We stayed at the Hotel St Georg in Bad Hofgastein for a week over the February half term holiday in 2008.

As usual, looking for a family room for 2 adults and 2 children, we booked direct with the hotel and managed to get a suite that was more than ample for our needs. It was recently re-furbished with a separate bathroom and toilet off the entrance hall, a large living area with an ‘L’ shaped sitting area that we used as 2 single beds for the kids and a south facing balcony. Off the living area was a double bedroom, again facing south (but no balcony). There was plenty of storage space (fitted wardrobes) in both the bedroom and the living area.

We booked half board and the food was excellent; extensive buffet breakfast and 5 course evening meal (choice of main course chosen at breakfast), except our first night (Saturday) which was a buffet with excellent choice.

There is also a pool and spa area. The pool is quite small and I would guess normally adequate, but as it was UK school holidays and a large number of children staying, it got quite busy in the late afternoon. However, the sauna/steam room area is separate from the pool, it is large and was always tranquil and relaxing when we used it. There were also spa treatments available.

The hotel is a few minutes walk from the main Schlossalm ski lift and even nearer to the bus station for the ski bus. We found queues for the funicular to the Schlossalm in the morning, but they moved quite quickly and no queues for the lifts when we were on the mountain. However, on 3 days we skied in Dorfgastein, which was 10 minutes down the valley by ski bus and there was no queue to get on the gondola there.

Eating out on the mountains was generally good value compared to many resorts we have skied in before and we found that some mountain restaurants had a kids menu for EUR5 with a hot meal (pasta, sausage etc) and a drink. The kids portions were good and there wasn’t much difference in size between a kids pasta and an adults pasta.

We hired our skis at 47 North which is on the main street a couple of minutes walk from the hotel and booked this on line through Skiset. This is a new shop and consequently had brand new equipment for the 2007/2008 season (my daughters boots still had the packing paper in them when she tried them on!) and excellent, friendly, enthusiastic service.

We found it more cost effective booking the flights and hotel separately, especially as the hotel only charged EUR40 per night for children (I think up to 15 years old), even in school holidays. We flew to Salzburg with Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines (who also offered child reductions) and took the trolley bus from outside the terminal to Salzburg station, then a direct train to Bad Hofgastein (about 90 minutes). We e-mailed the hotel with our train times and they collected us from Bad Hofgastein railway station. The combined bus/train ticket from Salzburg Airport to Bad Hofgastein was about EUR12 each way for adults and half price for children (times on the Austrian Railways website www.oebb.at).

Only booked the hotel 3 weeks ago as looking for a few days ski ing near Salzburg. The hotel exceeded our expectations. The food is fanatstic, four or more courses (go half board as there are no restauarnts to speak off in the town). The service is friendly and very attentive and the beds comfortable. The hotel is a bit hot though, I don't think they turn the heating off at all.

Would recommend every one goes there - you wil not be dissapointed.

I wanted a few days in an Austrian Ski (Salzburg airport) resort between Xmas and NY and had a real problem finding accommodation. I found the live availability websites to be out of date and therefore ended up sending emails to whichever hotels I came across. As a result Hotel St Georg chose me. Many hotels are only interested in Saturday to Saturday bookings. St Georg met MY needs.

I booked a two room apartment which gave us an Austrian twin bedroom with huge sliding doors to separate the lounge area where the two children slept on individual sofa bench beds. The rooms were spacious with seating, despite the converted sofas. The bathroom and WC were separate. There was corridor wardrobes and an additional room of wardrobes, seven double in all. The additional room could have taken a single put-up bed if required.

I had a fair idea what to expect from their website. Traditional Austrian style, a swimming pool, spa and welcoming hospitality. I was delighted to find a good representation. The staff were friendly and accommodating, the hotel was spotlessly clean with fresh paintwork, tiles and grout, clean carpets and upholstery (the hotel had been closed for a few weeks and I suspect has a pre-season spruce).

I'm much more of a modern and contemporary girl by choice, but the tradition of the hotel worked well and it had a lovely homely atmosphere.

As a Therme town many of the hotels have spas. I didn't use the spa but there seemed a great choice of treatments. The children loved the pool, which was a good size and a perfect temperature. The pool room was warm enough to sit comfortably in a swimsuit on the rocking loungers. Towels were provided and Robes were available in our bedroom.

The children had a playroom with various table games close to the Bar which served pretty much anything you would want from Cocktails to Cappuccino. The barman Zoltan made daily recommendations for dinner wine and a tasty aperitif.

We were on half board accommodation. Breakfast was more than plentiful buffet style including: cereals, fresh and dried fruit, choice of breads, meats and cheese. There was also a hotplate chef cooking to order bacon, pancakes and eggs.

Dinner was a set five course meal including salad bar, fish or pasta course, soup, meat or vegetarian and pudding. Excellent quality, imaginative and all beautifully presented. Saturday night there was a cocktail reception with the owner Frau Wichenberger followed by a hot and cold buffet.

A great find. Cosy and welcoming, good value for money and close to the lift stations.

http://www.stgeorg.com/engl

Travel & Resort: We flew from Coventry to Salzburg with Thomson Fly. A very good service once you get over the fact the airport is a shed. The drive (hire car) to Bad Hofgastein was just over one hour. The resort best suits beginner + and intermediates. Lots of long blue tree lined paths and challenging reds. Lots of fairly priced mountain restaurants. Very good clean loo facilities. Only negative: funicular railway followed by cable car to get to the very top. Quick if you hit the queue right. Avoid 9.30 am ski school kick off and get in the front of the train.