Roalcl

I'm arranging the annual ski trip for a group of six buddies and this year we plan to visit Kitzbuhel, Austria. We're looking for a moderately priced hotel ($100 per person per night, two in a room) in town that is both close to the lifts and close to the middle of Kitzbuhel. In a perfect world we could walk to both. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

tom22

You did not tell us, when you want to ski.

You are quite late to look for an accommodation in Kitzbühl for 2005. Finding a hotel during Christmas vacation is difficult and requires a long search.

The situation does not look good either, if you want to ski in early December because of the current poor snow situation in the Alps (cross your fingers, that this will change).

Take a look under
www.kitzbuehel.com/english.asp

Roalcl

Actually we're looking to ski this season - sometime in January or February of 2006. If Kitzbuhel doesn't work out, we are considering St. Anton.

tom22

recommend to contact the local tourism office. Ask them for a list of hotels, who have reported availability for your travel period.

Take into consideration, that the Hanenkamm race is scheduled for the 20 Jan to 22 Jan 2006. This is a huge party and attracts a lot of people. To find a payable accommodation during that weekend might be a problem.

tom22

Forgot to add a helpfull link:

http://www.hahnenkamm.com/cms/en/tic...nfo/index.html

molker

Have a look at
www.kitzbuhel.at ( you can get it in english.

It will provide much info from snow levels- accomodations etc.

You may wish to look at the naerby towns to Kitz- you can find them on this site.
The ski circus and bus lines connect most everything

bmw732002

Roalcl:

I love Kitz. But I stayed there many moons ago. I stayed outside town near the ski area called Pas Turn( Check it out) Stayed at the Gastehaus Hechenmoos. Great Value but not town convenient. If you go try to take one day to climb up to the Bischalm Resturant (sp?) Near the "Hechenmoos". Basically you hike up this groomed 'track' above the valley. Get to the top..have a Gulausch suppe, Gluewein, Obstler fortifier..and then take one of the Rodels (sleds) and slide back down to the parking lot!! One of the highlight of my Kitz trip!
But....with a group of Guys I would say that St Anton would be more fun!!

JOHN

Roalcl

Thanks everyone. Great tips. One concern of course is snow reliability and I keep reading about that in various publications. The last thing I want to do is fly all the way to Europe with my ski buddies and find insufficient snow in Kitzbuhel. Would I be better off going to Lech or St Anton in late January? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ingo

Lech and St. Anton are definitely more snow reliable than Kitzbühel. I'd prefer St. Anton over Lech, the roads to Lech are sometimes closed due to danger of avalanches. Could be a big problem for you with fixed times of departure (flight).

Roalcl

Thanks Ingo. Any hotel or apartment recommendations for St. Anton? We're a group of six guys that are more concerned with skiing and a short walk to town and the lifts than creature comforts (within reason of course). Thanks.

Ingo

I have stayed in the Posthotel some years ago (mid 90s). Don't know how it is today, but it was excellent then. Very central location, right in the middle of everything. Quite expensive, though.

Honestly, for a bunch of six guys I would rent an apartment. There is still enough time to ask the tourist information centre in St. Anton for sending you a list of available rental apartments plus a map.

http://www.stantonamarlberg.com/

I.

tom22

It is standard in Austria, that the local tourist offices distribute on request an anual accommodation guide for their village. The guide includes a location map for evry type of accommodation and price table for the actual winter season.

I just got the guide for St. Anton. It has been delivered by post within a very short period of time and is very helpfull for trip planning.

Roalcl

Thanks tom22, I will contact St Anton for that guide.

Tries2PakLite

I can recommend the Pension Hinterseer in Kitzbuhel, if you are still considering staying there. It is very reasonably priced and the location is great with great views.

www.pensionhinterseer.com

TravelsWithStDavid

My husband and I skied Kitzbuhel for many years and loved it. The only year we were unable to ski because of snow conditions, was about five years ago when there were terrible avalanches all over Austria and most of the mountains were completely closed. We stayed in facility no longer open right across from the Hinterseer. The joy of the location is that you walk about 150 feet, put on your skis and ski down the bunny hill into town. At the end of the day you can ski right to the end of the street of your pensione. A fun time to go to Kitzbuhel is the weekend before Ash Wednesday. It is called Fasching and the town is lively with ice bars on the streets and lots of people in costumes--free schnapps at lots of the local stores. The town is completely walkable and very charming. There was a good article about Kitzbuhel in the New Yok Times Travel section on November 13th.