Hotel Residenz Wachau — Hotel in Gemeinde Schönbühel-Aggsbach

We arrived in Aggsbach Dorf and I have to say the hotel and its views are beautiful. The staff were efficient and courteous initially on our arrival and we were shown to a very nice room (albeit an expensive one) with a view of the river.||||We ate in the hotel because local options are limited and there are few crossings available for the Danube. Everything closes on Sunday further restricting options to this place. The waiters annoyingly (and consistently) tried to upsell on every meal on almost every item and showed little interest when two experienced travellers proved to be immune to their tricks.||||I genuinely know very little about Austrian wine as there is almost none that I am aware of brought into Ireland. When I asked to avail of the waiters knowledge he immediately pointed to a bottle costing E75. That kind of nonsense is very transparent and we called it for the appalling attempted shakedown that it was. ||||The breakfast is ok but the only warm item was undercooked (semi-raw) boiled eggs on Sunday. As breakfast doesn't start until 8 am we didn't get breakfast the day of our departure (Monday). When we were leaving at 7:20 am, reception was still unmanned and the lady owner was most ungracious when we went out of our way to pay (as is obviously the correct and proper thing to do). We would have paid the night before had we known of the issue but we genuinely have never heard of a reception desk opening at 8am.||||I think it can be hard coming from a very friendly, laid back country like we do in Ireland. Maybe we judge other places against too high a standard but it actually felt like they were doing us a favour as we paid them almost e500 for two nights and two (modest one course dinners for two people). Who is the bigger fool here?||||Facilities are also limited to a small wellness centre and a fairly repulsive looking pond for people to bath in (I wouldn't let my dog jump in it). We also had the disquieting, disgusting, seedy and frankly hilarious box of aids left on a bedside locker for use if desired by guests. Eugh shiver. If that doesn't give you a sense of this place then nothing else will.||||Just an odd place I guess - chalk it down to experience. ||||It's a nice place but I would take my money to more gracious hoteliers (of which there are many) that are not just interested in...

Staying at the Residenz-Wachau reminded me of staying in a traditional Austrian ski chalet. I stayed in the large 3-bed room which could accommodate up to 4 guests. This room in not located in the main lodge, and there my experiences may be different from other guests. My room was on the third floor (no elevator) in a building just across the driveway from the main building and restaurant. The room was somewhat spartan in furnishings, but that is similar to what I've seen for alpine-like hotels. The heat was already turned off for the season, which was unfortunate because the weather dropped into very chilly temperatures. Housekeeping brought a room heater to our room upon request - it was more than adequate to heat the large space. |The room and bathroom were clean, but worn. Toiletries provided by the hotel were simple - you'll do much better to bring your own. Water pressure was excellent, and hot water was plentiful.|Given the Spartan nature of the room, I was surprised to find the hotel's restaurant appeared to be high-end. I did not eat there for a meal, but did enjoy a dessert. Staff at this restaurant seemed somewhat snobby, not wanting to seat us in this dining room for just dessert. Upon insisting on being seated there, the service was exceptionally slow and limited. Separate from this restaurant was the dining room for breakfast (which was included in the rate). The breakfast included many options such as meats, cheeses, cereal, pastries, juices, and sparkling wine on Sunday. Unlike the formal dining room, staff for the informal dining room were kind, helpful and prompt. Since our room included breakfast, we found a reserved table waiting for us I each morning. |All in all, I found our room very different and much more rustic than the advertisements from the Residenz-Wachau website. Perhaps staying in the main lodge is a...

We didn't have a good customer experience. We had a little trouble with our reservation, and when we asked for a diplomatic solution the standard answer was 'No!' instead of 'We try and do our best!'. In our opinion the reason for that was on the one hand that the 'boss' does everything for her own budget and not for the region wachau and on the other hand she can undersand the basic Austrian-German, but cannot express herself correctly. Consequently, there were a lot of controversy in her statements. Moreover, one stuff was that unprofessional and laughed at us from afar. In austria that would be a typical 'weibawirtschaft'. ||However, one point she made clear: only customers who spend a lot of money in her residenz are good customers. From a business point of view this is not a very healthy/intelligent idea. Likewise the prizes are even for a tourist region high, and most of the benefits are excluded from the standard rooms - no breakfast and wellness - which is overpiced too. ||||Our room was in the Landhouse, a very unpersonal space. Also very extravagant. In the rooms and next to the bed was the WiFi-adapter. That is really inappropriate!||||I wanna make an appeal to Wachau visitors to care about sustainable tourism here and therefore find another place to stay that is regional...