Four days possible in St Anton or Ischgl?

A snowHead

I’m planning a trip for early March next year and would love to try Austria as I’ve only skied there twice and have been to France and Italy extensively.
I’ve skied Mayrhofen and really liked it and skied just for a day in St Anton over ten years ago and would love to go back.
Our group can only do four days due to various commitments but I have found it impossible in past years to find accommodation in Austria but I am determined this winter.
We are coming from Dublin so can fly to Munich or Zurich only as there are no regular flights to closer airports like Innsbruck. We are all good skiers/borders and well able to get around so I would ideally like a larger resort like St Anton. Ischgl and Saalbach also look like good options but I am having no luck getting rooms anywhere for us.
We are looking to travel Wednesday to Sunday or Tuesday to Saturday in order not to go over two week blocks for accommodation and will consider apartments, hotels or whatever we can find.
The only must have is nothing to far from the town and ski lifts.
I’d really appreciated any advice from you all as it would be great to get something sorted.

A snowHead

We were in similar circumstances to yourself last year. We (4 adults) ended up flying into Munich and driving to St Anton for 4 days skiing over Feb half term.

I probably wouldn't recommend driving as it took 3.5 hrs to get to resort and would suggest the train instead. We stayed just outside St Anton town centre in St Jacob at Hotel Garni Friedheim (see Booking.com) who were happy to accept short stays. The hotel was basic but perfectly acceptable and the regular ski bus stopped right outside. The walk into town takes about 10 mins.

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@maddness, If you have trouble finding suitable accommodation for four days, it might be a good idea to consider renting an apartment for a week (Saturday to Saturday), even if you don’t intend to arrive until Tuesday.

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Thanks, I tried Garni Friedheim but it’s booked out for my dates.
A week rental might work out but may just add too much to the expense.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Out of town your best bet. Pettneu or Schnann. Sod all going on on the latter though.

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@maddness, I would second the thought about booking an apartment for a week. It is possible to book places for less than one week stays but it can be difficult too far in advance but I guess you want to have things settled. I would say it is easier to find shorter stay places in St Anton than in Ischgl but it is possible there too. You might want to try emailing the tourist office though I suspect they will just say look at the website.

I would also suggest Pettneu is a good option. Given that many parts of St Anton (eg Gand, St Jakob, parts of Moos etc) are not easy walking distance to the centre, Pettneu is in reality no further away. The ski bus service from all parts is very good (there are even night buses) and Pettneu is less than 10 minutes on the bus from the lifts. There are also restaurants and bars in Pettneu (not much in Flirsch or Schnann) so no particular need to go to St Anton in the evenings. If you stagger out of the Moose and just want a taxi home it is not that expensive (it is probably better to pay the extra for a taxi directly from the Moose / KK rather than attempting skiing down after numerous beers / schnapps, the taxi fare will cost less than sitting in hospital with broken bones!).

It is much easier flying into Zürich and getting the train from there (or hire car though the train is easy). In St Anton the station is in the middle of the village for Ischgl go Landeck and arrange a transfer from there. Munich is not so well placed either for train or car (though the more easterly Tirolean resorts around Kitzbühel are perfectly driveable)

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Haus Bachseite can do bookings of less than a week in Anton. Decent enough location about 5 minute walk from the train station. https://www.hotelkristall.com/de/restaurant/bobos/ also does bookings for less than a week. Kristal is in a better location.

After all it is free

Having struggled with the same issue earlier this year we did 4 days in Saalbach in March staying at the hotel Astrid and would recommend it. They have some 'comfort suites' which are 2 2 x double bedrooms (Austrain twins as you would expect) plus space for an additional bed in the lounge/diner area if you need it. Good value and in a good position - and currently showing availability (we did the half-board option which was decent). The 'back door' of the Astrid is right on one of the pistes and @150m from one of the main lifts and only a very short walk to some of the main Apres-bars so worked well for a group of 10.

Flights-wise you are best going to Salzburg as it's an easy transfer from there - fly via Gatwick on the way out as no direct from Dublin but there is a direct Ryanair coming back on the Saturday.

@maddness, Echoing most of the above with the caveat that if you leave it until the very last minute you will get something, but the chances of all being together are limited. Its a risky strategy though. The hotel owners hang on until the very last minute aiming to get full weeks booked and in general it works in their favour. I'd also suggest Pettneu, more options there. Fly via Zurich and train up. free fast ski bus to/ from St Anton from Pettneu.

You could pay for 7 nights Saturday - Saturday in a B&B at 50€ pppn and turn up Tuesday instead of Saturday I guess - it'd be a waste of 150€ each but at least you'd know you're booked in. Never stayed here but heard its OK, Cheap enough and they do a HB option:-

http://www.lampacher.net/home.html

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@maddness, Forgpt to say there's also quite a lot of smaller b&b's around St Jakob, if you go on the st anton website and email a few they may come back to you if you are happy to pay for a week, ime if you ask for 4 nights they'll ignore you!

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@Markymark29, I stayed at the Alpenruh in January, perfectly good spot, almost next to the Wellness centre and bus stop.

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We have done 4 nights in both St Anton and, more recently, Ischgl.

In Ischgl we stayed B & B in the Garni Valulla. In St ANton, we rented an apartment.

Thanks for all the reply’s and information. I’ve tried almost everywhere suggested but still have no luck unfortunately.
It’s very early to try so perhaps I may wait until closer to the dates.

You know it makes sense.

@maddness, you have a PM

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Hijacking this thread a bit, what is St Anton like for a short break in mid December, say 4 nights in the week of the 7th?

A snowHead

@toyah807, it could be good skiing on quiet pistes or it could be frustrating, little snow with few pistes open. December is a bit of a lottery at the best of times. It also depends on what sort of skiing you are looking for, the best bits of the Arlberg are generally not the pistes but the ski routes and off piste and they are less likely to be open. From my experience Ischgl is often a better option early season. However given the dates you can wait right until the last minute to choose where to go, there will be no issue finding accommodation.

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Four days possible in St Anton or Ischgl?

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