Hotel Mozart - Badgastein, Austria     

Over-all I enjoyed my stay in the Gastein Valley but the Hotel Mozart left much to be desired. Namely our groups compalints centered around the service and the fact that the some of the staff, mainly the wait-staff, was on the verge of being nasty at times. Even the smallest request was deemed to be a huge issue by some of those at the hotel. Other issues were the room sizes, lack of clean towels, bathrooms with no shower curtains, windows not opening and the sauna was a complete joke. This hotel is definitely nothing higher than a 2 star hotel and I would recommend looking into some of the other hotels in Bad Gastein.

The hotels location is good, slightly outside of the main town centre. The main reception is manned by pleasant, jovial and helpful staff. Sadly once you are inside the main foyer area your heart sinks. It becomes dark and dingy. There is the smallest lift ever, which you must try and squeeze yourself and your luggage into. When we tried to use the lift later, it would only take 4 adults weight before dinner, but only 3 1/2 adults after dinner without setting off an alarm and refusing to move!! Our room itself was a decent size with lovely views of the mountains and the small garden. The beds were wonderfully soft with mattresses and duvets like marshmallows, so comfortable and warm. The bathroom was basic, with a crappy shower attachment that flew off the wall whenever you switched the tap from shower to bath mode. There was no shower curtain or enclosure, which meant the floor got soaked each time. The dinning room was pleasant but stuck in the last century with its decor. Breakfast became tedious as it was the same every morning with no hot option, not even toast. The evening meals were basic Austrian faire and not too much of a choice. If you are a vegetarian you will go hungry as vegetable options consist of potatoes and more potatoes. Most of the staff were friendly and helpful but one in particular was grumpy and miserable and scowled at us at every opportunity. We nicknamed her Elvis because she had quite a quiff hairstyle going on and her scowl made her lip turn up. She even fibbed to us one evening that dinner would be served half an hour earlier than usual, just to get us to our table earlier! Dinner stopped being served at 8pm and this was far too early for us as we struggled to make it in time most evenings. Sadly smoking has not yet been banned in parts of Austria. The hotel sitting room and bar were very smokey and uncomfortable for us non-smokers and meant we were restricted on how long we could stand it for, before we were forced out wheezing. All in all the hotel was adequate but in great need of updating and left a lot to be desired.