Hotel Blü Gastein

The hotel sits right on the town square, with a ski bus stop just outside and frequent services to Schlossalmbahn. It has been fully redecorated in a modern style focused on healthy eating, living, and wellness. There’s a restaurant and bar with a small lounge on the ground floor, a library and common room on the first, and a sauna and rooftop garden for yoga on the fifth. The rooms are a good size, with comfortable beds, enough storage, and lots of sockets. There’s a small table and two chairs with glasses, plus more seating on the balcony. The TV has Austrian and international news. The bathroom works fine but feels dated, and towels are changed on request. Breakfast offers cold cuts, cheese, bread, pastries, good coffee, orange juice, carrot and apple juice from a juicer, and hot options like eggs, sausage, and bacon. The pastries were a little underbaked. Dinner is a three-course international menu. Curry and Middle Eastern nights were good, while Asian night could be better. Fridays are Austrian themed. Portions felt small for a ski holiday. There’s bread with olive oil and salt for dipping, though I’d rather have a salad bar.

I came by with my family today hoping to get coffee, ice cream, or a snack. The service was the rudest and most unfriendly I’ve ever experienced. We ended up leaving and going somewhere else. I wouldn’t usually write a comment like this, but I hope management trains the staff to offer some hospitality, starting with saying hello to new guests. It took ages to get service, and they were shouting around. This rating is only for the restaurant. I didn’t use the hotel.

Hotel Blü was excellent again when we stayed for the New Year period for the second time. Eva was a wonderful host, and the team made it a great stay. The food was great and the staff were fabulous, especially Katrina, Ana, and George, I think, behind the bar. Thanks to everyone.

We were four in AURORA, the apartment they run, and would come back. The two-person bedroom was spacious and comfortable, and two of us slept well on the sofa bed in the living room. The bathroom has a large modern shower. It’s a first-floor apartment in a perfect spot in the middle of the village, opposite the church. You can hear people on the street, though the village is quiet at night. The curtains didn’t block enough morning light, and some kitchen items were missing, but they brought them quickly when we asked. There’s no dishwasher. The kitchen isn’t really separate from the living room, so cooking smells can linger for a while, but that didn’t bother us.