Hotel Harfenwirt

We had a lovely room overlooking Niederau. Clean and comfortable with a fridge, safe, bath and shower. The sauna and pool were popular and great after a day on the slopes. The outdoor temperature was changeable from 10 though to -6 so it was very mixed. The hotel's thermostat never got of high and we had to sleep with the balcony door wide open otherwise it was too hot to sleep. The restaurant was the same and we had to buy tee shirts to wear as we had packed jumpers and warm clothing for winter. We did ask for it to be turned down and even tried to open a window but that wasn't good as it was too windy. We were half board and breakfast opened at 8 meaning you couldn't get out skiing very early which was a shame as the lifts opened at 8.30 am and the majority of buses to go to Auffach to ski were less regular after 9 am. It was a real dash. Some of the meals were lost in translation - meat balls were in fact a large burger, mushrooms with tartar sauce were battered mushrooms and we has several meals that were a total surprise from what we thought we'd ordered at breakfast. Hilarious. The owner was in a wheelchair and very friendly, greeting us most evenings and the receptionist was lovely too. Some of the staff were not at all customer focused. Very mixed. You can only buy small bottles of water to have at dinner and this makes it expensive and we were having lots of water due to the heating making us hot. Shame they didn't have any larger bottles. The mains water is fine and we did drink in our room and take it in our flasks. I do like Niederau, The Tyrolean night at the Witches Hut was exceptional we left after two and a half hours and it was still going. The Dragon Night event in the next village was also excellent apart from the heavy rain. The buses ran on time and we got there and back very quickly. A great family night out. We had some great skiing, however the pistes were very mixed, lots of machine made snow which on a cold day was hard and packed - not a good experience and very noisy. Overall a good stay - thank you to the hotel owner and some of his staff.

I have stayed in this hotel twice before but previous trips always in January. Hotel is nice and close to the lifts but when we went in 2024 in early March the lift opposite was closed as the snow had mostly gone on Niederau apart from a few runs at the top and a few runs they were desperately trying to keep from melting lower down. The lift opposite is a drag lift which takes you up high enough so you can ski down to the main gondola. When we arrived people were walking around in shorts which was a bit worrying for a ski holiday but you can get a bus 15m to Auffach which had plenty of snow so all good. Hotel good. Rooms clean. On entry to my hotel I discovered feather pillows to which I am allergic. I went to ask reception if they could be changed but they denied they had feather pillows in the room or refused to understand me. I sorted it with a bit of miming and hand waving with the room maid and she fixed it in minutes . The food was lovely breakfast and dinner and the restaurant staff very helpful. WiFi was good. No free water at dinner. Ski room adequate with boot warmers. Will go again.

I wanted a hotel with single rooms, close to the piste with a comfy bed and decent food, ideally with some sort of spa facility so this met the criteria but……. I messaged ahead to ask if there was a hairdryer and kettle in the room and was told yes. There is no kettle but there is a mini fridge. I had a single bed, chair and small table. There’s a dressing area with some shelves and drawers and a hanging rail so plenty of space for stuff. The bathroom was a very small wet room style but functional. Had a nice balcony facing slopes. Rooms were made up daily and clean but no towel changes. The towels are tiny, thin and seen better days. It says you get a robe and towel for the pool and spa, you do if you ask at reception and pay an extra €4 for each. The pool is lovely, nice temperature room and water with a lot of loungers to relax on. The pool has 3 different jetted areas that rotate round between seated bubbles, standing bubbles and directional jets. Very welcome after a days skiing. It’s generally clean but I did notice some muck under the loungers that didn’t move all week so not sure how often they thoroughly mop it through. The sauna and wet room are nice but they are traditional so mixed and no swimsuits, you can take in your towel. Breakfast is buffet style. Meats, cheese, tomato, cucumber, selection of breads and rolls plus cereals, yoghurt and fruit & seeds. A selection of juices, teas and coffee. They are strict on people trying to make a sandwich to sneak out for lunch so try at your peril!! I wasn’t going to but was warned anyway! At breakfast you select your evening meal from a selection of 3, usually a meat, fish & Veggie option. You start with a soup, then a small salad buffet before main and the dessert. I enjoyed everything I had, nice portion sizes and tasty. ‘Singles’ are seated along bench seats with a table each, it looked quite sad an isolating, although they can speak to the person adjacent to them, they didn’t want people moving tables so if you did make a friend you couldn’t go and sit with them at Dinner! Thankfully I travelled as a pair but in single rooms so we were spared that and seated together. A ‘social table’ would work so well so people can have company. A guy on our table picked up a knife he’d seen under the bench seat all week so again not sure how often the floor is thoroughly cleaned, but it usually looked clean. The staff are friendly and efficient. Hubert (the owner) is friendly and invites you to see him play his Harp at his sisters bar 500m up the road. It’s more a chalet with a bar area than a bar but is a nice old building. The hotel is 200m walk across the road to the bottom of the ski lift for the Niederau ski area. It’s OK as a local hill but in honesty I’d done it in the first morning and didn’t feel the need to return. Instead we used the skibus from the stop right outside and made the 15 minute trip to Auffach and Alpbach area which was much bigger and more varied. There’s a good