Grand Hotel Zell am See

Walking distance from the main central station & to car rental place. By the lake. You can rent boats & some other water activities. Great concierge service. The suite is very cozy and gives you traditional local vibes. The restaurant brings beautiful cheerful singing bands on stage, they make great ambience along with the mesmerizing scenery. The ads of the spa were appealing but I didn't have time for it. You can spend a whole weekend there without having to leave the hotel.

This is a beautiful hotel, and you can see how Disney used it as an inspiration for one of their hotels. However, the spa staff is horrible. They use Austrian punctuality as an excuse to be rude. 1. They give no robes to guests even if you paid for a treatments and they then proceed on saying that they don’t have the space to keep robes for all the guests that may come. 2. Treatment- they will not call you if you decide to relax on the saunas while you wait for your time for the treatment. You are supposed to keep track of the time yourself. Not only that, they won’t reschedule you even if there is no one else at the spa and they have plenty of appointments left. But they will polish you to start your treatment earlier so that they can be done with their day. 3. Keeping track of time: no one came in to inform Us that it was closing time. Instead, on closing time, a woman came in and got angry at us for not knowing that it was closing time. The hole experience was so uncomfortable that we left the place stressed. Our daughter was very upset because she felt bad about being yelled at. And this is when you pay for a treatment.

It was with significant trepidation I arrived at the hotel with my wife having read recent horrendous reviews. My fears were soon allayed and I must put the record straight. Make no mistake this is a beautiful hotel. Our junior suite was well appointed and the bed was very comfortable. Without exception the staff were polite and only too pleased to help. The half board option included an afternoon snack (usually hot) which was much appreciated. It might be argued that the dinner selection was limited but it is a 5 course meal with three choices for each course and, what is more, the menu is changed every day. OK - it was hot - very hot. On the first day after our arrival the temperature rose to a record breaking 38 degrees. This was a problem as the room was not equipped with air conditioning. That having been said we were reliably informed that there is virtually no air conditioning in Zell am Zee and that even the nearby 5* superior hotel could not boast of such a facility. However, we were provided with two fans and the room was tolerable. And then there are the views, which must rank amongst the finest anywhere in Europe.