Kinderhotels - has anyone been to one? Would you recommend it?

[dinkystinky]

We have 3 kids - they will be 9, 6 and 2 this coming summer - and are thinking of maybe going to a kinderhotel for our summer holiday. Our slight reservation is that if there aren't enough English speaking children there the kids may well not enjoy it very much, despite the awesome facilities and great location. Has anyone been on a kinderhotel holiday and if so, which one did you go to and would you recommend it?

I have been to Hotel Lowen, Serfaus, Austria, five times. We haven't stayed in summer though, only for a skiing holiday. It is true that there were a lot more German speaking children than English speaking, so some of the activities were not accessible (the play which they put together at the end of the week, for example), even though the staff all spoke English. It was my children who didn't want to join in if most other children were German speaking. There were a number of other British families though as it seems lots of Brits living and working in Switzerland were always there, and they always seemed to make friends with those children and make their own fun. I think it will be luck as to whether their are many English speaking children or not. I think that the 2 year old will be fine, and the others will at least have each other. We found the facilities, food and ease of Kinder Hotels to be fantastic.

We've been to two - never used the kids' clubs though so can understand the language barrier could be a problem. There were a few English-speaking families in Serfaus but not loads, although we were there outside school hols.

We stayed at the Loewe in Serfaus in 2012 with (then) 3yo DD1 and 4mo DD2. It was absolutely brilliant - fantastic pool area, lovely food, nice town with free cable cars and interesting summer activities up in the mountains. Lovely soft play area and big playroom that you can use even if you aren't using the crèche/kids' club facilities. It was in the middle of being refurbished and we stayed in one of their older suites but it was still very comfortable. On the penultimate day I was gutted to discover a hidden-away adults only spa/relaxation area I could have been making more use of!

Not relevant to you but for anyone with a younger family reading this, their baby/toddler facilities were excellent eg comfy bouncy chairs for them in the restaurant and mountain buggies to borrow.

Last summer we stayed a night at the kinderhotel in Ehrwald - it was supposed to be 3 nights but DD2 came down with chickenpox on our first night so we drove home. We obviously weren't there long enough to gain a realistic impression but it seemed very nice. Not as big as the Loewe so facilities weren't as extensive but again it had a correspondingly lower smiley rating and price. Nice pool and playroom and the suite was lovely. Food didn't seem quite as good as the Loewe but was fine and obviously we only had one meal there (and see above re ratings/price). We are keen to return - they kindly refunded us the remaining 2 nights even though they were under no obligation. Ehrwald seems to be a smaller town so maybe less suited to a longer stay.

Not sure we will manage another kinderhotel hol this year (apart from maybe a short trip to Ehrwald) but we find they are a great summer option - brill family facilities and gorgeous scenery for a fraction of the price you'd pay during the ski season.

Thanks so much abear and Ktay - its good to hear that you had good holidays and that the facilities (even if hidden) were really good.

Ooh, I have been looking at these. They sound great.

reviews of the one I went to here www.mumsnet.com/reviews/travel/hotels-in-europe/16030-ellmauhof-kinderhotel

We didn't use childcare but kids were v happy with pool etc - loads to do in area and beautiful rooms.