Austrians really know how to celebrate the New Year so we have been joining them for the past few years now.

Having previously stayed in Saalbach, this year, we chose Hinterglemm as it's the slightly quieter resort of the two villages, which are linked by the Ski Circus. Despite being quiter, there was more to do in Hinterglemm apres ski-wise, with a floodlit slope, toboggan run and ice rink to name but a few activities.

We stayed at the hotel Haus Wolf, part of the Wolf Hotels chain (they also have a Pension and another annex called the Pinzgauer Hof in the vicinity).

The hotel has an excellent position in the village, right next to the Reiterkogel gondola and only a five minute walk to the nursery slopes and the Zwolferkogel across the village.

The approach to the hotel is via taxi only as the streets are too narrow for a large coach to get through. Once we'd arrived, it was a bit difficult to get the luggage up the stairs (no ramp) to the reception but once in, we were greeted by a very friendly traditionally clad receptionist called Jasmin who checked us in promptly and showed us to the lift.

Our room was on the first floor, just under the bar, but the sound proofiing was excellent so we heard nothing. As we had arrived a bit early, our room wasn't made up, however, as soon as they were advised, the housekeepers apologised profusely and turned the room around immediately, The only drawback was that it was next to the stair well, so you could hear the thud of children racing up and down occasionally. The room was traditionally furnished and the bathroom was a throw back to the 1970's with zany tiles, however, it was spotless and the fixtures were modern.

We had a lovely mountain view room and a large terrace - which made the most of the spectacular torch lit decent by the ski instructors and the impressive firework display on New Year's Eve - some of the best fireworks we've seen!

The hotel has excellent spa facilities - small but just right - there's a lovely modern heated outdoor salt-water pool and jacuzzi, sauna and indoor pool, free to residents. Plus, they've introduced spa treatments and physiotherapy within the hotel, payable locally. Ski lockers in the basement are ample and secure and, above all, free of charge, as is the safe in the room.

The hotel also has a very friendly and helpful ski-hire outlet and a good ski-school attached to it, which makes it a convenient one-stop shop.

There is ample car parking either outside the hotel (free) or in the basement garage (6 Euros per day).

There are excellent apres ski snacks served around 4pm by the friendly bar staff and you'll get four course meals each evening, not to mention the usual buffet-style breakfast of cereals, breads, cold meats, cheese, preserves and, off course eggs and bacon. Food quality is high.

We had a lovely time at the Hotel Haus Wolf, though keep an eye on the 'extras' bill as you don't get to sign for the additional drinks at the time of order and the charges can easily mount up (especially at New Year's Eve!).

I see that I am the first person to write a review for this hotel and as I normally don't book anywhere that I haven't seen a good review for first, I was apprehensive about staying at Hotel Wolf for 1 week whilst skiing in Hinterglem/Saalbach. Thankfully my stay there turned out to be a very enjoyable experience!! The hotel is in the centre of Hinterglemm, right near to one of the main ski lifts. It has 40 rooms and all of these are apparently a good size. The bar and restaurant areas are very cosy and the leisure factilities are excellent. There is a good sized indoor pool, an outdoor heated pool, a large jacuzzi outside and a sauna which we made good use off. The rooms are well equipped with sat tv which only shows CNN in english, piped in music which does have a lot of english tunes and lots of space. We initially had room 110, but after the first night asked to change to another as we were next to the stair well which echoed everyone coming up and down from the other 3 floors, plus over the kitchens were the staff started work at 6am! We were moved to room 330, also next to the stair well so still a bit noisy, but not as bad as before. I believe other guests complained about being able to hear the apres ski bar in the basement which had loud music on until 11pm. Apart from the noise the hotel is excellent and the staff cannot do enough for you. The breakfast is good and the evening meals vaired from a buffet to a 5 course meal brought to you. All the food was excellent and although we intended to eat out a few times for variety, we only left the hotel once ( and that was for my birthday!). They also do afternoon snacks for when you have finished on the slopes which is very well received after a hard days skiing.
The views from the front of the hotel are great, although it has such a position that I think every side has a good view. Hotel wolf is in the middle of Hinterglemm, but hinterglemm is so small everything is within a 10 min walk anyway. It does have a few bars and disco's, but it is not a resort that is based around a lively nightlife. Saalbach is probably a better place for that and is only 5 min drive away. The apres ski is more lively than the post 9pm nightlife, but there are certainly places to go until 4am even in hinterglemm if you can handle it!! There are not many brits at all here, so if you don't like that then don't go. It is mainly filled with German and Russion tourists, so at least food wise most things are geared towards the germans. A note about the slopes - we could ski blues quite well in les deux alpes, france, but the blues here seemed twice as steep. If your a beginner or novice, don't go here to ski unless you want to spend a week on the nursary slopes!! Otherwise its great! In summary a great hotel, but take some ear plugs in case you get a noisy room!