Ferienpark Bischofsmais

The people are very nice, and the complex itself is lovely. Still, it feels quite dated, like a small apartment in a high-rise, and some hallways have old furniture. The restaurant and ski school are boarded up, and it doesn't look as if either will reopen.

We spent four days in one of the apartments as a family. The room was clean when we arrived, but we weren't given basic local information, such as where the ski lift or nearest bakery was. There was no D2 reception or internet to look it up ourselves. The broken lightbulb and shower faucet were reported to the caretaker, but neither was fixed during our stay. At €65 a day, it felt overpriced; €40 or €45 would have made more sense. The 1970s-style apartments need a full renovation, the windows aren't airtight, and the whole complex looks run-down. If you like that 1970s apartment block look, this could be the place for you.

What stood out most to me was how friendly everyone is, from the staff to the locals. People still greet each other here. The area is lovely for hiking, with plenty of worthwhile attractions farther afield, and pets are welcome too. There's a dog walking area with a waste bag dispenser. Families and solo travelers can come in any season, whether for summer, winter skiing, spring, or autumn. The holiday park's 11,000-square-meter grounds are spotless and carefully maintained, with staff trimming lawns and shrubs and repainting. The Family Park has a playground, table tennis, mini-golf, two tennis courts, volleyball, a football pitch, a children's paddling pool, and an outdoor pool. There's also a beer garden and barbecue area. The ApartHotel has an indoor pool, sauna, and massage practice. Its bistro opens only in high season. The restaurant serves affordable meals that are very good and generous for the price, and the food gets unanimous praise. On sunny afternoons you can have coffee and cake on the terrace, and visitors who aren't staying at the hotel are welcome too. There's designated visitor parking and several spaces for buses. Hotel guests have their own parking behind the entrance barrier. The complex is an aparthotel from the 1970s, made up of four buildings and around 350 privately owned apartments in different sizes, suitable for four or more people. Not all owners rent through the operating company. The modern reception building also has shops and currently a ski school. Inside, the stairwells and carpeted corridors are clean and very well kept, with motion sensor lighting. There are lifts, and ramps at the entrance for wheelchair users. The buildings' exteriors badly need repainting, though, and make a disappointing first impression. The apartments have a living and dining area with a small kitchenette equipped with a fridge, stove, coffee maker, kettle, dishes, cutlery, and microwave. There's a table with four chairs, a sofa and coffee table, and a TV with eight channels, including ZDF and BR. Two single beds sit in an alcove behind a curtain. A separate bedroom has bunk beds, a wardrobe, table, and chair, and closes with a door. The bathroom with shower and toilet is small but adequate. The cleanliness throughout the buildings and apartments is impressive, thanks to a team doing a great job. The holiday park is about 500 meters north of Bischofsmais, a town of around 3,500 people. It's 14 km from the Deggendorf motorway exit, 10 km from Regen, 70 km from Regensburg, and 50 km from Passau. Munich and Prague are each about two hours away by car. Bischofsmais has almost every kind of shop, including a beverage store, EDEKA supermarket, cafés, pizzeria, and petrol station, as well as plenty of inns and restaurants with good food at reasonable prices.

The owner was rude, and the state of the place was beyond what I could accept. I was there for less than a month and can't find anything good to say about it. The sofa came apart, the shower door fell off, and even the oven seemed to boss us around. The appliances looked at least 30 years old. The website photos don't show the communist atmosphere. They also show a pool that either doesn't exist or wasn't working. In December, with -10 degrees Celsius outside, the owners had stopped heating the building. Our only heat was a tiny oil-filled radiator set at 0.0. I wouldn't have stayed at all if I hadn't been forced to. Hopefully, anyone thinking of staying for a short or long time will reconsider. Rudeness and trash have their limits, but apparently not here.