Parking

Pets allowed

Private parking

Garden

Skiing

Internet services

WiFi

Free WiFi

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Haus Sepp Gruber

St Anton

Upon our early arrival, the hosts of this apartment were friendly and allowed us to store our bags so we could immediately head up into the snow-covered mountains. A few pleasant and uneventful days passed.

Then, one evening we returned to the apartment and were welcomed by a persistent beeping noise, the kind that usually indicates a smoke detector battery has reached the end of its natural life. As there were several alarms hidden in the apartment, we set out on a hunt for the source of the mysterious beep so we could fix it and get some sleep.

Only a few minutes into our search, our landlady suddenly appeared in our apartment, who had let herself in unannounced and uninvited. At that very moment, I happened to be standing on a wooden bench looking on top of the kitchen cupboards, trying to locate the offending device.

And then… things escalated at truly impressive speed.

Within a fraction of seconds the landlady short-circuited, erupted in anger and hysterically demanded an explanation. Given that we were simply trying to locate a beeping smoke detector, this reaction was quite an unwelcome surprise. When she noticed that my wife was holding one of the alarms, she attempted to claw it from her hands while loudly announcing, to what sounded that we had overstayed our welcome, that we had to leave immediately and the police would be called.

Trying to calm the situation, I took her apart and managed to explain what had happened. Eventually she left the apartment, taking several smoke detectors with her, and, somewhat unexpectedly, also a mirror that elegantly covered the fuse box in our living room. I can only imagine she suddenly realised that covering a fuse box might not be entirely in line with the fire safety regulations of the St. Anton Fire Department.

At that point, somewhat ironically, our apartment no longer contained any smoke detectors at all… but as it was finally wonderfully quiet again, so we decided to call it a night. 
Needless to say, we, and our children, were left somewhat stunned by the entire episode.

The next morning our hostess reappeared, this time with her hand theatrically wrapped in a old worn cloth, muttering that she had been injured during the previous evening’s struggle over the smoke detector, once again demanding an explanation, and an early check-out. As the situation already felt rather surreal, we chose not to engage further and decided to enjoy the quieter surroundings of the longing ski slopes. 

Later that day, we were invited to visit the local police station in St. Anton to give our account of what had happened. The officer we spoke to was calm, understanding, professional and very helpful, and after explaining our side of the story we left reassured that the matter had been clarified. Apparently our hostess had also decided to request compensation for her alleged injuries, which added a final layer of surrealism to the whole episode. Fortunately the conversation with the police remained refreshingly grounded in common sense.

Upon departure the next morning, we came to understand the name ‘Arnika': the traditional alpine remedy for bruises. A thoughtful touch.

Now for the penthouse apartment itself.

The location is quiet and within very reasonable distance of town and the ski slopes. The interior can best be described as minimalist in the most literal sense of the word: four forks, four knives, four spoons, four plates, four glasses, a mismatched set of tired pans, some pre-used diluted dish washing soap and a selection of kitchen utensils that appear to have served several generations of skiers.

The living area contains no comfortable seating to speak of, if you discount the bed placed next to the wooden dining table which doubles as a couch, covered with a blanket without any pillows.

Bedrooms are basic. Mattresses comfortable, although one very small pillow per bed doesn't allow for comfortable seated reading, but hey, we are here to sleep, not to read.

The bathroom/toilet is finished in true 1970s style; a low slanted ceiling that allows for seated showering in the bath only, and features a non-working heated towel rack that has been reinforced with painter’s tape.

If you are looking for a truly spartan Alpine experience that will make you deeply appreciate returning to the comfort of your own home, this might be exactly the place for you.
As for us, we will happily try somewhere else next time.

The person we genuinely felt sorry for was the landlady’s very friendly and accommodating husband. We may have caught this couple at a difficult time in their lives. Both could probably do with a good hug and Haus Arnika could do with a touch of love.

Psychedelic experience in Hospitality

I had chosen a room with two single beds because I have a hip injury for which I stack two mattresses on top of each other. The host did not allow that. She even removed one mattress!

Also, the wifi wasn't wifi but just a hot-spot of a mobile phone, which frequently was extremely slow and sometimes not available at all. When I asked about that, the host told me that it was only designed for light internet use, and that I should not expect to be able to stream TV.  

Furthermore, the laminate was laid directly on the concrete, without a sound-dampening underlayment, causing everything to echo thru to the room below.

The host hadn't told me anything about that, but when I was packing my suitcase on the last night (I had to catch an early bus), she was yelling at my door that I needed to be quiet! She even threatened to kick me out of the guesthouse immediately!

The location was excellent, but the room was poor and the host was terrible.

Great location, poor room and terrible host

Lovely accommodation, friendly host. Very clean and tidy room, great size. 
Breakfast choice was limited but we were prepared for that. 
Location was fantastic for town and lifts and public transport links.
Host was accommodation to our early arrival request and kept bags for late departure.

Lovely week in St.Anton

After visiting St. Anton more than 10 times with only positive experiences, nice and friendly hosts in various hotels and pensions, we choose Haus Arnika due to the central location and reasonable price. Our stay proved to be a huge disappointment. On arrival day a friend visited our room for a quick chat, a glass of wine and to pick up some personal belongings before heading to his own Pension nearby, as soon as the visit was noticed by the host she entered the room without knocking and shouted furiously that we had booked a room for two persons only, no guests allowed, our guest had to leave immediately, the fact that our friend was trying on a pair of ski boots in the room didn't help the situation. After some consideration + the fact that we had paid more than 400 Euro deposit we decided not to find alternative housing. We where in St.Anton for skiing only and no intention of either partying or being noisy, will for sure visit St. Anton again but not Haus Arnika.

Not at all a friendly place to stay!

We slept here with 2 adults and 2 kids. One big bedroom with a big closet. The kids had a slammer room with there one closet. We very much appreciated the 2 bathrooms with euc a shower and a toilet. Separately there is a kitchen-livingroom-combi. One disadvantage: the breakfast was only for the rooms and not for us. They also did not offer an 'bread-service' as is done in much cases we have been before. On the other hand, the 10 minute walk to the bakery in the morning was not a punishment. We hopefully be able to return next year.

3.3/5

Haus Sepp Gruber

3.3/5

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