Naturhotel Leitlhof

Very nice hotel but only four stars not because it is not a nice hotel but because it aims to compete with the better hotels but it is not yet there. Mentioning just one potential peer, the Granvara in Selva is an exceptional hotel while this hotel has basically all the same things but always a level below due often to unfortunate choices instead of lower quality. For example, our room was enormous, but the space was comprised of a teeny, tiny bathroom (with a toilet and bidet in a separate small closet), a nicely sized sleeping area and then a massive and almost empty sitting area with a couch and lots of empty floor space. This is a massive miss and at least some portion of that enormous empty space should have been incorporated into a nicer bathroom instead of the tiny closet one must squeeze into. This is basically the first thing one notices about the room and surely the architect or designer knew this but somebody made a decision somewhere to follow this path instead - cost perhaps? Another example is the parking, which is painfully short of what is needed. There is a very small underground parking garage that holds perhaps 40 cars (?) and then the back-up is a small sliver of ground behind the building. When we were there, the hotel was not full yet cars were having to park in odd spots just to squeeze in somewhere. Another odd architectural failure for what otherwise seems to have been a recently renovated hotel. Really quite the head-scratcher. And yes there is no air conditioning, which we Americans just are stunned by but is the trend in Europe sadly. Just know before you go! On the other hand, everything is quite clean, the dining room is spacious, the public spaces have a nice upscale IKEA-like design, there was a lovely social one evening with a talented musician, snacks and drinks and the spa/pool facilities are nice. The views are also great. The kitchen was adequate, with a decent breakfast spread, including abundant choices for eggs and other breakfast mains. Dinner, on the other hand, showed greater goals than achievements with acceptable food and an ok salad bar, but definitely not comparable to what might be thought of as peer hotels. We were particularly disappointed with the meat entrees, which were often fatty and fairly tasteless, whereas the fish dishes were more highly regarded. With so much going for it, these shortcomings were a disappointment. Some items (such as the parking situation) will be harder to fix than others, but this is a lovely hotel that is missing the mark in a number of areas to make it an excellent hotel.