Alpenhotel Ammerwald

The room’s wood interior was really nice, and the hotel has a pool, sauna, and playground. It’s a pleasant place in the mountains and is owned by BMW group. Breakfast was standard. I was surprised to be charged 25.5€ for our 10 month old, just for the stay and breakfast. We weren’t given a cot or baby bed, and he only ate about two cherry-sized pieces of mozzarella. At most other hotels we’ve stayed at, we haven’t paid extra when the baby sleeps in bed with us.

The breakfast was awful. The hotel seemed understaffed, so food kept running out; the bacon was burnt black, and the food quality was terrible and unbelievably salty. One very slow coffee machine served everyone, which meant long queues. Getting into the car park was another ordeal. You have to use an intercom that rings and rings until reception lets you in, sometimes after as long as 10 minutes. Oddly, there’s no similar restriction when leaving, which seems strange given the risk of a car thief driving out. The free WiFi cuts off six hours after arrival, so you’ll need to know how to spoof your MAC address to stay online. There were no sockets near the bed, no drinking water in the room, just a coaster without a glass, and the four lights were dim with switches scattered around the room. Thomas at reception was irritable and rude at check-in. We arrived in good spirits, but he made the process unnecessarily long and unpleasant.

The remote setting among mountains and forests was fantastic, and it was useful to have good WiFi and quiet spots where I could work. Breakfast was good, though I didn’t try dinner, and charging an electric vehicle was free. The facilities weren’t what the photos suggested. The pool is tiny, the fitness area is almost nonexistent, and the setting feels more like a city pool than a proper spa. The rooms are a bit unusual and small, with no balcony, a small bathroom, and very dark “ecological” lighting. Also, charging for parking in the middle of nowhere felt unreasonable. After an exhausting bike ride, we got stuck in a town down the valley at 8pm with only our bikes. The hotel wouldn’t shuttle us back, even for a fee. That wasn’t good service.

Everything else was great, but check-in really let it down. The man handling it was extremely unfriendly and kept using poor English even though I spoke German to him. Without that, I’d have given five stars.