Steinalmdorf Embachhof

Perfectly positioned for easy access to the ski lifts, this hotel can't do enough to help you to get off skiing in the morning. We were given lift every day to a point very close by where we could ski comfortably down to the lift, and so start our day on the slopes. The whole thing took about five minutes from hotel door to lift, and coming back is fun skiing across fields right to the hotel car park-perfect! Quite a way from the airport in Salzburg, but airport taxi's, shuttles and busses can be arranged easily, an hour or so just about does it. Nice shops at the lift, although the apres ski does finish quite early, so not much nightlife, but that makes for a quiet resort.

Very friendly personel, from the chamber maids to the owners. Everybody is greeted at breakfast and dinner and the family take time to chat to guests and ask them about their day, whilst simultaneously serving drinks, dinner etc. quite a knack to that! Although we were not travelling with children, there were some toys for little ones in the dining room and the children of fellow guests seemed relaxed and happy, they blended in well with other guests and were not made to feel a nuisance, but were very much welcomed in that friendly european way. Rooms were spotlessly clean and quite large. Very comfortable.

One of the main plus points of this hotel was the cuisine. All of the meals are cooked by Mrs. Madreiter, and you can see that she takes this very seriously, producing delicious four course meals every evening, freshly baked cakes in the afternoon and delicious buffet breakfasts where it's absolutely no problem to get bacon and eggs (ham and eggs) if you want them.
Fresh fruit is always available and a salad each day is offered with the evening meal each day. No nouvelle cuisine here, and food snobs beware, only good hearty food for hungry skiiers is exactly what you need after hours on the pistes.
Everything clean and carefully prepared.

The wellness part of the hotel was not as big as some we have visited, but there is a small sauna and an infrared cabin as well as a solarium, the relaxation area is quiet and spacious, not fussy. Massages can be arranged, though we didn't book one this time. We did however make use of the sauna on a couple of occassions, which was great after skiing.

The room was large and comfortable, clean and spacious. There was plenty of room in the bathroom, though as usual in Europe, a shower (nice an big) and not a bath. The only thing we missed, which we always miss in Austria was a kettle and some cups in the room to make our own tea, but I guess if we had asked we could have sorted something out. Our request for extra pillows was met quickly and without any fuss. The beds are different to the ones in the UK but you soon get used to them, they are very comfortable. The hotel was quiet with no noise in the night, only the moooing of a couple of cows occasionally!

Perfect for skiing, it woud be lovely to see what it is like in the summer, the log cabins look really lovely, and I am sure many a little girl will live out her dreams of being Heidi at the Steinalmdorf. We did not use the telephone, but we checked out our downhill kms by logging onto the resort homepage and putting in our ski pass numbers to get an overview of where we had been. That was fun, and did not cost anything to get the internet connection.