LOCATION! I really enjoyed the rural feeling of this place and thought the area had some of the most breathtaking views around! This was exactly what we were looking for. If you are looking for somewhere close to more entertainment and city life, this is not the place for you. You are IN the mountains and are close to hiking and other outdoor activities.
STAFF! The staff was SO friendly and tried to assist in any way possible... even with the language barrier.
RESTAURANT! The food was amazing here! Typical Austrian cuisine, great service, cozy and reasonably priced
BALCONY! Loved having the balcony! My morning coffee and evening beer just tasted better out in the Alpine air... and prevented me from getting cabin fever.
AVIARY! I'm not a bird person, but enjoyed watching the snow owls... and even better, it did not smell!
QUIET! While I believe we were the only guests for much of the trip, which was a bit unnerving in the beginning (I need to stop watching so many CSI and horror flicks), it quickly grew on me and added to the charm of this place! This became more so, after the next room was obviously rented to a couple of bulls that had no concept of being quiet. This was our last night, so it was not an issue.
CLEAN! Everything was clean.
CONS:
-Beds were hard as a rock (and I like a firm mattress) and pillows were flat as pancakes. It took a few nights to adjust to this inconvenience. Plan accordingly, if staying here.
-This place was insanely hard for us to find! After seeing a bright sign for Siesta Ferienclub, we pulled into what appeared to be a small neighborhood with 1 open restaurant. We could not find the place! After following some slushy, snowy trails through the woods and becoming increasingly aware that we might become one of those lost souls to never be seen or heard from again, frozen somewhere in the Alps... we turned around and tried asking for directions in the restaurant (the only open place in the area). After minutes of confusion, due to language barriers, I understood I was in the right place...Relief! This was only followed by a brief panic mode, as it was seeming they weren't expecting us. A young girl appeared that spoke English well enough for me to understand that they needed a print out of the reservation for their files, even though I had it pulled up on my phone. Luckily, I was prepared for this and was able to provide it. So, bring a print out of your reservation!! We felt a little weird dragging our luggage through the restaurant to get to our rooms, but I guess this is how things work in Austria. We found the tiny, faded Siesta Ferienclub sign around back the next morning next to a door that remained locked the whole week. So be aware to just enter the Gasthof Ramona restaurant. I just wish this had been brought to our attention beforehand.... Otherwise, it wouldn't be listed as a CON.
-Showers were so tiny, there was no way one was going to shave ones legs! Luckily, November in Austria did not require this!
(Including this, but it did not factor into my review of the place -- as we weren't planning to use these facilities anyways AND note that a fitness center is not listed as an amenity anyways on the site I reserved it through)
-Fitness center and sauna were a joke. Sauna was tiny and "fitness center" consisted of 2 very small pieces of equipment. I think a stair stepper looking machine, and an ab roller (I think)? We explored this area after a few drinks, so memory is a bit foggy... IF you are planning on getting in a good weight or machine workout, know its not going to happen. You basically have a room to do your own resistance training in.
The rooms were very small and like most rentals from my site I make reservations, there was no room service. We are pretty low maintenance, so we were actually suprised to get fresh towels mid week and our garbage taken out. We weren't looking for much, as we didn't plan on spending a lot of time in the room, so we were happy! All in all, this was an amazing trip and I would definitely stay here again! read more