Sporthotel Lorünser — Hotel in Gemeinde Lech

Ideally, I should rate the hotel and its restaurant separately, because averaging them out will not do justice to either of them. Since this is unpractical, I’ll review them together; but I have privileged the hotel and the overall positive experience in the rating. ||||This is a very good hotel. The accommodations are fine, comfortable and clean. The infrastructure is well maintained, and the ancillary services – ski rental, ski room, pool, spa, kids room, ski pass etc. – very good, or good enough. They have a spacious bar lounge that proves its value in a number of situations. The hotel’s personnel is very kind and helpful; they make efforts for you to feel well and happy. The main weakness is the location. They’ll tell you that the hotel is equally close to the three access points to the mountain. To me, it was equally far from all of them… I would have preferred it to be very close to just one!||||The restaurant is a different story. First, credit where credit is due. The cuisine is sophisticated, diverse, well-presented and never disappointing… the quality you’d expect from a hotel of this level. The cheese buffet at night is a show in its own right. If the service at the table were of the same standard, if would be a great restaurant. But… it isn’t. ||||The overall impression is of lack of organization, of training, of someone in charge of the customer experience. The waiters are nice, well-intentioned… it’s not a question of attitude. But for some reason, things do not work out as they are supposed to. Let me be clear here: it is not like we have exaggerated or unreasonable expectations, or we are unforgiving of the occasional mistake. We are talking about very basic mistakes here, and they were not occasional: we had to put up with several of them every single day. Some examples (not a complete list, believe me): every morning, for breakfast, I would get coffee, milk and a cup without a spoon… I would have to stand up and look for one; after dinner, I would get my coffee but not the sugar; wine was supposed to be served to us, but I cannot count the times that I had to get the bottle myself; several times we were served the plates intended for other tables; or we would get ours in the wrong sequence; or they would simply not arrive, or take so long that we would no longer be interested. We had two kids, but we were never given the kids menu unless we asked for it. At a table of six, we would get two or three pieces of bread; we once asked for more, and they brought some 20 pieces! It wansn’t long before a waiter came to ask if we could please give them back some of our bread, because they needed it for other tables…||These would all be minor issues as individual occurrences, but many of them, every day, were annoying. ||||This has been my experience, for you to draw your own conclusions. We were not unhappy with it, but since it is a full-board-only hotel, the restaurant is a key feature that should not be allowed to lower the standard of the hotel. The other three times that we came to the Arlberg, we stayed in Oberlech, and the overall experience...

We had the great pleasure of staying at this fabulous hotel with our family last week. On arrival we were greeted by the owner and immediately made to feel welcome. The rooms were modern and comfortable, with fantastic bathrooms with separate bath and shower, for me a bath is a must after a long day's skiing! We have stayed at some wonderful hotels over the years but the spa at the Lorunser was one of the best. The pool, whilst small, was great fun with a variety of jets that you could swim against, plus aqua massage jets to loosen aching muscles. There are two jacuzzis, a steam room, a hot and warm sauna and cold plunge pools. The attendant was very friendly and helpful.||Food at the hotel was a real treat, with more food than we could eat, lunch, if taken was a minimum of 4 course, and dinner at least 5 courses. It was imaginative and well cooked, we also enjoyed some great Austrian wines. Service was impeccable and we are not sure how we will survive back at home without Daniels' attentive service! Whilst the accommodation includes full board, a credit was given if you did not come back for lunch, provided you informed reception in the morning.||We have been on skiing holidays for over 40 years and have never found such a good ski hire shop as Ski Toni, which is in the basement of the hotel. The equipment was the best we have ever encountered and the fitting service was second to none. It is a short walk from the heated ski room to the nearest lift and it is possible to ski back to the hotel, albeit down an unpisted slope at the back of the hotel. The new link to St Anton is fantastic and there is more than enough skiing for a week for even the most experienced skier. The Madloch link to Zug/Lech was quite tricky in flat light as it is unpisted with some flat sections that require some poling, but it is well worth the effort. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone less than good intermediate skiers. We were lucky that it had snowed the week before we arrived and snow conditions were good for our stay. There was a huge dump of snow at the end of our week which should guarantee good conditions for the rest of the season.||If we stay again, we will take much smarter clothes for the evenings as many guests dressed elegantly for dinner! Other guests at the hotel that we met had been returning for many years and it is not hard...

I discovered the Lorünser by sheer chance in 1973 and returned again in 1975 and 1976. This is my first trip back to ski in Europe since 1976 and I regret that I have not been able to return here more often (Vail has been my winter base since 1980). Zürs is right in the middle of the Arlberg which is now entirely interconnected by a massive system of lifts. The new Flexenbahn cable car sytem is breathtaking! I thought the Lorünser was absolutely magical back in the 70's and it is still just as magical today. The décor, location, accommodations, dining, and amenities are all wonderful. The staff is immensely helpful and friendly. The front desk can assist you with lift tickets and local and rail transportation. As with many hotels in Austria, this is a family owned hotel and the Jochum family has maintained the excellence and traditions of the hotel for several generations. The hotel has an exceptionally loyal following (for good reason) with a very high return rate so it can be difficult to get a booking here, especially in high season. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. Thank you Gebhard, Monika and Herbert for taking such special care of...