"The hotel is a bit out of town, which is why it’s cheaper, and in a semi-industrial area. When checking in, we were offered 2 rooms, and were glad to see both of them and their aspect, choosing the room without the balcony in favor of the room that faced west so we didn’t get the morning sun. These things are important when you travel from Australia and have jet lag!
Matthias at reception was super helpful and worked hard to accommodate our various requests throughout our 3 night stay. There is a free coffee machine in the reception area for guests to use between noon and 8pm daily and includes HOT CHOCOLATE! This was very comforting after a long day of sight seeing in town. There are some tables and chairs that an extended family was playing cards at regularly and there’s also a tiny store for snacks and drinks. Plenty to help you feel welcome and at home. We did have a collection of mugs in our room as we left, sorry about that, room service!
The hotel is located close to the bus stop, and all bus travel is free if you stay at a hotel and carry your travel voucher. Salzburg is a small town and very easy to get around on buses, with locals happy to help. Most locals and bus drivers under 50 speak English well. There is also a train station about 1km away that will take you to the main station.
Unfortunately one lady from reception gave us some very strange directions (from Google maps with a car) for us to go exploring and we ended up in the middle of nowhere. She really should have said ‘sorry, I don’t know where that is’, which would have saved us time and some bus trips. We speak German very well so turned it into a fun adventure, including a bus ride with 50 little kids all laughing at us! We’re grateful the bus driver picked us up even though he probably shouldn’t have as we were the only adults! (We are parents of 3 young adults ourselves, one of us is a teacher and one a volunteer teacher with up to date safe children training, so don’t worry).
Breakfast at the hotel is a paid affair so we self catered, there is a shopping centre adjacent to the hotel car park, which is super convenient, they got to know us and were very friendly! What we didn’t know is that it was a long weekend, so the last day (Friday), the supermarket and all businesses were closed. This was also the case in Slovenia, where we were headed, so it would have been helpful for the hotel to put a sign at reception stating: “This Friday is the Labor Day public holiday in Austria and all shops will be closed for 3 days”. FYI - In Slovenia, all shops were also closed for the weekend, with only some restaurants open for diners. We were just lucky we had stocked up with supplies before we left Austria and could manage for 3 days.
The room is very good - the bed extremely comfortable. Everything is where you would expect it, and the bathroom is well supplied. The hotel room was quiet with the window and doors closed, and dark with the blockout curtains. The main issue not mentioned anywhere, is that the hotel must be situated near a fertiliser factory, or farmland that uses very strong smelling fertiliser. We had to close the window several times a day / night because the smell was just too much. If the wind was blowing, it would go away after an hour or two and we could open the window again, but it was quite a big deal, even for seasoned gardeners!
Leaning out the window, the view was stunning with the snow capped mountains in the distance. The city is incredible, and of course The Sound Of Music destinations are a must, along with the Mozart venues. Athletic travelers could hire bicycles and ride them along the river, although not on the small and bumpy cobbled streets. We walked and bussed everywhere, even to the castles / locations further out of town. The only venue you can’t get near unless on a paid, guided tour is the Festhalle theatre where the Von Trapp family sing their songs and disappear from the theatre before they can be caught."
