Review of Arlberg Hospiz Hotel, St Christoph am Arlberg, Austria

Good location, but …:

We (two families, each with a teen) spent a week here for skiing and the location is really great for doing so (one of the best ski areas in Europe and the hotel offers ski in and ski out).

The Hospiz is situated directly on a road with quite a lot of traffic also during the night so you can’t sleep undisturbed; in addition there is almost every night some noise from people walking by or smoking a cigarette probably from the Ski Austria Academy across the street (I could only sleep with ear plugs).

The hotel itself is in a rustic style and the public rooms don’t dispose of a lot of natural light. There is a new spa (supposed to be good, I didn’t use it myself) and a new sport’s shop with an included ski room which is very nice and convenient (sometimes the employees even carry your skis, a nice touch).

Our accommodation was an apartment called „Kappall“ in the main building. There were two separated room, a large bathroom and a further small bathroom with a toilet and a washbasin. The apartment hasn’t been renovated recently but it was well maintained.

As far as the meals are concerned, we were on half board and there was a choice in the evening of two appetizers, two soups, either a meat, fish or vegetarian course and two desserts; additionally there was buffet with salads and cheese. The food was usually well prepared but rather „Austrian style“ and not very exclusive (not the prime pieces of meat). Breakfast was good, a wide selection was available, from waffles to fillet of beef.

The service in the restaurant and also in the bar was usually friendly and competent. What we completely missed in the hotel, was a room for teens with a ping-pong table, a billiard table or a pin-ball machine. Our kids couldn’t meet other peers after meals but had to go to the rooms for watching tv …

All in all, I was not overly enthusiastic about the hotel. It is conveniently located for skiing, but it doesn’t offer the quality one would expect from a house like this (especially food wise). If you are looking for a truly luxurious resort with very exclusive meals in this area, then try the „Zuerserhof“ in Zuers. We stayed there for the last five consecutive years and we were really satisfied with the hotel’s offerings, however we thought it to be a bit too costly in the recent past. Having said this, “Arlberg Hospiz” is not exactly inexpensive neither … 

Date of stay: February 2009