Romantik Hotel Santer — Hotel in Pustertal - Val Pusteria

We have just spent a winter week in this fabulous alpine family hotel in the heart of the Südtirol, overlooking the beautiful and majestic Dolomites. What a wonderful and special place this is. We stayed in a lodge - a spacious double room overlooking the mountains - in the new wing of the hotel that includes the spa. The room was extremely comfortable, absolutely spotless, and it was a pleasure to come back to after a day spent outdoors. The fabulous spa is a real bonus and one of highlights of a stay here - it has been done with such care and unique style and is possibly the best spa hotel we have ever stayed at. We loved the outdoor pool, lying in the fresh and breath-achingly crisp evening air looking at the stars while luxuriating in the warmth of the pool. Very special. The saunas, steam bath and (yes) hay bath were also soothing after rigorous days on the cross-country ski trails.||For us, great food and wine is always one of the most important elements of a holiday and the Romantik Hotel Santer is definitely up there with the very best. We were on half-board for a week and looked forward to dinner every night. There are three menus on offer - Romantik (sometimes classically Italian, often with truly fabulous homemade pasta), Tirolese (all the specialities of the Südtirol, such as canerdlì - big bread dumplings in broth, spatzle - spinach dumplings, wiener schnitzel, and of course strudel and other Austrian-inspired desserts), and Wellness (soup or pasta, fish, lighter dessert). Plus for all the menus a wonderful salad buffet, and fruit and local and French cheeses in excellent condition. The best thing is that it is no problem at all to chop and change between the three menus, which we did most nights. The quality of the food is very high, and chef Jurgen Santer really oversees an impressive operation. For such a busy restaurant, we were impressed that pasta and risotto were never overcooked (which of course would be a sin in Italy), and that dishes such as wiener schnitzel came to the table piping hot and just out of the fryer. Really, the food was so good, and we don't say this lightly.||The restaurant also has a very good wine list, not only an excellent selection of the wonderful wines of Südtirol mainly, but also a discrete but very good selection from other regions of Italy, too, including Friuli, Veneto, Tuscany and Piedmont. There is a selection of 'bio' wines (organic) and prices are very reasonable.||The service throughout the hotel is friendly and very professional. The service in the restaurant, however, must be signalled out as it is not only incredibly competent - you never have to wait too long, nor are you ever rushed - but also warm and very personal. The team is large, and many people served us over the course of the week, but all were so friendly, and so impressive linguistically, changing effortlessly from one table to the next between German, Italian, English (and probably other languages, too). While I can only praise all of the team in the restaurant, I must single out Gloria who was extremely friendly and professional, a real asset to the hotel, and Gaia, who looked after us so well during the week, and who is a very competent and knowledgable sommelier, advising on wines and vintages, and serving wine very professionally. This added greatly to our pleasure for the week.||We came to Toblach to enjoy a 'settimana bianca' - with the intention to cross-country ski most days. The position of Hotel Santer is the best in town for getting straight onto the slopes by the Nordic Arena. We didn't in fact enjoy the best week of snow, it has to be said (it has been unseasonably warm and there hasn't been a huge amount of snow) but we were still able to have some wonderful days in the mountains. One of the highlights was a 21km ski up the valley to the point where we could see the famous Tre Cime (Drei Zinnen) - symbol of the Dolomites and of this very special place that UNESCO has designated a patrimony of humanity. Up in the mountains there were always welcoming restaurants where we could get a light bite - maybe a bowl of zuppa di gulasch, minestra di orzo, or a more substantial plate of sausages, sauerkraut and polenta. Washed down of course with some refreshing local beer or a glass of white wine. ||We would love to return to the Romantik Hotel Santer again, in winter, as well as in summer. It's a...

We stayed at the Hotel Santer, booking two double rooms from the 26th February for four nights. On a positive note, the hotel is very well appointed, furnished to a very good standard for a four star hotel and the staff team are all very welcoming, helpful and polite. The breakfast offering was exceptionally good, and the spa facilities and pools are very enjoyable.||||Firstly, I would like to point out that I very rarely leave a negative review and from memory have never left a one-star review before. However, due to the things we experienced during our stay from the owner and management of the hotel I feel I must record the following.||||On arrival at the hotel we were welcomed by the receptionist, checked in and taken to our rooms. We had driven from Venice a tiring three-hour drive and just wanted to relax in our rooms and have a cup of tea. However, we found there were no tea or coffee making facilities available. One of our party rang down to reception to query this and a member of staff told her that our category of room did not include this. After expressing her surprise and disappointment that a four-star hotel charging 250 euros a night wouldn’t include this standard facility the receptionist arranged for a kettle to be brought to the room but with no cups of tea or coffee.||||A little while later when we went down for dinner the member of our party who had the previous telephone conversation with the receptionist spoke to a gentleman behind reception asking if he was the manager to which replied that he was, we then asked him again about why there are no tea or coffee making facilities in our rooms, he responded quite briskly that our category of room does not include this. I said how surprising this was and that has a seasoned traveller I had never stayed in a four-star hotel or for that matter the vast majority of hotels I have stayed in which didn’t offer this and that it was very surprising, he responded that its normal at this hotel.||||Due to the brisk and very unprofessional why in which the manager had spoken to us one of our party immediately decided to leave a negative Google review, this may have been a little premature in light of what followed. Later that evening while walking back through reception the man who had introduced himself as a manager approched the member of our party who had posted the review and very aggressively confronted her saying that she needed to get her facts right, firstly he is the owner of the hotel not a manager! He then went on to say that it is clearly shown on their website that our category of room does not include tea or coffee making facilities. I have double checked the website and I can find no mention whatsoever of this, but please feel free to check this for yourself, the rooms we stayed in were standard doubles.||||The other incident which I found astonishing was an Italian supplier to our own business back in the UK had contacted the hotel to very kindly arrange to pay for an evening meal for our party. However we had dinner on the first evening of our stay and were not overly impressed and so decided to eat at other local restaurants during our holiday. ||||When the hotel reception contacted me about this very kind gesture, I explained that unfortunately we had made other reservations for our evening meals and suggested that they used the offer of paying for our meal be used for the dinner we had eaten on the first night, the receptionist responded by saying this wouldn’t be possible and the “Voucher” must be used for a future meal.||||Subsequently I have been informed that the supplier would have had no objection to their gesture being used for any meal we had taken during our stay.||||Finally, on checking out the hotel had tried to charge us twice for the evening meal we had on the first night of our stay. ||||Regrettably these factors have led me to leave this negative review. Interestingly when you look at the at the other negative reviews on Google and TripAdvisor there is a trend that the owner Jurgen Santer has very poor customer care and...

We stayed at the Hotel Santer, booking two double rooms from the 26th February for four nights. On a positive note, the hotel is very well appointed, furnished to a very good standard for a four star hotel and the staff team are all very welcoming, helpful and polite. The breakfast offering was exceptionally good, and the spa facilities and pools are very enjoyable.

Firstly, I would like to point out that I very rarely leave a negative review and from memory have never left a one-star review before. However, due to the things we experienced during our stay from the owner and management of the hotel I feel I must record the following.

On arrival at the hotel we were welcomed by the receptionist, checked in and taken to our rooms. We had driven from Venice a tiring three-hour drive and just wanted to relax in our rooms and have a cup of tea. However, we found there were no tea or coffee making facilities available. One of our party rang down to reception to query this and a member of staff told her that our category of room did not include this. After expressing her surprise and disappointment that a four-star hotel charging 250 euros a night wouldn’t include this standard facility the receptionist arranged for a kettle to be brought to the room but with no cups of tea or coffee.

A little while later when we went down for dinner the member of our party who had the previous telephone conversation with the receptionist spoke to a gentleman behind reception asking if he was the manager to which replied that he was, we then asked him again about why there are no tea or coffee making facilities in our rooms, he responded quite briskly that our category of room does not include this. I said how surprising this was and that has a seasoned traveller I had never stayed in a four-star hotel or for that matter the vast majority of hotels I have stayed in which didn’t offer this and that it was very surprising, he responded that its normal at this hotel.

Due to the brisk and very unprofessional why in which the manager had spoken to us one of our party immediately decided to leave a negative Google review, this may have been a little premature in light of what followed. Later that evening while walking back through reception the man who had introduced himself as a manager approched the member of our party who had posted the review and very aggressively confronted her saying that she needed to get her facts right, firstly he is the owner of the hotel not a manager! He then went on to say that it is clearly shown on their website that our category of room does not include tea or coffee making facilities. I have double checked the website and I can find no mention whatsoever of this, but please feel free to check this for yourself, the rooms we stayed in were standard doubles.

The other incident which I found astonishing was an Italian supplier to our own business back in the UK had contacted the hotel to very kindly arrange to pay for an evening meal for our party. However we had dinner on the first evening of our stay and were not overly impressed and so decided to eat at other local restaurants during our holiday.

When the hotel reception contacted me about this very kind gesture, I explained that unfortunately we had made other reservations for our evening meals and suggested that they used the offer of paying for our meal be used for the dinner we had eaten on the first night, the receptionist responded by saying this wouldn’t be possible and the “Voucher” must be used for a future meal.

Subsequently I have been informed that the supplier would have had no objection to their gesture being used for any meal we had taken during our stay.

Finally, on checking out the hotel had tried to charge us twice for the evening meal we had on the first night of our stay.

Regrettably these factors have led me to leave this negative review. Interestingly when you look at the at the other negative reviews on Google and TripAdvisor there is a trend that the owner has very poor customer care and...