We had our wedding here nearly 2 weeks ago and are glad we did. It is in a stunning location for a wedding, and really does look like a picture postcard. Everyone who made the effort to get there was glad they did, with all our guests saying that they had the best time - some even claiming it was the best wedding they had ever been to! A wedding in the snow was really something special, particularly with a fresh snowfall on the morning of the big day - and the ice curling competition we had with gluhwein and brezen was a lot of fun. The schuplattler arranged for after dinner was also a huge hit. Everyone said how much they enjoyed the wedding meal & thought the wines were fantastic. Maximilian and Sigrid certainly put in a huge amount of effort to make it the success that it was. Our room was gorgeous, and the maid's personal touches made us smile. I would have liked a bit more staff support during the earlier part of our wedding day for serving the coffee and cake (there appeared to be only one waiter to serve 36 of us), but found that the staff support for the rest of the day was exemplary, with everyone knowing the full details of our plans, without either of us having to continually instruct them, which meant we both could actually relax and enjoy our wedding as well! The communication with the hotel prior to our getting married could have been better, which I am grateful that Maximilian acknowledged - we had been looked after first by Johanna, then Sigrid, and then Maximilian. It would have been more preferable to stick with one, however, the communication the 3 had with each other was excellent and each picked up where the other left off, so this certainly compensated. As for the hotel in general, all the facilities, the ski services, the shuttle bus services, the spa facilities, the bar service, the reception assistance for booking taxis and restaurants are highly recommended. In fact, the hotel's reception services are probably about the best I have ever seen. A dip in the indoor pool was lovely after skiing. We easily booked a snow shoe hike for all our guests through the hotel which was also a hit. The idea of having all the hotel's facilities and menus listed on the i-pad was just genius and used by us extensively. Many people booked sleigh rides and said this was wonderful. I concur with what many of the others have said about the food here, although I do find some of the reviews too harsh. The breakfasts were fantastic, but the dinners are straddling that difficult line between 'gourmet' and more standard fare. My personal opinion is that if they went one way or the other then they would pull it off, but are trying to straddle both which is probably why it is not working. For example, if you order a schnitzel, the portion is very large and served with fries, which is fine as a main meal on its own. If you order a vegetarian main, the portion is small and what you would expect of a main if you were eating a gourmet 3 course meal. This disparity makes it a little tricky when deciding what to order. All in all we had a fantastic time and would highly recommend this as a wedding and holiday destination. We are looking forward to returning to celebrate our anniversaries as well as trying out a summer holiday experience! We loved the family run vibe of this hotel - thank you once again to the Blumscheins for making it an exceptional day to remember.
- Hoteldorf Gruener Baum Bad Gastein
- Hoteldorf Gruener Baum Hotel
