Anyone had any experience staying in a "Kinderhotel" in Austria???? (as seen in The Times a few months ago??..)...

[becaroo]

These places look really good, although very pricey and you have to book independently through an agent in London called Dertour which I have never heard of before.

Would appreciate any feedback......

Thanks

i've been on their mailing list for a while and agree that they look fab. We've had various hols in austria and germany due to having family in the area. i've found that generally the standards of accomodation etc are very good, that few people speak english and few english tourists go there so you can feel a bit isolated. I think DERtour is the travel agency bit of the german railway company, DER, so pretty reputable.

Yes, went to www.galtenberg.com in Feb 07. DS's (age 4) first proper skiing holiday. Really liked the hotel, recently renovated, we went for one of the larger rooms with an ensuite childrens bedroom. I think the only downside of a Kinderhotel is that it is full of children (stating the obvious!) so is a bit full on and can be very noisy at times. If you are thinking of sking Crystal feature the hotel www.crystalski.co.uk/destinations/austria/inneralpbach/023720/023720.html

Note that "Kinderhotels" is a marketing group so the hotels are all privately run so will vary in standard etc. You will not get the same ratio of Carers to children as you would in the UK. I would book direct with the hotel (without doubt you will be able to email/phone in English) and make your own travel arrengements. We had a free pickup from the local railway station about 25kms away and many wil arrange ariport collection.
I should probably add at this stage that I may be a bit biased as I live in Austria at the moment . If you search you should find some other threads recommending different hotels. Final point is that loads of other hotels in Austria meet the same standards of childrens facilities/childcare but chose to market themselves independently. Have a look at www.tiscover.at

thanks guys...will look at that website

All the hotels are independently run and subscribe to the Kinderhotel umbrella which gets thems into a brochure and various freebies, so standards are not uniform nor is Englsih necessarily widely spoken by staff, although they do get rated in the actual brochure. Have had friends visit a few of them and been very happy. There is a similar scheme of Kids hotels in Switzerland

The KHs I have stayed in, all 4 star childcare, have been excellent. Always had very large and quality ensuite bedroom with adjoining children´s bedroom. Food exceptional with all-inclusive deal. Excellent value for money (aound 1000 quid a week all-inclusive with childcare, family ski passes etc included. Fantastic children´s facilities. Lots of khs have all you could dream of spa facilities with only treatments to pay for. If you´re after luxury experience at a reasonable price this could be for you. The only other competitor for me, Mark Warner, is far far more expensive and appears to have really poor accommodation and food. Correct me if I´m wrong!

Downside? Only a handful of other Brits tend to use the khs in spite of massive advertising campaign, mostly a mixture of Germans/Swiss/Dutch families. And the staff often don´t make much effort to speak English. If you´re not bothered by this you will love the kh experience.

We've stayed in two Kinderhotels, once in the summer and once for a winter skiing holiday and they were both brilliant holidays - both for the children (great kids clubs and facilities) and adults (spa, pool, free bicycles etc), so would happily recommend. Also agree re. value for money - much better than UK promoted companies (like Mark Warner etc). We always book direct with the hotel and get own flight. And yes, English is not always spoken that well, but most staff do try.

hi i haven't ben but looked into it in great detail. you can book directly with hotels. so cheaper-they send me a dvd too of the hotel. we decided not to go because i was worried about feeling isolated and kids not being understood.

am watching this thread with interest. can anyone suggest a KH that has a good number of english speakers in attendanace? although i prefer to avoid brits abroad- lol- the dds aged 3 and 6 wont want to feel isolated at the kids' club.

The Lermoos one (Alpenrose ?) is popular with Expats based in Switzerland and Germany, mainly winter though.

hi liz,waves. will check that one out.

we want to do the alphubel again in 2010

excellent - winter ? We may go next summer as dd should be big enough for the ropes course by then.

yes, winter. i think i'd ned a beach, lake or pool for my summer hol!