Harmony Hotel Harfenwirt

I have stayed in this hotel twice before but previous trips always in January. Hotel is nice and close to the lifts but when we went in 2024 in early March the lift opposite was closed as the snow had mostly gone on Niederau apart from a few runs at the top and a few runs they were desperately trying to keep from melting lower down. The lift opposite is a drag lift which takes you up high enough so you can ski down to the main gondola. When we arrived people were walking around in shorts which was a bit worrying for a ski holiday but you can get a bus 15m to Auffach which had plenty of snow so all good. Hotel good. Rooms clean. On entry to my hotel I discovered feather pillows to which I am allergic. I went to ask reception if they could be changed but they denied they had feather pillows in the room or refused to understand me. I sorted it with a bit of miming and hand waving with the room maid and she fixed it in minutes . The food was lovely breakfast and dinner and the restaurant staff very helpful. WiFi was good. No free water at dinner. Ski room adequate with boot warmers. Will go again.

I normally travel with a group to ski, but for one reason or another i had nobody to ski with this year. As most people will know single rooms and ski holidays do not go together. The Harfenwirt has plenty of single rooms. Mine was in the old part of the hotel (no 102) was warm comfortable with a table and chair,dressing area with plenty of shelf and hanging space, a small bathroom with shower, tv with plenty of stations, some in English and a balcony. Towels were a bit worn, but changed daily if you wished. Breakfast was an excellent buffet, good choice of breads, meat, cheese, cereal, eggs, pancakes, bacon and scrambled egg. You choose dinner at breakfast from a choice of 3 mains plus soup, salad buffet and sweet and was very good. The jewel in the crown of this hotel are the excellent leisure facilities, a large warm swimming pool, sauna, steam room etc., E10 for a large bath towel and robe for the week. I met a fellow single traveller in the bar before dinner on the first evening and we skiied together all week, also skiied with another single guy on some days as well. The hotel is situated across the road from the Niederau slopes which are not extensive. The ski bus stops right outside the hotel for Auffach, 15-20 mins away. First bus 0850 and its the first stop. auffach offers some lovely runs and from there you can access Alpbach which again offers some nice skiing. There is enough skiing for a full week in the area, which is very scenic amd very Austrian. There are also a couple of excellent toboggan runs if you fancy a change. The hotel is very traditional, some would say dated, but warm, clean and comfotable. Hubert the owner is friendly and loves to speak to guests. The bar is a bit quiet, but quite honestly a drink before and after dinner is all I want and there were always a few people around to talk to. Only thing i could fault is some new towels wouldn’t go amiss. The hotel also has a large number of repeat guests which speaks for itself.

I wanted a hotel with single rooms, close to the piste with a comfy bed and decent food, ideally with some sort of spa facility so this met the criteria but……. I messaged ahead to ask if there was a hairdryer and kettle in the room and was told yes. There is no kettle but there is a mini fridge. I had a single bed, chair and small table. There’s a dressing area with some shelves and drawers and a hanging rail so plenty of space for stuff. The bathroom was a very small wet room style but functional. Had a nice balcony facing slopes. Rooms were made up daily and clean but no towel changes. The towels are tiny, thin and seen better days. It says you get a robe and towel for the pool and spa, you do if you ask at reception and pay an extra €4 for each. The pool is lovely, nice temperature room and water with a lot of loungers to relax on. The pool has 3 different jetted areas that rotate round between seated bubbles, standing bubbles and directional jets. Very welcome after a days skiing. It’s generally clean but I did notice some muck under the loungers that didn’t move all week so not sure how often they thoroughly mop it through. The sauna and wet room are nice but they are traditional so mixed and no swimsuits, you can take in your towel. Breakfast is buffet style. Meats, cheese, tomato, cucumber, selection of breads and rolls plus cereals, yoghurt and fruit & seeds. A selection of juices, teas and coffee. They are strict on people trying to make a sandwich to sneak out for lunch so try at your peril!! I wasn’t going to but was warned anyway! At breakfast you select your evening meal from a selection of 3, usually a meat, fish & Veggie option. You start with a soup, then a small salad buffet before main and the dessert. I enjoyed everything I had, nice portion sizes and tasty. ‘Singles’ are seated along bench seats with a table each, it looked quite sad an isolating, although they can speak to the person adjacent to them, they didn’t want people moving tables so if you did make a friend you couldn’t go and sit with them at Dinner! Thankfully I travelled as a pair but in single rooms so we were spared that and seated together. A ‘social table’ would work so well so people can have company. A guy on our table picked up a knife he’d seen under the bench seat all week so again not sure how often the floor is thoroughly cleaned, but it usually looked clean. The staff are friendly and efficient. Hubert (the owner) is friendly and invites you to see him play his Harp at his sisters bar 500m up the road. It’s more a chalet with a bar area than a bar but is a nice old building. The hotel is 200m walk across the road to the bottom of the ski lift for the Niederau ski area. It’s OK as a local hill but in honesty I’d done it in the first morning and didn’t feel the need to return. Instead we used the skibus from the stop right outside and made the 15 minute trip to Auffach and Alpbach area which was much bigger and more varied. There’s a good

Lovely stay at a quality hotel. From first arriving at reception which was quick, efficient and friendly I felt at home. Dinner was great every night - I’m on an ultra low carb diet which restricts things a bit so breakfasts were a bit challenging but the choice of breads, pastries cereals etc looked really good. I booked with Crystal who helpfully advised that the ski hire shop opened at 7 on Sunday - the shop is about 8 mins walk away - it was quick and efficient at that time, I booked a ski locker with them too to save walking up and down with my equipment. It was only 10 € for the week. Ski-school (the red team) was great - 5 full days and located opposite the ski hire just to the right of the gondola. I had Hansi as my instructor and he took a nervous beginner on Sunday to a Black run by Wednesday. The hotel spa is nice (although the pool did have some very noisy kids in it) and Herbert was keen to ensure that we were all enjoying our stay. Wine and beer wasn’t too expensive and decent quality. Would thoroughly recommend.

We visited for a skiing holiday over New Year 2022/23 and after getting the measure of the hotel, can honestly say it was brilliant. We were half board and the evening meal was from a set 4-course menu that you have to choose from at breakfast with a choice of 3 main courses. The food was excellent and never the same meal throughout our 7-day night stay. You do have to buy drinks with your evening meal and table water isn't included but that wasn't a problem. The rooms in our part of the hotel were clean and well maintained with a 70s / 80s decor - despite this everything worked and the rooms were pleasant. What was amazing is that they seem to have dry-air pumped into the bathrooms as anything wet was dry in a matter of hours. The boot room (skiing) was large and wet kept with boot drying racks and ski racks. The swimming pool and steam room / sauna was well maintained and clean. Overall a great experience for what seems to be a 3 star hotel. Downsides? There wasn't always someone available on the front desk and order drinks was sometimes tricky / lengthy. In our opinion, not the end of the world.

Very pretty, chalet style, lots of flowers on balconies, nice views, quiet. Room was clean and comfy, with nice balcony. Only stayed one night as part of a Leger coach tour, but felt the service we were provided was as 2nd class citizens. No one to check us in for 30 minutes, though they knew the time we were arriving. Dinner was OK, but no choice. Breakfast was also OK - continental, nothing cooked except boiled eggs, scattered about so had to be hunted for and they were late opening up so we had to rush. No staff available. Not sure it really deserved the business of Leger.

Had an overnight stay as part of a Leger Coach Holiday. On arrival we had to wait about half an hour before we could get room keys. There was an abrupt waitress who was only concerned with selling drinks, not welcoming guests. Our room had a reasonable view and balcony. However the carpet was stained, the wash basin tap was very stiff and old, there was no hot water, one towel had a hole in it, another had a frayed edge, the towels were worn and mismatched. The room was gloomy and dated. Breakfast was the worst continental we have ever had in many years. There was a poor choice of cheese. The bread and rolls were stale and dry. The only hot food was a boiled egg. The juice was watered down so much as to be undrinkable. There was no butter, only margarine and despite requests for it, no butter appeared. There was no staff to show us where the buffet was; the restaurant door was unlocked late and the staff member disappeared. It is completely unacceptable to treat Leger guests with cheap food and drink, poor quality rooms and bad service. I hope they drop this uncaring hotel which deserves one star only and that for the location.