Hochfilzer Hotel

The Hochfilzer is the perfect compliment to this beautiful area. It has all the natural assets that make it a great stay - towering mountains all around, alpine charm and a central village location. The food is varied, plentiful and excellantly prepared and presented (Champagne at breakfast is also a nice touch....as was the farmers carvery...as was the ice cream buffett...as was the dessert buffett etc etc !!). The rooms in both the hotel and Haus Garden are alpine in character and large - they are also immaculately clean. The leisure facilities are also excellant - although we did not need to use them due to the good weather all week. However, what sets it apart from other hotels of a similar rating in the area are its owner and staff for whom it seems a joy rather than a job. They really do make a difference. I would recommend this hotel to anyone, and like many more before me would certainly return there...ski or sun.

Nine of us stayed at the Hochfilzer for twelve nights and could not fault the hotel or its staff at all. Ellmau is a beautifuuly picturesque village and we are waiting for 2008 flights to come out in order to book once again. Food, staff, accommodation, facilities are all brilliant. Can only highly recommend this hotel.

My wife and I stayed at the Hochfilzer for 2 weeks on a half board basis in a room with a balcony on the front side of the hotel. The room was perfectly clean and spacious and having the balcony added to the sense of space. The shower was great too, but you just need to know to run the hot water for a minute or two before it gets hot. A notice on the bathroom door alerts you to this quirk. It wasn't a problem for us at all. One thing we would alert you to is that the front of the hotel can be noisy due to traffic and evening musical entertainment (pleasant) up until say 11-12 at night when the entertainment ends and the traffic stops. We noticed it for the first night or two before dropping off to sleep but after that we got used to it - no problem. If you prefer absolute quiet though, or if you are a light sleeper, then you would be best advised to ask for a room on the back of the hotel. The food in the hotel was great. There was an excellent choice for breakfast including the usual cereals, fruit and cooked options such as bacon and eggs and also lovely omelettes. We found evening dinner to be excellent also. Dinner was 5 course: 1) salad from the salad buffet, 2) appetizer, 3) soup, 4) main course, 5) choice of dessert (sweet or cheese). All courses were waiter service except the first course - the salad buffet. We opted for the excellent choice of Austrian white wines each night and found them to be superb. Wine was available either by the bottle or by the glass. A bottle of the Austrian white varied between 19 Euro and 28 Euro which, given the quality of the wine, we thought was very good value - as I say we really did enjoy the Austrian whites and recommend them. Each night there were 3 choices of main course, 1) a traditional Austrian meat dish, 2) a fish dish, 3) a vegetarian dish. Whichever we tried, we were very satisfied - very good ingredients, which we thought to be well cooked. Each week, there is a Farmers Buffet and a Gala Dinner which we really enjoyed. And each week, there was an "Ice Cream Buffet" for dessert, which comprised the most gorgeous ice creams I've ever tasted (and that includes ice creams sampled in Italy) and a chocolate fountain in which to dip fruit, marshmallows etc. The walnut ice cream and pistacio ice creams were superb. We found the hotel staff superb. The initial check-in was slick and professional and courteous. Ingrid Hochfilzer was very warming and seemed to go out of her way to meet and greet the guests and roll her sleeves up to get involved and help out the staff. So a big thank you to Ingrid for making us feel so welcome. And a big thank you also to Ilknur, Mira, Milan and Wolfgang - you were brilliant - you really worked hard to make everyone (not just us) have a good holiday!!! As you could probably tell, we were very sad to say our goodbyes to you. But we hope to return to the Hochfilzer and it would be lovely to see you again. On a somewhat mundane practical note - if you dislike getting home only to do a pile of laundry as we do, then you might like to know that the hotel has a washing machine and a tumble dryer. So if you have a lazy morning, say reading a news paper on the balcony, if there is a touch of rain or if your walking muscles are screaming at you, then you can catch up on laundry easily and conveniently (just ask for a washing token at reception). If you are considering going to Ellmau for the walking then you will not be disappointed. There are two main walking areas to Ellmau, the Hartkaiser and the Wilderkaiser. The Hartkaiser is reached by an excellent and frequent fernicular railway service that runs from village height (820m) up to the top of the Hartkaiser area (approx 1550m). At the upper fernicular terminus, there is a superb restaurant with a panorama view which takes in Ellmau and the Kitzbuheler Alps. The mountain restaurants we tried on the Hartkaiser side were great - lovely and cosy indoors if the weather closes in, and even better for lunching al fresco in the sunshine. We found prices in the mountain restaurants very reasonable indeed, for example, hearty soups ranging from 3 to 5.5 Euro, tea and coffee around 2 to 3 Euro, more substantial lunch dishes ranged from around 7 to 9 Euro. Cheap dare I say it compared to French mountain restaurants, which I have often found to be expensive, poor in terms quality of food and service, unclean, and lacking character and atmosphere. Not so in and around Ellmau - quite the opposite. There are mountain restaurants dotted around all over the place on the Hartkaiser area. Our favourites were the "Panorama" (located at the upper terminus of the Hartkaiser fernicular railway which runs up from Ellmau) and the "Tanzbodenalm" which is located around a 30-40 minute walk from the Panorama. Both of these mountain restaurants have excellent playing facilities for children which enable you to enjoy a leisurely lunch while keeping an eye on your kids - and your kids will have great time too. The paths in the Hartkaiser area are very good and don't get boggy if it has rained. They are easy to navigate also. You cannot go to Austria and not try these specialities at the mountain restaurants, 1) the Germknodel at the Panorama restaurant (it's indecently enjoyable - positively sinful - plum sauce stuffed bread dumpling covered with vanilla sauce sprinkled in chocolate - induces noises of appreciation along the lines of that famous scene in the film "When Harry Met Sally"), 2) the potato and cheese dumpling soup at the Tanzbodenalm, 3) the bacon and barley soup at the Tanzbodenalm, 4) and of course, the apple strudel - anywhere you like!!! The other main walking area around Ellmau, the Wilderkaiser, is quieter and less commercialised. We didn't get to explore this area - but we would love to on our next trip because it looks fantastic!!! The lift pass was a very reasonable 54 Euro per person for two weeks - excellent value we thought - especially as we used it nearly every day of our stay. You can also buy daily or weekly lift passes but if you intend to walk quite a bit then the weekly or two-weekly lift passes save you a lot of money. The Hochfilzer Hotel has its own State Certified Mountain Guide, Didi. Didi is a great guy and each day he organises walks in the quieter Wilderkaiser area. These leave the hotel at 10 am each morning. In reception before breakfast you can see a description of the walk on a permanent foyer display and this will describe the nature of the walk, its duration and its difficulty. Didi loves his homeland and being out in the mountains - and he loves to share that with the hotel guests. He works really hard to make the walks interesting, varied and educational. And each morning during breakfast he comes around to introduce himself and explain about the walk for that day. In our second week, we had quite a bit of rain at village height, but the fantastic news was that the freezing level was down below 1500m which meant that after a quick trip up the Hartkaiser fernicular railway, we were walking in the snow - in an absolute winter wonderland. If you like, you can keep a check on the freezing line and the upper level weather in general using the Internet kiosks in the hotel and looking at [--] . On our last full day before leaving, Didi took us on a guided snowshoe walk in the Hartkaiser area, to the Tanzbodenalm mountain restaurant. The snow was very deep in parts - maybe waist deep or even deeper - it was amazing. And in case you are wondering, it is easy to walk in snowshoes if you have not done it before like us, and Didi supplied the snow shoes, boot gaiters and walking poles. Thank you Didi for that day out - it was simply one of the most memorable experiences of our lives!!! So, in short, we throughly enjoyed our stay in Ellmau at the Hochfilzer and therefore recommend it very highly. Thank you again Ingrid, Ilknur, Mira, Milan, Wolfgang and Didi for being so great and for helping us to have a truly superb holiday!!!

Visited the Hochfilzer with my wife and two boys (14 & 12) for 6 nights in August. We book our holidays independantly and use trip advisor as one source of information. Well, for a taste of summer in the Alps - Ellmau is perfectly situated and pretty as a picture. We also couldn't have been more happy with the hotel. We stayed in the family apartments over the road from the main hotel which itself is right in the heart of the village. The apartment was more than large enough, spotlessly clean with a useful kitchenette (handy for tea, coffee, keeping cold drinks and fruit in the refridgerator). The meals at the hotel are superb. My family all have large appetites and these were more than fully satisfied by both an excellent buffet breakast(hot and cold) and four-course dinner. You do develop a healthy appetite in the alps with all the outdoor activities. I had read a review being less than favourable about the meals - but can only stress our experience was very good - indeed very much better than I expected or hoped for and all served with courtesy by staff who really seem to be enjoying their work. The pool area and hot tubs are great to relax in after a hard days cycling/walking/golfing/climbing/tobogganing.... . The staff were all very friendly with the lovely Frau Hochfilzer taking a very active interest in her guests' well-being. Make use of Didi when you are there. He is the hotel's own mountain guide and his daily trips are varied and educational. There is a small cost involved to cover the mini bus travel to and from the starting/finishing point. He was also kind enough to advise us on which people to use for our day white water rafting. A mine of useful local information with a tremendous personality ideally suited to his job. Will we go again? Definitely - and in doing so will join the many other frequent return travellers to the Hotel. Easy to understand their loyalty to this excellent establishment. Incidentally, the weather during our week was poor with much rain and low cloud. I think it reflects well on the hotel that we still so thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.

Been 6 times, amazing. Staff lovely and really helpful. They are like old friends now. Food superb. All facilities brill, lovely pool area. Spotlessly clean. Highly recommended.

The Hochfilzer was my base for a week's ski-ing in the 2nd. week of January 2007. Snow cover was poor, so I spent a little more time in the hotel than normally. No sooner had I arrived than I found myself in conversation with a friendly group from Lincolnshire who waxed lyrical about the hotel, having stayed there a number of times before, which is a recommendation in itself. However, I found it rather difficult to share their enthusiasm. Yes, the staff were friendly and efficient, the service (seemingly as always in Austria) impeccable, and the spa facilities excellent. The latter was the highlight of the hotel, in particular the outdoor whirlpool with wonderful views of the Wilder Kaiser mountains just the other side of the main road. There was also an indoor whirlpool and a decent-sized swimming pool which was kept at a pleasant temperature.Various saunas and steam rooms were also on offer. The rest was disappointing. The bedroom,though spacious enough, suffered from wafer-thin curtains that failed miserably to keep out the lights from the main street which it overlooked, The lounge doubled as a dining area, which meant there was little room for more comfortable seating such as armchairs and sofas. The "open fire" promised by the travel brochure, and which I always look for as an important feature of a ski hotel, was never lit all week. Granted, the weather was rather mild, but other hotels lit their fires every evening (and consequently got my custom at their bars!). The food, for me, fell below what one might expect of a 4-star hotel. The evening meals suffered in terms of quantity, and sometimes of quality---an appalling effort at roast pork and a wild boar goulash that was not much better come too readily to mind. There were highlights: a good farmer's buffet one evening and an excellent hors d'oeuvres buffet on another, but in general the main courses and the desserts were disappointing, the latter in particular amounting to very little. Fancy decoration of the plate cuts no ice with me! The last night saw an extended dinner with a first-class fillet steak as a main course---or at least, it would have been first-class had the steak not been tiny and accompanied only by three minute potato croquettes, one small slice of carrot (!), and one small slice of courgette (!). After throwing yourself down mountains all day, you really need something a little more substantial. I paid £650 with Inghams, half-board, for the holiday (including a single-room supplement of £81 and carriage of skis at £15), which I think was seriously overpriced, particularly for "low season" i.e. the 2nd week in January. My previous holiday, an all-inclusive at a four-star hotel in Gran Canaria, cost just over £500 in a hotel which was superior in every way to the Hochfilzer. Makes you think!

This place is the genuine Tyrolean experience; the land that time forgot! Pure air, clean streets, cyclists and walkers galore! The hotel Hochfilzer is right in the middle of the village with all required amenities surrounding it: supermarket, Tourist Info Office, bus stops, Post office. It is 30 seconds walk away from the excursion pick up point- the band stand -and seems to be the focal point for locals and visitors alike. The interior of the hotel is as quaint as its exterior. The outdoor whirlpool with The Wilder Kaiser mountain in the background is inspiring. The food here is amazing, although there is less choice for the vegetarian on the main course. The village itself is the epitome of the unspoilt Tyrolean village with its beautiful church and colour decked balconies. The views of the hills and mountains are exquisite and the sense of local Tyrolean culture pervades the streets. The band plays every Wednesday, the food & drink fest takes over the streets every Tuesday night and the fact that people still wear their local costumes (including the lederhosen) is fascinating! So many different walks to do (for all fitness levels) and so little time! No wonder people keep coming back year after year after year.

I have been going to the Hochfilzer since i was 8 years old, im 19 now :) It is my most favourite hotel in the whole world. The food is always excellent, esp the farmers buffet. Ingrid hochfilzer, didi and all her other staff are the most friendly people ive ever met. (i went to ellmau last year when the hochfilzer was closed and we bumped into Ingrid in the supermarket and she always remembers us!) Its a lovely place just to sit in the bar at night with their disklavier piano playing to everyone, you can just watch the village locals go by. The rooms are lovely, traditionally Austiran, always well looked after Ellmau itself is amazing too. I have been to this hotel 8 times and i will be going for many more years to come.

Have just returned from a week skiing in Ellmau and stayed at the Hotel Hochfilzer. The hotel is situated in the center of the town with great access to the lifts etc. Though it is a family run hotel (and has been in the family since 1823)it does not feel like one. Just a large 'alpine' hotel! Staff are great and our room was very spacious and clean. In fact the only thing for us that let it down was the food at dinner (half board). Even by Austian standards the dinner was hardly edible with such items as caggage soup and salmon which clearly wasn't!! (The local pizza shop did a good trade from us!) The breakfast on the other hand was very good with a great veriety of breads and cooked items. All in all a good spot. But go for B&B if you can!

Where do I start? This hotel is fantastic, I travel to Austria every January and this is above all my favorite. The location is ideal, the rooms are varied and of high standard, the food is to die for. They have all the usual facilitys including wonderful massage, pool area with indoor and outdoor hot tubs with views of the beautiful mountains, Spa area including sauna, steam ect. The staff are very welcoming, they really do make you all feel special what will gala evening, candle lit walks ect ect. my list is endless and this January will be my 3rd time - cant wait!!