Austria Hotel

Second time staying at the Hotel Austria and have booked again for next year. You really cannot beat the Austria for location in Neiderau village. The ski hire shop is directly under the hotel, as is the heated boot room and ski storage all of which can be accessed from inside the hotel.
The other hire shop is just across the road, as is the ski school (Wildschonau, the reds), gondola, beginner & nursery slopes. The ski bus stop is just outside and there are about 4 bars nearby as well as the nightclub, Cave Bar. The food in the restaurant is very good and seems to have improved from last year, i.e. a more varied selection of main courses.
There is four courses, salad, soup, main (with a veg option) and dessert. The hotel does not serve a hot breakfast but there is a large selection of cereal, juice, cheeses, meats, bread and fruit, so something for everyone. The swimming pool is available at all times but the sauna has to be booked. It's free on Mondays and Thursdays but any other times costs 6 euro per person. There is a steam room as well, showers and a relaxation area. The pool is free. Any time we were there it wasn't busy at all. The rooms are kept clean and are very warm, not overly big but with a bath, shower, hairdryer, TV, minibar, safe, sitting area and balcony.
We have always found the staff helpful and this time some of them remembered us from last year. The ski shop underneath is owned by the same family as the hotel and although the hire shop was closed when we arrived (it shuts at 7pm), the lady opened it for us which was brilliant because it meant we then didn't have to queue the next morning. The bar drinks in the hotel are cheaper than the Cave Bar and O'Malley's "Irish" Bar across the road (avoid, tacky and boring).
The best pub for après ski is the Sports Cafe practically next door to the Austria. There is also a ski shop at the hotel selling all sorts of ski gear, gifts and confectionery. Because of it's location, the hotel is a good choice for beginners because you don't have to walk (or struggle) too far whilst trying to master the art of walking in ski boots and carrying skis and poles at the same time.

As a small group of 4 beginners, we wanted to be close to the slopes and we couldn't get much closer than the Austria. Ski & boot hire down in the basement is well organised, and plenty of staff on hand if you need to change boots. There is a ski shop where 1 of our friends bought some boots and they were very helpful.
We all used the swimming pool which was nice to rest for those aching legs. There is a colour therapy heating unit by the pool if you don't like a sauna. I used the sauna twice (free & paying) and loved it, it is very hot & the cooling off showers were great. As other comments have said, the hotel staff are pleasant but not over friendly, they are a mixed bunch from other areas of Europe and sometimes the language barrier caused a few hiccups but nothing major.
The hotel is clean & tidy, the food on offer in the main restaurant is very good, however on the set half board menu can be a bit on the small side, and if you don’t like pork then you could be in trouble! The rooms are clean if a little basic even you have paid for a better suite. Be warned, if you have a room facing the church, take earplugs with you.
Thomson tour operators apparently do not have guest information folders any longer and only use info boards - the Austria does not allow info boards, so you may have to take a walk to the Hotel Vicky down the road to find out what is going on and when. Reps do visit the Austria everyday, but you will need to check what times they will be there when you first arrive. Overall, our group had a good time and would go back again.

This is my first ever review and skiing trip so please bear with me - and I hope you find this helpful.
Hotel Austria located on the main road, across from the hotel is the Gondala and one of the button lifts to the longer nursery slope - also the Red ski school is also opposite (there are 2 ski schools, red and blue both within 1 minute of each other red is closest to the hotel.)
The hotel Austria has a shop selling ski wear/ski's/boots etc and small selection of sweets/drinks and newspapers (handy for the kids who want!) - Also don't forget to get your 5% off if you are staying in the hotel, we didn’t find that out till the last day :(. Underneath the hotel is the ski rental shop where you can obviously hire your equipment and store your skis and boots at night (if you are staying at the hotel that is)
First off the hotel is pleasant and clean, the rooms are also clean & basic with a 14" TV with 2 English speaking channels, daily towel changes and maids tidying up etc the rooms have a bath and shower (from friends we met who were staying elsewhere they didn't have a bath - much needed after a day on the slopes).
The bar area is very small and it has a public restaurant incorporated/next into it.
The restaurant is also pleasant and clean and as mentioned above the meals were good.
Breakfast is continental style - meats/bread/jam and a good selection of cereal - but no toast, more on that in a bit.
Evening meal was chosen at breakfast and consisted of Salad to start, Soup and a choice of 3 evening meals 2 normal and 1 veggy. Kids have a separate menu with the usual nuggets/fish fingers/sausages etc.
Has small sauna and nice swimming pool (didn't use them but looked ok)
Now for the not so nice bits.
This hotel isn't really child friendly my daughter is 6 and got to say a little angel - but as normal 6 year olds they like to play - in the restaurant the staff aren't that welcoming of kids we had regular glares and mutter comments from them (mainly from the older staff) - staff had no sense of fun (all included this time!)
We met a couple who sat next to us at meal times and they had a little girl of 4 (i think) who like any other child has there own eating habits, one morning they asked if they could have a slice of bread toasted - there answer NO!!!
Now for me that is just pathetic how much hassle is it to toast some bread?
So for me the hotel gets a big thumbs down for child friendliness that’s why I’ve awarded it a 6.