Austria, Tyrol

Serfaus: A Ski Week at a Hotel Built Around Children

Seven nights at a five-star family hotel in the Tyrol: all meals included, childcare until nine at night, a ski-school place held, and the lessons, rental and lift passes planned around it.

Nights7
SeasonDecember, before Christmas
StyleBoutique and luxury
PaceRelaxed
SuitsA family with young children
Based onA trip I booked for clients

Where to stay, and why

Leading Family Hotel Bär

Serfaus, Tyrol · 7 nights

The Alpini Suite Plus is on two floors, about 75 square meters, with a king bed and a separate children's room for two, so the children's bedtime doesn't end the adults' evening the way it does in a single family room. It is a five-star hotel built around children, in the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis ski area. Board is all-inclusive, from breakfast through afternoon cake to a set dinner. Childcare from babies up is included Sunday to Friday, and the hotel holds a ski-school place for its guests.

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    Serfaus

    Fly into Innsbruck, and a private transfer booked ahead takes the family up to Serfaus. The rest of the day is for settling into the suite.

  2. Day 2

    Serfaus

    The first ski morning starts at the cable-car valley station. Skis come from Sport Patscheider's shop there, and the hotel runs a paid shuttle there and back for children aged 3 to 12. Children's courses meet at the Kinderschneealm, and a parent goes along on the first day so each child is placed in the right group.

  3. Days 3 to 6

    Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis

    The children split their days between ski school and the children's club, and the parents get the mountain. Childcare runs from half past eight in the morning to nine at night. Breakfast, a lunch buffet, afternoon cake, a set dinner and soft drinks are all included, so nobody plans a meal all week.

  4. Day 7

    Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis

    A last ski day. The children's club stays open until nine on Friday night, so the last evening can be the parents' own.

  5. Day 8

    Innsbruck

    Down to Innsbruck for the flight home.

What made it work

  • A ski week with small children goes wrong on the logistics, not the skiing. This hotel takes meals and childcare off the list, holds a ski-school place for its guests and runs the shuttle to the lifts.
  • The hotel books none of the skiing: lessons, rental and lift passes are all separate. So before arrival I asked the hotel how its guests handle each one, and booked a private transfer from Innsbruck rather than leaving a taxi to chance on arrival day.
  • Booking Saturday to Saturday puts both travel days on the one day the children's club is closed.

Setting up the week from home

The guest card comes first. About a week before arrival the hotel sends a guest card. Do its online pre-check-in straight away, because the discounted lift passes depend on it.

Book ski school yourself. Lessons are booked online with Skischule Serfaus, not through the hotel. Guests here have a place held, so the booking confirms a place rather than hunting for one.

Rent at the lifts. Sport Patscheider takes bookings online ahead of arrival, and its shop sits at the cable-car valley station, where ski school starts. Skis are collected and left where the day begins.

Getting around the village. For a taxi or a transfer, the hotel sends its guests to Bus-Taxi Tirol.

Six days of childcare, not seven. The children’s club is closed on Saturdays. If your week doesn’t run Saturday to Saturday, plan any Saturday inside it as a family day.