Why do I say that ? After all it's a pretty Hotel with nice rooms and enthusiastic staff. Well, we arrived after 8pm for a two week stay in a suite with terrace. There was no one in reception and I had to trail around to find the Restaurant where a very nice young lady came up with me to reception and quickly booked us in. We were led first down four flights of external stairs, carrying our own luggage, to our suite then back up for a cold collation. there was no external lockable door.

In the hot light of day I examined our "Terrace" which was a 5m by 3m piece of decking fringed by slug infested weeds and a rusty barbed wire fence on the edge of a steep grass field leading sharply down to the main road. There were two horizontal loungers and no table. there was also no shade so the terrace was unusable between 9am and 6pm when the baking sun (or pouring rain on two days) abated. Confident of privacy we were seriously surprised when a jaunty Englishman wandered past our terrace on his way to Lord know's where!

Don't ask what the bar was like as we never saw anyone in it but then there was a good reason for that. The enthusiastic staff was usually the one young lady we met on night one. She started serving drinks at dinner at 7pm and then meals at 7.30pm mostly on the restaurant Terrace which chilled down by 8pm. Meals, clearly prepped in the Big Sister Hotel Eva Village, were shuttled up and cooked then served on cold plates. Since the waitress was also receptionist and Bar Maid that explains why these functions took second place, if they took place at all.

The Hotel is half a kilometre on a steep road up from the village and has no lift. Even as regular walkers we found that walk combined with the stairs was punishing and certainly deterred "on a whim" nipping down to the shops etc.

Finally on the debit side we were asked to leave our room on a wet day at 11am with a taxi pick up at 3pm and asked for a room to freshen up in after we went out for a walk but this was refused.

So what was good about this Hotel ? It had 4 Star style accommodation but not 4 Star service or facilities. Adequate food and good packed lunches. The one member of staff visible was pleasant and hard-working. The owners certainly didn't pester guests. In fact they appeared a couple of times and spoke only to Austrian or German guests.

Not what I am used to after 12 holidays in Austria in 4 Star Hotels and not worth the money. I suggest you look elsewhere in Saalbach where I know from experience better accommodation can be obtained..