The Good Family Hotel Guide: Hotel Vicky, Niederau, Austria

Mood

Mood

This gemutlich (comfortable) traditional hotel with wood gables and balconies in the heart of a cosy Tyrolese village has been pulling Brits for decades, in summer and winter.

Accommodation

Nothing posh, but rooms have plump duvets (and sometimes overheating): solid fittings are indestructible. Flower-filled balconies are a summer treat. Three, four and five-bedded rooms and suites available.

Activities

In summer the hotel has a small outdoor pool (there's a big one by the sports centre), plus tennis courts, bike trails, riding, escorted walks to local farms and weekly barbecues. In winter, the nursery slopes are 300 yards away; there's a kindergarten, gondola lifts, sledding, horse- drawn carriage rides and skating. A kids club runs by day, and there's supervision six nights a week.

Refuelling

Big buffet breakfasts and "freebies" - apres-ski teas, picnic lunches, coffee and wine.

Out and about

Krimmler falls is nearby and Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna - and even Verona and Venice - are accessible on day trips.

Sample Prices

Summer prices from Thomson Breakaway (0870-606 1470) are £315 for adults, for a half-board week, and £189 for children two to 12. Winter: £305 an adult and from £150 for two to 16 years.

Address

The Hotel Vicky is in Niederau, Tyrol, Austria (tel: 0043 533 98282; fax: 0043 533 982833)