We recently spent 10 days at the Larix. The majority of the reviews here are written by skiiers so we wondered what it would be like in the summer.
Prompt, efficient check in. The rooms are compact but sufficient. Furniture is very much open plan style so shelves rather than drawers for clothes. It was a pleasant change to have a wardrobe both deep enough to hang dresses up without them trailing on the ground (not that I had any with me!) and with plenty of hangers. The bed is on a solid rather than a sprung base and was a bit hard for my liking, but that's just a matter of preference.
The hotel is very clean and modern. As mentioned by other people, the pool area is superb although it is open to the public and can get busy. They have electronic wristbands you get for entry, exit and use of the lockers. There are some loungers out the back where you can enjoy the sun with a stunning view of the mountains.
The dining room is the one area where this hotel lets itself down big time. We were shown to a table on the first night and told to sit there every meal during our stay. Breakfast was cereal, yogurt, fruit, breads, meat, cheeses and the usual cooked stuff. The sausages were very greasy and too spicy for me, and the bacon looked greasy as well. I steered clear of cooked breakfasts the whole time we were there. Things weren't always kept as topped up as they should be and the juice from the machines was sometimes very watery.
Dinner was equally unimpressive. Every night there was the same old salad bar, pasta and sauce, fish of some sort and a couple of meat dishes, often fried and greasy. What vegetables there were, were overcooked and unappetising, often smothered in tasteless cheese or baked in egg. Waiters were around to clear plates and get drinks but we found the service ranged from them pouncing on our plates as we were still chewing the last mouthful, to not being able to get a drink during the whole meal (this happened on two occasions).
If you're going out and will miss dinner, you can arrange to have a packed lunch instead. This was rolls, our choice of meat, some cheese, fruit, tomatoes and a cereal bar. Be sure to pinch some butter from the dining room, because they don't provide any and it's very dry. Cutlery is also not provided. A packed breakfast was provided on our departure day because we were collected at 4.30 am.
If you have a room facing the village, you may suffer from noise from the bar over the road, as mentioned in previous reviews. This is the Vopa Pub, a lively place in the evenings, but the late night music (often live) is only on Friday and Saturday nights (in the summer anyway). No problem on other nights. Other reviews also had comments about building work. A new building is going up next door but unless you're directly facing this, you probably won't hear anything and they don't start unreasonably early anyway.
The hotel is well located on the edge of the village. There is an ATM at the bank next to the hotel, and a supermarket over the road.
The tourist office can provide an excellent map of walking and cycling routes for 6.50 Euros. It shows all the paths (which are pretty well signposted) and includes a description of the route, whether it's easy, moderate etc and also shows the inclines. A must for summer visitors. Plenty of places in the town rent bikes.
We had a couple of meals in the town. The pizza restaurant at the Hotel Kotnik was very good, and we had an excellent lunch in Martinus (from the hotel turn right into the village, keep going along the pedestrian part and just follow that road. Martinus is on the right just past the fire station which is on your left). We also ate in Cvitar in the square by the church but the meat was stringy and it was very greasy. If you fancy cakes, definitely try Charlies for the cream slices. Yummy!!!
Getting around the area by buses was okay but there are a number of companies so the timetables can be confusing. There is only 1 direct bus back from Bled which is a small one (only about 25 passengers) but you can get a bus to Lesce and then back to Kranjska Gora easily enough.
If you want to get the chair lift up the mountain, be aware that although they run until 5.00, you can't go to the top after 3.00. This meant on the one glorious day we tried to go up, we arrived at 3.02 and they wouldn't let us up, even though we weren't wanting to hike to the top, just admire the view and come down again, so with a few days of bad weather, we didn't get to go at all.
If you book a package tour to Kranjska Gora and go out on some trips, you will find that for all except the Julian Alps tour, KG is the first pick up, so you end up spending much longer on the coach because you always pick up from several hotels in Bled.
There's not a lot of nightlife in the village, just a few bars and the two casinos so it's not a place for party animals although I expect nightlife picks up during the ski season.
If you're looking for a comfortable, well located hotel, then the Larix is okay, as long as you're not that bothered about what you eat!
