As I was going through my "Rough Guide to Austria" book (copyright 2001)...in the "trains" section they state that the OBB offers a free pick up/transfer service in which a taxi or hotel rep will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the train station, and do the same at the other end (they call it Abholservice). Has anyone heard of this? If so, how can I arrange for the free transfers? Unfortunately, the book doesn't say.

Michele,

your question intrigued me so I checked on the ÖBB website and indeed, some hotels do offer this service. This link:
http://www.oebb.at/Angebot_Reisen/Ze...olservice.html
provides an overview of hotels by region offering the Abholservice. You can request it when you make a room reservation.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Below is the text from the Austrian rail website. I did not find an English version, so I will give it my best shot. I included the text so someone whose knowledge of German is better than mine can perhaps improve my English version.

An- und Abreise zum Bahnhof
Journey to and Departure from the train station.
For a relaxing trip to and from the train station, try the Bahntaxi once. (Bahn being the rail system; taxi being the same in English as in German.) It will bring your baggage without an increase in price from the door of the house to the train station and pick it up again at the train platform. [This sounds like baggage only. I think it implies an extra charge for you to ride, too. I hope someone who understands the nuances of German can claify this. I would not expect a free ride for myself in the taxi, but I would expect no extra charge for luggage.]

Some hotels offer also a pickup service. Large groups can rent a Bahnbus for the transfer. (Bahn being the railroad; bus being bus.)

PICKUP SERVICE
Please change (means of transportation)

When you arrive at your destination location, you will be picked up and brought to your hotel in comfort.
Including everything. (The whole kit and caboodle.) Isn't that great!


You are a special guest. (privileged guest)
At almost all Austrian vacation train stations, you will find the pickup service. Get in touch with your hotel and advise them of your arrival time.
Get in touch with your hotel and advise them of your arrival time. Someone will be waiting for you cordially at the train platform.

Tips and Information
In cooperation with the Austrian Tourist industry the Austrian Rail Service has compiled a list of cooperating partners for whom the train station transportation service is a special service to the guest.
Probieren Sie für eine entspannte An- und Abreise zum/vom Bahnhof einmal das BahnTaxi. Es bringt Ihr Gepäck ohne Aufpreis von der Haustür zum Zug und holt Sie am Bahnsteig wieder ab.

Einige Hotels bieten auch eine Abholservice. Größere Gruppen können auch einen BahnBus für den Transfer mieten.

Abholservice
Bitte umsteigen
Wenn Sie am Zielort angekommen sind, werden Sie bequem abgeholt und ins Hotel gebracht. Samt Kind und Kegel und Gepäck. Ist das nichts?

Sie sind Vorzugsgast
In fast allen österreichischen Ferienbahnhöfen gibt es das Abholservice. Setzen Sie sich mit Ihrem Hotel in Verbindung und kündigen Sie Ihre Ankunftszeit an. Man erwartet Sie sicher gerne am Bahnsteig.

Tipps und Infos
In Zusammenarbeit mit der österreichischen Tourismuswirtschaft hat die ÖBB eine Liste mit Kooperationspartnern zusammengestellt, für die das Abholservice ein besonderer Dienst am Gast ist.

If you will drill down to the page on the ÖBB web site that talks about Abholservice, you will see a list that reads Burgenland, Kärnten, etc.
If you will click on the individual lands of Austria, you will see a list of hotels that cooperate in providing the guest pickup service.d

For example, if you will look under
Wien (Vienna) you will see the Carlton Opera Hotel listed. That is my favorite hotel in Vienna (air conditioned, great breakfast, good bathrooms, big rooms, comfortable, English speaking staff, etc. The pages are automatically put in PDF format and you can blow them up with the magnifying glass icon.
Email addresses are included.
If this service works as indicated, it is a great boon to the tourist. Let us all hope it works. I wish the ÖBB would translate the page into English.

I think I got most of it for you, but I am not totally confident on just how some of it translates. I hope someone will zero in on the phase Ist das nichts.

I think it means is that not the best you ever saw. But it can benefit from confirmation from a native level speaker.

Bob,
your translation is flawless!

"I would not expect a free ride for myself in the taxi, but I would expect no extra charge for luggage." That's how I understand the German text, too. I found another text saying you can call Bahntaxi all over Austria on phone number 01 1718 (in Vienna only 1718). You tell them where you want to be picked up, how many persons, how many pieces of luggage, non-smoker taxi or not, and which train station. This is at the normal taxi tariff, no extra charge. The taxi driver helps you with the luggage to the platform. Just notice that not every taxi company does it! You must call the right number and say you want a Bahntaxi. If you want to be picked up from the train, the driver will be at the platform and hold up a sign with your name.

"Ist das nichts?" is a phrase seeking agreement. I think your translation "Isn't that the best thing that you have ever seen" comes pretty close to it.

Your knowledge of German is really great. Congratulations! (I am envious ;-)

Thanks for the kind words. Trying to learn a language at age 67 - 70 is not easy. I have trouble hearing and responding orally, but being able to read it is helpful.

I just feel defeated when I try to read Der Spiegel. Really defeated.

When I visit Munich, my friend there has a master's degree in broadcast journalism from the Grady School (home of the Peabody Awards) at the University of Georgia. You can be assured she speaks English with us as glibly as a native.

She did some English script writing for TB when she was here. Of course her arriving knowledge of English was awesome!

PS. In Vienna I was amazed at how well most of the people I came into contact with spoke English. At Das Haus der Musik, the young man who explained how to conduct the video tape system of the Vienna Philharmonic was extremely fluent. The hotel staff members were fluent. Frau Kellner, the lady in charge at Der Altwienerhof, was absolutely excellent. I am not sure what this huge cat spoke, but he was definitely in charge of the front desk,and he kept a close eye on the breakfast room as well. Everything ran shipshape. Frau Kellner introduced him as Der Chef. That does not mean cook in German; it means the boss. And the cat let any doubters know right away who was in charge.

My charming wife even got a stone faced Vienna policeman to smile and speak English and help us across the Ringstrasse. It was blocked off for a roller blade event.
I am still trying to figure out how she did that one. I guess an attractive 65 year old woman with a winning smile can do things a 65 year old male grouch cannot do.

Dear Bob,
for the first time on this board I got the feeling to meet a real person, not only a "poster". Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts. I really appreciate your answers.

Don't worry about Der Spiegel. They consider themselves to be the most intellectual magazine in Germany and do what they can to live (and write) up to this image. I am from Germany, and reading the Spiegel is often fun to me because of their play on words. My husband is Austrian and sometimes doesn't understand the subtleties.

I hope you will return to Vienna and Munich soon. And I hope you will meet only friendly people whereever you are.

Best wishes to you from Vienna!

We plan to be in Munich this summer.
Our "Italian Daughter" lives there and we plan to visit her.
She adopted us as her American parents when she was a graduate student at the University of Georgia.

We have enjoyed several visits to Austria. Other than Vienna and Salzburg, we rented an apartment once for a week in Langenfeld-Astlehn.
Two years ago we stayed in Heiligenblut at a "B and B", Landhaus Christofd operated by the Kramser family.

The youngest son, Johannes, was something of a character. At the time he was 4. One morning at breakfast, he came running into the breakfast room at full speed, jumped up in my wife's lap, whispered something in her ear, giggled, and ran off. Lord knows what he said. My wife speaks no German, but Johannes does not meet a stranger.

The family has considerable musical talent in it, even Johannes. The following morning, my wife heard Johannes singing away at the top of his voice. She was curious so she looked around the corner to see what was causing all the celebration. The young man had stripped off all his clothes and was sitting on the "equipment" in the bathroom. Then he decided it was time to play.

The youngest daughter has the making of a real good skier. To keep in shape, she roller bladed up and down the street in front of the house. (Dead end street.)

Several times we saw her pulling 4 or 5 of the other children behind her with a rope. She was flying along the street digging in hard on every stride.

Experiences like that sure beat the heck out of a bus trip where you sit in that steel cocoon all day every day and have no interaction with local people.