 Poster: A snowHead
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Hinterglemm (& Saalbach)
Kinder Hotel (Familienresort Ellmauhof-das Feriengut)
15th Feb 2013 to 22nd Feb 2013
A brilliant week in the Ski Circus!
Our third ski trip, and as usual my wife and children (aged 8 and 11) were joined by two other families (both with children of similar ages), resulting in a party of twelve. In terms of skiing abilities, we ranged from lower to higher intermediates; the majority of the adults were happy on blues and easy reds (with one more nervous, another happy on tough reds and blacks) whilst most of the children in the party were comfortable on pretty much anything, up to and including blacks.
I hope that the following is of use to anyone who is considering a Kinder Hotel and/or Hinterglemm.
Preparation
Details of our previous skiing holidays can be found here:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1995402
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=98061
We’ve also had a day at the Hemel Snow Centre, to try and slow the rate at which we forget how to ski! Of our party, five of the six adults had their own boots, but we all rented skis. Everyone wore helmets.
Journey outbound
We flew from Heathrow to Munich with Lufthansa. Unfortunately, due to the shocking weather in the UK our original direct flight was cancelled and so we were rerouted via Frankfurt and arrived six hours late; nobody’s fault. From Munich airport we travelled by mini-bus (SMS Flughafentransfer) which was long (about 2.5hrs) but relatively stress free for eight of us, but a nightmare for the other four as they had to wait 90 minutes for a driver for their bus, who was then too tired to drive safely and stopped off in Salzburg to switch with a colleague. We arrived at the hotel at around 8pm and 11pm respectively.
Overall, 8/10 (or 1/10, in the case of our friends’ journey)
Hotel
Overall, the Ellmauhof hotel was excellent.
Our room was a very good size, nicely appointed, loads of strorage, spotlessly clean and very well maintained; significantly better than anything we’ve had at a Club Med hotel in the previous two years. The only downside was that you couldn’t turn off the underfloor heating in the bathroom area, which in turn made the whole room very warm all the time; deducting a point for this I’d rate it as 9/10.
The food in the hotel was really excellent too. Most evenings the children had a buffet to choose from, whilst the adults had a 5 course meal (with two or three options for each course). In terms of variety and standard, our meals were extremely good and wouldn’t have looked out of place in any higher-end restaurant; varied, delicious and well presented. Another nice touch was the freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning (there was a ‘shopping trolley’ full of oranges just outside the main restaurant, which you then put into the juicing machine to obtain your juice). The restaurant areas itself was also very pleasant and we always had our own area/table for our party of twelve, which was nice.
Food hygiene standards seemed impeccable too, although there were a lot of small children in the restaurant as one might expect at a family oriented hotel (two of our party suffered 24 hour bouts of sickness…blamed on other peoples’ kids handling food/plates, coughing over dishes, etc.). Overall, the set-up was quite different to the Club Med style we’d become used to, but was equally (if not more…) enjoyable. 9/10.
Aside from skiing, there was a fabulous pool and spa area, which managed to be both a fun area for the children and a relaxing oasis for the adults at the same time. The kids also enjoyed visiting the three different games rooms (pool & air hockey in one, climbing & basketball in another, DVDs and computer game sin the third) each evening, whilst eh adults chose to unwind with a drink. There was no formal evening entertainment except on one night, when there was an inoffensive local band playing. 8/10.
Ski-wise, the hotel’s boot room was easily accessible, with each room assigned a good size locker. Unfortunately the boot room itself was very small and so became extremely busy in a morning, with everyone rushing to get ready in time for lessons etc. In the end, most folks started spilling out into the adjacent lobby and putting their boots on there…5/10.
Overall, the hotel was very good indeed and managed to pull off a trick of appealing to both adults and children. There also seemed to be fewer children around than were actually there, so the place never seemed overrun with kids. Everything seemed very well thought out and well designed, to the benefit of all the guests; we’d certainly all be happy to go back to the hotel. In addition, the staff were all extremely friendly and helpful, and nothing seemed to be too much trouble for them. When four of our party arrived at 11pm on the first day, after the restaurant closed, the hotel rustled up trays of food for all of them, etc. The only downside, compared to a Club Med, was that the all inclusive basis f our stay didn’t include alcoholic drinks (or premium soft drinks such as Coke, Sprite, etc. from the bar), so it was a bit of a hassle having to buy and sign for each round. 9/10.
In conclusion, I would recommend the Ellmauhof hotel to anyone, with the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff being the particular highlight.
Equipment
We opted to rent from Snow & Fun in Hinterglemm (2 mins from the U-Bhan lift), who have an arrangement with the hotel. Pick up was effortless; despite our late arrival, we were picked up by the shop’s mini-bus at about 9pm and – having pre ordered everything online – all had boot/skis within 30 minutes and were back at the hotel well before 10pm. The staff were good natured, all of the equipment seemed high quality and relatively new, all of the children were happy with their boots, etc. Returning it all at the end of the week was also easy peasy, as Snow and Fun send a lorry to the hotel to pick everything up from the guests at 3.45pm on the Friday; our party was first in the queue (naturally…), so within 5 minutes had dropped off all of our gear and were back in the bar! 9/10.
Skiing
The hotel is advertised as ski-in/ski-out, although on day one we all took the ‘ski train’ (carriages pulled by a dressed up tractor) to the ski school area, by the U-Bahn. We also decided to get the courtesy bus back at the end of the day, from the Snow & Fun shop, but this proved to be very unsatisfactory, as we had to wait for about half an hour to get back (the hotel is 5 minutes away, by car)! Thereafter, we resolved to ski in/out!
In terms of slope access, you make a short 50m walk along the front of the hotel, then ski down a tricky blue to the Bergfried T-bar (36), which then takes you up and allows you to ski down to the U-Bahn ( 38 ), from where you can join ski school, head up the mountain, etc. The return journey involves going up the U-Bahn, then skiing down to the T-bar and then turning right halfway down that piste, into the hotel, from where you walk 50m back to the entrance. Compared to a Club Med style ski in/out arrangement, where you leave the boot room and arrive at a main lift almost immediately, this was a different kettle of fish. Frankly, for beginners or nervous skiers (anyone relying predominantly on a snow plough), one couldn’t consider it ski in/out at all, as they wouldn’t make it down to the T-bar or back again after going up the U-Bahn. For our party though, it proved to be far quicker and more convenient than getting the bus etc.
On a related note though, because of the hotel’s location, we ended up spending most of our time wanting to ski on the other side of the valley (which seems to have the better skiing, for us at least), which necessitated skiing down to the U-Bahn and then a 10 minute walk to the Reiterkogelbahn (47) to go up the mountain (with the same again to get back home).
Overall, it wasn’t really a 100% convenient ski in, ski out arrangement. 6/10.
In terms of lessons, we opted to do 3 days each, all organized through Snow and Fun once again. The kids were all with Jeff, who they loved, but unfortunately most of the adults ended up with Andy in ‘level C’, who turned out to be a very embittered, angry, racist, homophobic and generally unpleasant individual (and for the record, our party are all white and straight!). He also berated us when we fell, disappeared out of sight at every opportunity and left us to follow, and bored us rigid with stories whilst we stood getting cold. Consequently all but one of our party switched to a different instructor (Jan; lovely guy) the nest day (the other masochistic member of our party refused to be beaten!). 7/10.
In terms of the skiing we did (both in lessons and ourselves) we mainly did various combinations of pistes 11, 11a, 22, 23, 25, 28, 32, 32a, 33,, etc. All good fun.
Weather
The start of the week was overcast, with light snow and flat light, but from Wednesday onwards, sunshine was the order of the day. The conditions were very spring like (apparently), with things getting slushy after lunch. Snow cover was very poor by all accounts, but a snowfall on Tuesday and extensive snow cannon cover meant the pistes held up fine all week.
Journey inbound
Our journey home was incident free.
Overall
We had a great holiday and we were all sad to say goodbye to Hinterglemm. It had been a fabulous week’s skiing, in a super hotel, with great company.
Random thoughts?
Well despite our reservations about the Ellmauhof not being ‘true’ ski in/out, nor truly all inclusive, in many ways we preferred it to Club Med, as it was all rather more relaxed, whilst still offering a great pool, good food, etc. A 50/50 mix of lessons and family skiing worked well too. Austria we loved generally, and the Ski Circus area was excellent; especially the good lift infrastructure that meant little or no queuing (never more than 2 mins, generally no queue at all) and snow making. We’ll certainly be back to Austria, and would happily revisit Hinterglemm/Saalbach; it’s certainly a wonderful and extensive area to ski.
Final score? 8/10, with points deducted only for the lack of true ski in/out and all-inclusive nature of the hotel, and the need to walk from one side of the valley to the other to ski the whole area. An amazing week! Go!
chemistry
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 24-02-14 18:49; edited 3 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great review, thanks for postng it, i have looked at some kinder hotels in the past and still considering them for the duture. Did they have / run any kids clubs and did you make use of them if they did?
Thanks
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Another great TR, chemistry 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Cacciatore,
Thanks - we had a great time (despite all the crashes...).
chemistry
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Mon 24-02-14 18:50; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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NickyJ,
We didn't use the kids clubs, but they certainly had them. Based on our experience of a Kinder Hotel, I'd expect any childcare to be top notch.
chemistry
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FAQ