Familienparadies Sporthotel Achensee - Families Only

POSITIVE: - Friendly staff - Good location. Lake is 15mins bike ride away and int he back of the hotel there is a path to hike. - We stayed at the Bambini suite MICKEY. Very spacious. - Horse stables are cute our pony riding was a highlight for our son. NEGATIVE: - WiFi connectivity very poor. Not available at all in some public places. - Kitchen staff friendly but not professional, e.g. didn’t know the dishes on the menu - Kids club facilities run down and in the basement. Doesn’t feel like a hotel facility at all. - No air conditioning. Extremely hot in the room and restaurant. Asked for a fan but were told that it cools down at night. - Restaurant facilities way too little and hence very crowded. We ate quickly and left immediately after as it was just not an inviting atmosphere. - Kitchen smell travels all the way into the second floor hallway - No view from breakfast and dining area except of a busy road or parking lot. - Food quality poor and limited options. - SPA staff not trained properly; I think one of the worst massages I ever had.

Some really good parts: kids club, pool, ski school, horse rides for kids. All great. But two big downsides. Firstly, it seemed like they were trying to squeeze every penny out of us, like a budget airline would. The all-inclusive was not really - you had to pay for coffees at lunchtime for instance - and staff would come over and try to upsell. Same with alcohol: all had to be paid for as extra, and staff were trying to flog it as soon as we sat down. It makes the place feel a bit cheap and money-grabbing. It was so odd for these things to not be included in all-inclusive. Very different to other all-inclusive places I’ve been in the past. Then one other thing: it’s the first place I’ve stayed since at least the pandemic that didn’t have a smart-TV. Most people are there with their kids, so have to stay in the room from relatively early each evening, so the very old-fashioned TVs are not ideal - this would be such an easy thing to upgrade. Also, there were some really odd design things. There is a baby monitor system, but it attaches to the phone line, and the phone socket is in the adults’ room not the kids’ room. So weird. And if we had wanted to watch TV, it was mounted on the wall of the children’s room. Such a bizarre place to put it as it’s going to wake light-sleeping kids up. Literally anywhere else in the room would have been better. So yeah. Some really good bits, but I don’t think I would recommend to friends as the above downsides took the polish off.

This is a perfect hotel for families and we were impressed with all the staff we had interaction with. The food was good and plentiful with a variety of dishes every day. The ski school was amazing and the children were taught well and enjoyed every single session. Our one slight disappointment was that any cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate was extra outside of breakfast. That just took the rating down for us when in comparison with other 4 or 5 star hotels that we have stayed in.

This is not our first trip to the Sporthotel Achensee, nor our first review, but as we have been coming for so long, it felt like a good idea to share our experiences over the years again. Our children love coming here, so we have made many repeat visits, for summer and ski holidays. The hotel is comfortable and relaxing, the food and wine is excellent, the kids club offers a range of activities from babies to teenagers, the spa is fantastic and the ski school is convenient and fun for the children. My children have been in shows in the purpose-built theatre, taken part in the end of week ski races (which we now have at home on film with full commentaries), designed and raced ducks down the mountain stream, spent hours playing in the outdoor mini lake, played hide and seek in the dark at kids club (after graduating from the baby room with its two-storey play house) and started to love walking in the mountains. What really makes the hotel stand out for our whole family is the wonderful staff. They go out of their way to make sure that guests of all ages have brilliant holidays. The kids club staff are unfailingly great with the children, but so are all the other staff; we can relax knowing we are in a genuinely child friendly environment. One of my children has additional needs and this has always been well understood and adjustments made if needed - I never thought we would see them up on a stage or skiing. We speak very little German but this has never been an issue at all. There are always familiar faces and when the odd crises has arisen we have experienced kind helpfulness. My ten year old has asked me to add that he would give this hotel ten stars if he could!

We stayed for 4 nights with our 7 and 4 year olds and had a great time. We particularly loved the outside area with the pond and waterslide, with plenty of nice places to relax for adults nearby. We went horse riding and walking near to the hotel. We will definitely be back!

Sporthotel is flawless. Everything for families has been thought of. A short ski break with a 16 month old was a joy. The creche is incredible both in terms of facilities and the people working there and allowed us to ski every day. Thanks so much to Julia and her colleagues. The food is incredible both for adults and children. All the staff are super friendly and thanks to Marina who looked after us every breakfast and dinner. The ski rental is attached to the hotel and the ski lift is across the road. We can't wait to go back next year.