Hotel Enzian by Alpeffect Hotels

The hotel sits right beside the ski slope, and the food was amazing. The kitchen staff, who are Hungarian, are great cooks. We had a really good time thanks to the professional Hungarian staff. The rest of the team seemed to be young people from Denmark with no experience, and they didn't pay much attention to hotel guests.

Zauchensee doesn't have much going on, but it's a great base for a ski holiday, with ski tours to Flachau, Wagrain, and Kleinarl as options too. Hotel Enzian is very Austrian and a little old-fashioned, though the breakfast and dinner are great. The friendly staff mostly come from Scandinavia, like most of the guests. The Zauchensee lift is just 50 meters away. Four more lifts, gondolas or chairlifts, are 200 meters away and give access to the area's beautiful slopes. We’ve just come back from a wonderful ski vacation here.

The wellness area was nice, and although the rooms felt worn, some work had been done, including a very nice bathroom. Service could be all over the place. There were lots of young staff, and at times it felt like a youth hostel where they were the guests. When we asked for a glass at the bar, the guy seemed surprised and asked why we didn't just drink from the bottle. Our soup was forgotten and arrived after the main course was ready. When we mentioned it, they asked what they should do about it. On our departure day, we needed breakfast to go at 5 in the morning, but there were no takeaway coffee cups. We were told they'd all been used two days earlier for the picnic, as if that explained it.

The ski area has very few options for beginners, just a small baby slope, so keep that in mind. If that matters, you can drive to other places from here, such as the Radstaat pistes. The hotel itself is great, with very good rooms and a high standard. There's a nice restaurant, and the lift and ski equipment rental are 50 m away. The sauna area has four different options, and there's a small pool that's good for little kids.