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anyone know about obergurgl??

11 replies

thereferee · 04/01/2009 14:12

we are all (2 adults, 4dcs age 8,9,10,11) off to obergurgl in a couple of weeks...chalet verwall with esprit. we always use esprit, but normally go to france.

i am starting to get excited ...have never been to austria before...just wondered if anyone can tell me what to expect - of the chalet, the resort, the skiing, places to eat lunch, the transfer etc etc???

OP posts:
sellorrenovate · 04/01/2009 16:29

No experience of Obergurgl but lots of Austria experience , a much better choice than France in my opinion . I hope you have a great time. I've only heard good things about Obergurgl if that's any help. If you are flying to Innsbruck then it should be an easy transfer, direct it's about 90km.

TheRealMrsJohnSimm · 04/01/2009 18:56

Bit longer reply than I had anticipated but lots to tell you

We went to the exact same place with Esprit last year. The resort is great and if your DCs can ski they will have a fab time both in Obergurgl and over at Hochgurgl which is full of fab wide blue runs (it takes approx 10 minutes on the free ski bus from outside Chalet Verwall to Hochgurgl) so makes for a great family ski holiday. DH is experienced skier and tells me that although the snow was great, there are only a couple of black runs and he didn't find it hugely challenging. Other members of group were less experienced but still capable skiers and they seemed to find enough to keep them happy.

The staff were great - very friendly and helpful and young! - and the childcare was of an excellent standard. I really felt as though each child was given individual attention in the ski classes. DS1 was 8 last year and he had a great instructor called David (young funky surf dude type) who took my very nervous and fearful DS from shaking like a leaf to cruising down blue runs by the end of the week.

There is a small green run outside of the chalet accessed by a rope lift (similar to the magic carpet type lifts). My kids had a fab time out there sledging, practising skiing and generally messing around. You'll find this run if you ski back to the chalet from the main resort.

The chalet is on the small side and I wasn't impressed with the standard of accommodation. To be fair, I have never stayed in a rental chalet before (always stayed at FILs house near Thollon Les Memises) but my DH tells me this is about par for the course in terms of ski chalets. It is clean and neat but our room was very basic and no bath - just a shower.

The dining room gets quite cosy at breakfast when the room is full! Plenty of food and wine on offer and there is cheese and biscuits in the upstairs "snug" (very appropriate word for the lounge area!) after dinner.

There is a great little sauna in the basement of the chalet for apres ski relaxing.

Ski rental place is literally a minutes' walk from the chalet but get there early as possible on Monday because the queue builds up quickly.

Transfer from airport was very straightforward - took about 1 hour 45 minutes and the Esprit team looked after us by putting a DVD on for the kids and handing out beers for the grown ups! They hauled all our luggage up to the chalet and kids food was waiting for them on arrival.

Lunch places - there are loads of places to eat around the base of the main gondola in the village. The Picnic bar/restaurant was especially good. There was also a pizzeria very close to the chalet where we ate with the kids on the staff's night off. The Nederhutte is a very popular mountain restaurant (go to first station of central gondola, transfer to chair lift and ski across to it. Over in Hochgurgl, there are several mountain bars and restaurants (one right at the top of the highest black run which has a stunning view across the Dolomites but isn't for those fearful of heights!).

moondog · 04/01/2009 18:57

What a great name.
It sums up how I feel after 2 weeks of Christmas indulgence.

piscesmoon · 04/01/2009 19:09

Great snow when we went, it is the highest resort in Austria and all the lower ones had closed for the season by the time we went.
It isn't a young person's resort-not much in the way of night life, other than hotels. Nothing to do for the non skier. We had a great time.

fourkidsmum · 04/01/2009 19:55

thank you

if anything else springs to mind...let me know!!! i'm winding myself into a frenzy!! (christmas frenzy has passed and so it's onto the snow!!!)

sellorrenovate · 04/01/2009 20:18

For a warming skiing snack try some Kaiserschmarrn en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiserschmarrn.

DaisyFitz · 04/01/2009 20:59

Went to Obergurgl in Feb 07 when I was 6 months preg. Hadn't planned on skiing but as resort is a bit "grey haired" it was quiet and felt safe. Skiied on two days for an hour or so. Lovely.
There's v little apres ski, but I was v preg so who cared!
Rec heading to Hochgurgl on first few days before the ski schools head there later in the week. that said, it's rarely busy anyway.
loved it.
Have been to Obertauern, Selva, and Obergurgl adn would only pay to go back to the latter.
have a fab time.

annasmami · 06/01/2009 22:19

We were at the Hotel Edelweiss & Gurgl last year and had a fabulous time. We booked direct with the hotel and got cheap flights to Munich. Local ski school is great, both my then 3 year old and 5 year old enjoyed it and most ski instructors speak English very well. Overall, very family friendly and great fun!

We've also been to the Hotel Riml in Hochgurgl before but Hochgurgl is much quieter and the kids ski school not as good imo.

I hope you have a great time!

annasmami · 06/01/2009 22:25

DaisyFitz, just noticed you've been to Obertauern. We're going there in April (because I managed to get reasonably price flights to Salzburg and it's late in the year so we need to be high), and I wondered what aspect you weren't that impressed with? We've never been, but I booked a small hotel right next to the ski school Krallinger, so was hoping that it would at least be convenient?

DaisyFitz · 11/01/2009 21:53

hi annasmami, it's not that I was unimpressed. obertauern was good, but there are few places in the world I'd go back to - obergurgl was one of the few. i reckon there's so much of the world to see, no need to go back somewhere. I really want to go back to OG as I didn't ski there much.
ski school was great for kids - there was a family at our hotel - all had a great time. i'm a nervous skier and lots of the blues were a bit hairy for me - dh enjoyed it. some great apres ski - we were childless back then. and fabulous gulasch soup. checked on googlemaps and krallinger is in a great location. you cross the road and cut through onto piste. it'll be fab.
don't expect to meet many english - I did a double take when I heard english voices in the street!! which is good in some ways but bad in that there was never anyone to talk to! lol.

annasmami · 14/01/2009 14:59

Thank you very much for that DaisyFitz! I booked the hotel Cinderella based on its location right next to the ski school (Krallinger) as it can be tricky getting the kids to ski school with all their gear on.

Isn't the internet and googlemaps great - it really helps planning a holiday.

The lack of English voices is actually a good thing as I'm hoping my (bilingual) children will get a chance to practice their German whilst there .

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