directly and to see the same therapist across multiple visits. That continuity is not an accident — it is how we think long-term therapeutic relationships should work.
Our Commitments in Practice
These are not aspirations — they are the operational standards we audit ourselves against every year.
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Annual Supplier Audits
Every botanical supplier is reviewed annually against our sourcing criteria: certified-natural status, transparent farming or wildcrafting practice, and a commitment to fair prices for growers. Any supplier who fails the audit is replaced before the next season.
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Packaging and Waste
Product packaging in the spa retail area is glass, tin, or FSC-certified card. We removed single-use plastics from the treatment rooms in 2019. Waste botanical material from our in-house herb blending is composted and returned to a local community garden on Bergiselweg.
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Fair Therapist Scheduling
A therapist carrying more than five treatment sessions in a day provides worse care — physiologically and attentionally. We cap daily session loads, pay above the collective bargaining floor, and have maintained the same core team for an average of five years, which is unusually stable for this industry.
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Transparent Ingredient Lists
Every product used in treatments is listed on our website with its full INCI name alongside the common botanical name. We update the list quarterly. If you want to cross-reference any ingredient against a database like INCI Decoder before your appointment, we actively encourage that.
“What struck me first about Vaughn & Sons was not the treatment itself but the conversation beforehand. Thomas Jr. spent ten minutes explaining why they had replaced their previous facial oil supplier in 2022 — a small Styrian producer had scaled up and the quality slipped. That specificity, applied to a carrier oil most guests probably never think about, told me everything about how seriously they take the word 'natural'.”
Dr. Eva Hofmann, Innsbruck
Come and See the Spa for Yourself
We are on Anichstraße in the city centre — walk-ins are welcome for a brief tour and consultation, though we recommend booking treatments in advance.