Hotel reviews for Mannis Sporthotel

Absolutely fantastic holiday. We were extremely lucky with the conditions, admittedly. Recent snowfall followed by (from the day we arrived); 6 days of perfect, crisp alpine sunshine. On the last day, it snowed, which was very accommodating, I feel.

The hotel was nice and comfortable; food was OK (though because we'd gone half-board, the choice for dinner was a bit limited, but OK quality and tons of it!);. The only problem with the hotel was that it was about 9-10 minutes walk (in nasty ski-boots); to the ski-lift. Apart from that, imagine the bad-boy rapper lifestyle of a heated rooftop jacuzzi surrounded by snow covered alps and overlooked only by paragliders. Nice gym, saunas (yes, more than one - a hot one and an even hotter one);. A word on Austrian saunas... they're naturists' affairs, practically BY LAW. Sounds hunky dory, but they are mostly inhabited by large, large Austrians who invariably drop something and, well... need to pick it up. Still, we won't let that ruin an otherwise perfect hot sweat, will we?

Ski-ing is excellent in Mayrhofen for intermediates (couldn't comment on advanced from personal experience, except to say that it is the home of Austria's steepest black slope, the Hari-Kiri - in parts at an angle of 78%!!);.

For absolute beginners, I'd have to warn AGAINST Mayrhofen. All the slopes have to be accessed by cable car from the resort, which is a pain all round. They have some reasonable baby slopes on the top, but the easy but interesting blue runs are a bit of a challenge to get to (you have to put yourself through some scary experiences. Well, scary if you haven't mastered the stopping thing, anyway);.

One thing which really impressed me (maybe this is the same all over the Alps these days - not sure); was that the ski-lift-pass system worked really well. It's gone all high tech with radio chips in the cards so that you don't even have to get them out of your pocket. Some of the main lifts are still a bit on the busy side, though, which while we were there was a bit of a problem because it was Austrian half-term and a public holiday. Fab.

Apr?s-ski has its moments, if you've got any energy left for those sorts of shennanigans. The Ice Bar is a bit legendary, but it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Musically, Austria seems to be stuck in some kind of 80s time warp (1880s oompah stuff and 1980s rock. AC-DC anyone?);. They will educate you on more up-to-date stuff if you want. Anyone for DJ Otzi?

Anyway, music aside, I'd give Mayrhofen 5/5 as a near perfect skiing holiday: 5/5 for skiing (as long as you are not a beginner);; 4/5 for the hotel (loses a point for the trek to the ski-lift);; it would be unfair of me to score the apr?s-ski as I'm a weary old man and I was normally asleep by 9!

Otzi rocks, man!