Gartenhotel Daxer

Guests appreciate the immaculate, spacious rooms and friendly, efficient staff. The convenient location near ski facilities and amenities, along with a variety of breakfast options, enhance the overall guest experience.

A fantastic hotel, we were travelling as 2 adults, 2 adult children and a partner. We were given a really lovely 2 bedroom family room for myself, husband and son. We paid for a triple room through Crystal ski, so was brilliant for him to have a separate room. The food was excellent, plenty of choice for both breakfast and evening meals. The free soft and hot drinks were brilliant, and very drinkable, not cheap and nasty. We couldn’t fault the staff, they were all so friendly and helpful. The swimming complex was great for relaxing after skiing, really lovely with plenty of seats. My main concern was the location out of the town, but for the gondola it was superb. Just under a 5 minute walk, and you were on the way to the slopes. For the town, we walked down a couple of evenings, which was fine, but the climb up was too much after a full day skiing. We had a taxi back up, which was €20 for 5 adults. The hotel gave us the number for the taxi company, they were very efficient, thankfully not too far with the crazy driving!

A few hints for future guests: - The hotel is family-owned, and family-friendly, expect mainly couples and some kids. - The hotel is 2 km uphill from Zell-am-See village, so any commuting requires the bus 71 (free for skiers, every 15 min at rush hours, every 30 min at lunch time). Sounds like a hassle, but they flow really well and on time. - The food was ok, nothing out of this world, but the extended hours of the buffet was brilliant! Coffee/hot chocolates pretty much at any time of the day (even outside the snack hours). - Our balcony had a not-so-great view (to the street, uneventful), but the room was big, clean, lots of wardrobes, good shower, good mattress. It is a quiet area during the night, good place to rest. - The room service was consistently good. Restaurant staff was excellent! - The pool was great to relax after a day of skiing. Really good taste on its ambience, and great view of the mountains. - The hotel doesn't accept payment in cards, which is hard to understand in 2025. I read that this is the same in many places/bars in Zell-am-See (and Austria), but we managed to pay everything else with debit cards. There is an ATM outside the hotel, but it charges £4 per withdrawal. - The hotel has a ski room (no lockers though). However, even more convenient is the Brundl (sports shop) ski depot, directly below the lifts. It costs £10 for 2 people, per day (there is an option for 4 people as well). It's excellent value for money, and made our commuting and runs a lot easier. - The esplanade/lake is great to spend a couple of hours, and there are good restaurants down in Zell-am-See. - The slopes were quite good, even though there was no snow at all while we were there, in the first week of February. In my opinion, it's primarily a place for intermediates. Beginners will be restricted to a small area (as usual). Advanced skiers won't have many challenges in the vicinity, but can perhaps get the ski bus to Kitzsteinhorn. - The scenery while skiing down the Schmittenhohe (2000 meters), though, is fantastic! You will stop for photos and videos for sure! - Going to Kitzsteinhorn will require you to get the bus 660. As mentioned, buses are easy, clean, and dependable. This mountain goes up to 3000 metres high, but the views are not as picturesque as Zell-am-See. And it will take a full day commuting (buses, gondolas, lifts). Worth visiting if you have a spare day and would like to try something different. - Like I would expect from Austria, everything was well organised, and the Gartenhotel Daxer was not disappointing. Definitely recommend it!