Schloss Lebenberg Hotel

We stayed for a week at the Schloss Lebenberg from 19 - 26 July in the middle of a heatwave. We were on the second week of a twin centre holiday, having spent the first week at Zell am See in the superb Tirolerhof Hotel. Frankly, we were a little disappointed on arriving at the Schloss Lebenberg. The setting is beautiful but the rooms are rather tired with dated decor, especially the bathrooms, and we had paid extra for a deluxe room. The sitting area was not very generous in size. Most of the bedrooms face south, which must be lovely most of the time but we were extremely warm during our stay, and hotels in Austria do not have air conditioning or even a fan. We enjoyed the large swimming pool from which you can walk into a grassy area to sunbathe or sit under the trees. We often walked down into the town, which took about 15 minutes but used the courtesy minibus to come back. This runs very reliably on the hour but stops at 7 pm. We also walked to the Lake Schwarzsee, about 15 minutes away from the hotel. It is a pretty walk but uphill of course coming back. The food is indeed excellent and very imaginative, although I would have liked more fish. It is true that for the most part things are pretty formal, but we noticed a couple of young families were willingly accommodated. There were international tennis championships in Kitzbuhel while we were there and several of the players were staying at the Lebenberg. They defied house rules of smart dress for dinner and some appeared unshaven in shorts and flipflops! They still received courteous service. We saw a notice in the reception area saying that the hotel would be undergoing major refurbishment in the near future, and asked one of the staff about this. We were told that the consortium that own the property would almost certainly be going ahead with work starting in April 2007. The hotel will be closed for two summer seasons and will not reopen until autumn 2008. It is planned to spend 35 million euros on the improvements, including a swimming pool the length of the roof and a terrace to walk out onto from the dining room (where there is currently just a valley). The staff are naturally worried about their jobs. They were all without exception very helpful and pleasant to deal with.

My husband and I stayed at this hotel for our honeymoon in January 06 because we wanted something ultra luxurious and special. Certainly the price was! The hotel is beautifully situated, slightly outside of the town, but as the previous poster said, just 2-3 minutes in the free shuttlebus. To walk in took a while which meant that we didn't get to taste too much of the nightlife as by the time you're home, showered, fed etc you really don't want to hail a taxi into town. We enjoyed our stay but I have to say I found the hotel just a little too formal for our tastes. Breakfast was wonderful, food at dinner was really spectacular, I would describe it as haute cuisine, but I couldn't help pining for Schnitzel after about day 4! We found the atmosphere in the dining room a little muted, not really a place for laugh out loud conversations. Formal dress seemed to be preferred for dinner, a pain when we both became a bit sick and just wanted to throw on a tracksuit before sniffling back to bed. Similarly, staff were wonderfully courteous and polite, but also quite reserved. I would sum up in the following way......an excellent place for slightly more mature guests and / or those who enjoy quite formal service and environment. For us it was certainly a real treat but I guess 2-3 days would have been more suitable and then 2 or 3 days in a less luxurious setting.....Anyway that's hindsight and we still had a fabulous time. And of course Kitzbuehel is truly amazing!!

My husbend and i stayed for one week in sept. We had a fantastic time. The food was excellent, the hotel is in a excellent location with fabulous views of Kitbuhel..The standard in this hotel is next to none. Execellent location for walking We hope to return in sept 2006.

It is great for most (but not for those who like full on night life), wonderful pool and spa area (great for non-skiers also), spacious rooms with great views and the icing on the cake - the restaurant's 4 or 5 course meals. Dining is formal but as a family with two under 9's - staff were ready to order the childrens food as soon as we sat down and it was cooked to order - children could have pretty much anything they wanted (one night they had omelette the next rump steak & chips followed by ice-cream while we ate our goose liver terrine!). The only thing I would advise is that dinner starts at 6.45pm which can be little late if you have really small tots, (however I did see some little ones having tea in the bar/lobby one evening), also there often was a delay with our puddings - which I expect was because we chose to dine at 6.45pm for the children's sake and most of the guests came in at about OUR pudding time! However, if you asked you always received and the staff were always courteous. The formal atmosphere means it is great for people without kids and more senior people too. I wouldn't recommend it to single young people who want night life - they are better off in Kitzbuhel itself. Breakfast is fantastic too (and you can sit where you like, which at dinner time is a little more awkward, they like you to sit in the same place each evening - perhaps a German & Austrian thing, but we managed to eat at 4 different tables over a 7 night stay so it wasn't a big deal). We had the luxury of our own car and in fact skied from Kirchberg Fleckalmbahn 'bubble' (5 mins drive)instead of Hannenkamm 'bubble' as it gets you higher up quicker and is just as close in minutes to the hotel. The previous reviewer refers to the transfer bus for skiers. Surely waiting a short while for the hotel minibus isn't a problem, when you can wait much longer for a ski lift first thing in the morning! I admit if you are used to ski-to-door this hotel and Kitzbuhel in fact may not be for you but I always found the minibus (which we used to pop in and out of Kitzbuhel for apres ski)regularly whizzing back and forth to the hotel - it only takes about 2 - 3 mins drive between town centre and hotel anyway! I believe it is a skiers hotel - the boot warmers and ski locker room is excellent with CCTV and external & internal entrance. Plus most rooms have a full bath (great for tired legs) and if not then there's the jacuzzi. We were blessed with great skiing conditions and generally found the resort superb. Do expect to pay a lot for lift passes - but the links are good especially if you are a good skier. (Nb. Kitzbuhel is not a beginners resort). The glacier is a bit ropey if you have small kids who may not want to use the long t-bar rides. Kitzbuheler Horn is great skiing as is above Jochburg - less busy than Kitzbuhel and Kirchberg. Looking forward to returning there.

Nice hotel, average service, food OK, rooms spacious and very clean. We would however, not recommend to skiers especially in peak holiday times. The hotel is 10 minutes drive outside of Kitzbuhel and it is not easy to park and drive yourself in the town centre - it was very busy. The hotel offers a complimentary transfer bus, BUT, it only takes you to the tourist information centre and picks up there so you then have to get out and walk the rest of the way to the ski lifts!! Finally the pick up service at the end of the day was unreliable and most afternoons we all waited between 30- 50 minutes, cold and tired. We then had to push and shove for a place and with only 8 seats we sometimes had to wait for them to send another bus or walk and try and get a taxi to take us back. This really spoilt what could have been a wonderful holiday.

Even the basic double room was very comfortable and spacious. Food was outstanding, staff generally very attentive and facilities excellent. I'd recommend this hotel to everyone.

a lovely, clean, friendly hotel. great, quality food, brilliant service and excellent standard rooms. nice bar. a kilometre outside of the town but a shuttle bus runs constantly until 7pm. would only stay in this hotel in kitzbuhel

Only stayed a couple of nights here, but it was absolutely superb. Rooms are luxurious and views from the dining room and terrace are stunning. The food is wonderful but I hardly looked at it as I couldn't take my eyes off the view while dining! The swimming pool and jacuzzi are lovely and open directly onto a secluded lawn with sunbeds. There is a bar for complimentary teas whilst sunbathing. Staff were more than helpful and service was of the best. The hotel is situated on a hill above Kitzbuhel, so it's quite a haul into the centre, but the complimentary mini-bus runs every hour. To my mind this is infinitely preferable to staying in the centre of town, which gets very noisy and crowded in summer. It's bliss to return after a hectic day out to this haven of peace and tranquility. Absolutely top-notch.

Wonderfull hotel great food.. Easy access to everything in the town of Kitzbuhl.. Staff is very friendy.. They always remember my wife and I from previous year..

My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Schloss for our 2nd trip to Kitzbuhel and wished we had found this hotel the 1st time. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly and went out of their way to make our stay more pleasant and comfortable. The location of the hotel is really nice, quiet but still within walking distance to downtown. The breakfast buffet had a wide range of foods to choose from, strong endless pots of coffee and the dinner was delicious and the service fantastic. It is a great place to stay in the summer or winter which is why we would HIGHLY recommend staying at the Hotel Schloss, as we will do when we return to Kitzbuhel.