Lots to do & occupy your time, from swimming, bowling, pool, tennis. Swimming pool is linked to the hotel & great for kids. Staff are all very good. Lovely, large hotel. Great food. If it was at the bottom of the ski lift it would be perfect, but it's only a 5 minute walk or catch the shuttle bus which stops at the hotel entrance.

A fabulous hotel. A place where you could want for no more. It is presented in a fairly traditional Austrian style so not super modern in many ways. However, the facilities are beyond reproach. The rooms are generous, sparking clean and well fitted. We had a lovely room with a mountain view to accommodate all four of us and it was ample. The indoor swimming pool is amazing and has to be seen to be believed. It is made of stainless steel and is huge with slides to a heated outdoor pool (even when it is snowing outside), an hourly whirlpool etc. We also used the indoor tennis courts which are good. There's lots more, but we didn't have time to test it all because we were there to ski. The hotel is a short walk from the main lift and there is no need to carry skis etc as you can leave them at the ski hire shop close to the lifts. The food at the hotel is of an exceptional standard. I can't think of anything that wasn't offered for breakfast, including freshly cooked omelettes, cakes, bread, fruit, everything really. Then there is the five course meal every evening which, surprisingly, is needed after a day out skiing. Not only is the food of very high quality but the service is impeccable. They put on a special gala dinner for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and a buffet like you've never seen before, for Boxing Day. Highly recommended.

We have gone to Sport hotel Royer 6 times now as a family. It is perfect for an active family with children from a really young age or teenagers as there is so much to do - even if the weather isn't perfect. We went white water rafting, hiking - guide included from the hotel, swimming, sauna, tennis - 3 indoor, 2 outdoor courts (no extra charge), cycling (bikes free to borrow, well maintained and always available). There are loads of trips to interesting places, none far away including the salt mines, the castle where "Where Eagles Dare" was filmed, Bechtesgaden - built for Hitler for his 50th birthday, Ice caves, Salzburg and lots more.
The food in the hotel is superb and always presented in the a most attractive way. The rooms are roomy and kept beautifully clean and tidy.
But - one of the things that has made us return every 2nd year - having tried other places including Corsica, Turkey and Tunisia is the fabulous staff, who go out of their way to help, and are the most pleasant people we have encountered.

This hotel has had excellent reviews in the past and there is not much more to add. The hotel has quite a grand feel about it and has everything - a very large dining room, plentiful food and so on. Swimming pool, masses of other sports activities that you can try for extra money - indeed, everything for a really great holiday.

Being ultra 'picky' there were a few things that we noticed and would have done differently.

We were initially a bit disappointed by our room - the holiday was an expensive one and the room didn't match up to the rest of the hotel. The room was a bit small with a very limited space to walk past the bed. Plenty of cuboards and a modern bathroom but no better a room than at a very much less expensive hotel. We had a balcony but with a view of the car park!

Austria has a 'hit and miss' system of non smoking rules. The bar area of the hotel has no smoking on one or two tables and then adjacent tables are smoking so in reality it is all a smoking area.Not sure what brand they smoke in Austria but you'll notice it!

The boot room and ski bus are very convenient for getting to the main planai lift station. If you were to miss the last morning bus at 9.55am it is not a difficult or particularly long walk to the lift station - having said that, of course, every step is awkward in ski boots and carrying skis and potentially dangerous if the pavements are icey. The latest return bus leaves the planai lift station at 4.30pm.

We enjoy wondering round the town after skiing having a nice cake and coffee (or drink) and soaking up the atmosphere. On another ocasion we would have paid for and used the ski depot at the planai lift station - then after skiing down we would have changed into our confortable shoes and been able to meander round. As it was by the time we had waited for the shuttle bus, (last one 4.30) got back to the hotel changed our shoes and walked out again it was a hour or so later and not the same at all. The ski bus was useful but in retrospect it would have been better to walk to the lift station and come and go at our own times and not wait for buses. Queues can be quite long at the lift station and by walking to it we could have chosen better times. So just a suggestion for others going there.

One thing that is quite fun is to print out your day's skiing from the machines just near the cash desk at the planai lift station.

We used the hotel internet - it cost 3 euros for every 24hour stint - wifi doesn't seem to be available or at least not for our room so the receptionist lent us an internet cable. Might be an idea to take your own cable in case there wasn't one available if you plan to use the internet.

We had a brilliant skiing week and were really lucky with the weather - sunny and clear. Our Crystal rep, Sarah, was bright and cheerful and we took advantage of the hosted skiing which did help with finding our way round the slopes. So all in all a great holiday. I would recomend the hotel and it would also be brilliant in the summer.