Adventure Family Hotel Maria — Hotel in Salten-Schlern - Salto-Sciliar

What a fantastic hotel and ski town. This was our first Ski holiday with our children of 7 and 9 years old and we were not quite sure what to expect. If you are in a similar position I really cannot recommend this hotel and resort enough. We drove to it all the way from the UK which was pretty tough, however when we got to the hotel, the first bit of good news was the underground, heated car park, our car was safe and dry all week so we could forget that. The hotel itself was lovely, with a great view from our room, not all of the staff spoke English, and most of the guests were Italian or German, but it didn't matter because everyone was really friendly and got around any language gaps very easily. You got your own table which you kept all week for breakfast and dinner, both of which were spot on. Every morning there was a buffet style breakfast both hot and cold, and the dinners in the evening really were first class, usually 3 or 4 courses. On the first and second nights, the buffet starters were that good you really didn't need your main course, they changed through the week with a really nice kids dinner on the last night with cakes etc. ||In terms of skiing again really good but quite a small ski area, there is a Ski Hire shop literally the other side of the road from the hotel, 20 seconds walk, and the entry to the Ski slopes is no more than 5 minutes walk (downhill) from the hotel, from which all the kids lessons started, and you could get straight onto either a drag lift, chairlift to go higher, or if you ski for 30 seconds, onto a Gondola. On the way back you do have to walk 100 meters very slightly up hill but it's no big deal, the hotel has a large, heated ski room and the boots live on a heated rack overnight. Again the ski resort itself isn't massive, I'd say you could easily do the whole thing if you're at an intermediate or better level in 1/2 day, in fact one day I was almost at the furthest point from our resort, misjudged the time a little, but still got back in 45 minutes to meet my wife and kids after the kids lessons. There were many ski instructors, lots of which spoke really good English, given it was our first time with the kids, both our kids had lessons each morning, and some private lessons in the afternoon (which really made a huge difference), they got to know a couple of the instructors pretty well, they were all lovely. On the 4th day I was amazed to see them one afternoon coming down a red run with one of the instructors. So, while this won't suit experienced skiers trying to cover huge distances, if, like us you want a family ski holiday that's really safe, friendly, very easy and relaxed, again you can't really...

One thing upfront: if u are not interested in outdoor activities, then you should look for something else. If you want your kids to get introduced to hiking, mountain biking, skiing,learn swimming and orientation in the forest than u are in the right place. Maria is situated in proximity to ski lifts, the hiking area starts at its doorsteps, Latemar panorama is fantastic in all seasons.Christoph (runs the place with his wife Beatrix) knows every corner of the region and takes his guests to mountain climbing and biking tours and please seek his advice for wine selection for dinner. The dinners are always stylishly served, so do not wear worned out smelly t shirts or ski boots. The food is cooked in a very traditional South Tirol way, so no exotic surprises or oriental spices used, but all is extremely fresh and of an excellent quality. We had a chat with Beatrix the other night in respect to the new chef who joined Maria recently-the cooking is slightly different now, the new chef has a certain sympathy to'petersiliekartoffel' which appeared with fish or chicken at least with one dish every day. We were wondering why not rosmarin potato :-) for a change ?||||One note in respect to other reviews-swimming pool is not designed to accomodate helicopter parents that jump after their 5yrs old that are not able to swim. Yes, the swimming pool is small and is mainly for children!||||Maria is professionally run and it is always a pleasure to stay there, enjoy the nature and the hospitality of this wonderful...

Great location where we enjoyed hiking the dolomites during the summer. Hotel is clean and has great views and terrace. Close to the gondola’s.

The service is good, but I can’t ignore my mixed feelings on my stay. Hence the 3 stars. This is also based on my experiences in and with other family hotels:

I got during the week the feeling that they wanted to maximize my bill e.g. by selling extra bottles during dinner, charging high prices for the region (e.g. price for coffee), for the cleaning service or paying for the children lunch if they are not at the same table as the kidsclub etc. I have stayed at more exclusive family hotels and I am happy to pay for service, but it felt as a mismatch between offering the service you get and final bill you need to pay. Missing personal touch. The personal is friendly but distant/reserved. I did not get any questions or small talk even in spite being alone with two kids for a week. Also during the checkin I got told to “check the QR code for the info”. It gave me the feeling that I needed to make the contact and ask about things rather they proactively wanted to make sure I got taken care of.

I shared this feedback constructively during the checkout, but I got a very defensive response. Talking about the high season and that they needed to earn money as well etc. Reading the reviews here as well, seeing a bit of same pattern. However purely mentioned to further improve the service. Because once again, it is a nice hotel for a great and active...