A-ROSA Ifen Hotel Kleinwalsertal — Hotel in Gemeinde Mittelberg

They tried to rip us off by charging us 40€ for staying in the wellness area after checking out, even though we were previously told we could use it free of charge until 6pm on the day of check-out. Only after showing them the messages from Booking that we were told this, they apologized and said that apparently this is a new charge they introduced from November 1. Then, we asked to leave our clothes at the reception, they asked if we want to leave it there or have them bring it to our car, and never mentioned that we could leave it in the lockers in the wellness area. We found it out later, but you need to have some kind of coin to be able to use it, which was not given to us. It seems like they really didn’t want us to stay… This lady at the reception was very unkind and unprofessional, we didn’t expect it after having great experience with all other personnel earlier.

They have a big parking garage, but charge an additional price of 12€. For this price of the hotel, I think parking should be provided for free, especially considering that hotel is in a remote location and probably everyone comes by car anyway.

Room does not deserve 5-star rating: it is big, the bathroom is great and has nice underfloor heating, but it’s outdated. There is no kettle or coffee machine, the TV is ultra small, and the beds are uncomfortable. Pillows are small and thin, and we didn’t sleep well. The items provided in the bathroom didn’t provide pads or tampons for example. We were given some kind of straw slippers that were not comfortable to wear, instead of proper slippers. There is no iron, instead they offer to iron your clothes for a fee.

The breakfast is also not 5-star worthy and could offer more variety.

Spa facilities are kind of neglected, they do not take out peoples’ mugs and glasses, and they stay on tables for the whole day. Also we noticed that the area around the outdoor pool was not cleaned for a while. When we came in the morning, someone’s forgotten towel was still there from the previous day. Floor in the are was visibly dirty. The outdoor pool is not heated to adequate temperature and you become cold pretty fast. The indoor pool is very cold, and we almost didn’t see anyone use it (and that confirms it’s cold for other people, not just us). The area around the indoor pool is nicely warmed, but the pool itself is not.

Snacks provided in the wellness area are very poor, compared to the ones offered upstairs at the restaurant. We would’ve appreciated to have a proper snacking options at the wellness area as well, and not having to go upstairs in our bath robes or to change into clothes before going.

Bath robes are worn out and have holes on them.

Having said that, the general experience is still pretty good and we would gladly return. The view from the outdoor pool is amazing, the saunas are great, there are toilets and showers all around the wellness area. The staff are very nice and kind (minus the lady that caused us problems with staying...

Absolutely beautiful hotel! The views are amazing in every corner. Amazing pools and spa! I also loved the gym - a squat rack would be amazing to have but other than that I really enjoyed going to the gym.

We did a rose petal bath - spa staff are so friendly and we loved the preparation of the bath. Unfortunately the spa area could be cleaner - there are towels and used cups laying around. Once the beds or chair flankest are used - they are not redone. The times for the cakes 2pm - 4pm is such an inconvenience. Out of the 5 days we were there - we didn’t manage to catch this once, so I have no idea what this offers.

The bartender they had was very very professional, really knew his stuff and compliments the hotel! The same goes to the restaurant and breakfast waiters. The live music created very nice atmosphere.

One big downfall of this hotel is the reception staff. The communication with them prior to my stay was very positive however, since my arrival my opinion quickly changed. During check in no one offered to bring all the luggage we had to our room, although they were nice and polite they were unprofessional. I had booked a room package (with picnic basket, 1x dinner included etc) as a surprise for my fiancé. During check in the guy asked directly when i would like to have the basket (clearly ruining the surprise). Also.. no one who works in reception seems to know what packages they offer or what they are other then the manager. The dinner that was included with this was automatically booked for us at a random time without informing me about it. When I asked about it.. again they had no clue and had to check with the manager. Thankfully they were able to change the dinner to my chosen time. We had breakfast delivered to our room and that was just fabulous- amazing service here. Whenever we had called reception with questions they were either always confused or didn’t know the answer and then forgot to call us back.

During check out one of the ladies was giving „mean girl“. My fiancé speaks German - I don’t and she knew this. Me and my fiancé were speaking to her in English and she was constantly replying in German. After every sentence she spoke I would ask my fiancé „what is she saying I don’t understand“ but still continued in German. I don’t know what the reason for this unprofessional behaviour was, seems like she forgot to speak English overnight.

Who knows.. maybe we were unfortunate to always communicate with the new staff… but this should be no excuse for the behaviour or for not knowing basic questions about the hotel at a 5* hotel.

I would definitely be back, there are very hardworking amazing staff (cleaning ladies, room service, bar, porter and restaurant staff) but I really do hope the overall reception staff steps it up big time to be on...

Beautiful hotel with great food (breakfast and dinner). The location is excellent for all kinds of hiking in the area. What we didn't know is that you will receive a ticket for the cable cars in the mountain that you can use as often as you want, which was a very welcome surprise as these are often quite expensive.

The spa area was excellent, very diverse with an ice chest and a bucket of freezing water to douse yourself with afterwards if you are so inclined.

You will feel very relaxed if you were looking for hiking and a spa afterwards and I can definitely recommend this hotel and am sure that I will return.

Some improvements that are needed:

The curtains simply don't cover the windows so light will pour into your room starting from 5am in the summer. I can't really fathom how they didn't think about this especially as Austrian houses tend to have black out curtain systems installed that let you turn day to night in even the cheapest accommodation. I believe that they should replace all the curtains with ones that are both long and tall enough in all the rooms.

I felt like the staff struggled a bit when recommending hikes in the area. I'd hope an expensive 5 star hotel would know the local routes like the palm of their hand and have someone on staff who can help you out.

Let people sit where they want for breakfast. For some reason they had blocked off a third of the tables during the buffet, forcing everyone to sit in the same spaces rather than letting people disperse. This was because "Those tables have already been set for lunch" (meaning they were empty besides a placemat and a knife and fork). Again, at this price level I don't really see how not letting us sit at a table "set for lunch" is appropriate. Let us get a nice seat with less noise and space and set it afterwards.

Put an iron and ironing board in every room. It's a nice place and people might want to iron their shirts and dresses. We requested one and it didn't arrive before we went out. This is quite standard even in airport accommodation nowadays.

Final note: This is not an adults only hotel if you were looking for that but we never saw any children in the spa area (If I remember correctly it was 14+ and also a nude zone, so most teenager's insecurities will keep them a million miles away anyhow) or during dinner. The walls are solid and we didn't hear any of our neighbours, so it...