Large chalets in Austria for groups

Morning maths

Bathroom ratios in large chalets for groups

The quickest test of a group chalet is guests divided by bathrooms. At two or three people per bathroom the morning runs itself. At four or more, somebody is waiting on the landing with a towel while the ski bus pulls away. On a week of early lessons it shapes the mood at breakfast more than any hot tub.

Several houses in this selection give every bedroom its own bathroom. Chalet Alpenheim Simone in Sölden has six of each for sixteen guests, Chalet Willi has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms across four floors, and Chalet Bachgut Berg in Saalbach pairs eight bedrooms with eight bathrooms. Chalet Christiane in St Anton matches that eight and eight, with meals included as well.

Others ask for more patience. Chalet Levett has eleven bedrooms and seven bathrooms for up to 24, Chalet Alte Mühle in Hopfgarten nine bedrooms and six bathrooms for up to 25, and Chalet Almdorf Fügen five bedrooms and two bathrooms for up to ten. None of that rules them out. It means drawing up a room plan that puts families next to the shared bathrooms and early risers on a separate floor.

Smaller parties meet the same arithmetic. Chalet Molly in Zell am See lists ten beds and two bathrooms, while Kellnergut chalet Frieda in Mühlbach am Hochkönig has four bedrooms, which the owner lists as en-suite, for up to ten. If the group is mostly couples, the second layout is the one to look for.

Twenty and over

Large chalets in Austria for 20 people or more

Above twenty guests the field narrows quickly, and the dining table becomes the limit. Chalet Rocking Home in Aschau im Zillertal takes 16 to 20 guests in eight bedrooms and 350 square metres. A Casa Rubin Chalet in Sölden is listed for 18 to 20, with eight bedrooms that each have their own bathroom and two kitchens. Holiday Lodge Fabian and Landhaus Felix in Saalbach-Hinterglemm are listed for 20 and 26, and Chalet Jasmin in Zell am See for 22.

Serviced houses exist at this size too. Serviced Luxury Chalet Evi, Ski-in Ski-out in Kaprun has eight en-suite bedrooms for up to 23, and the owner describes a serviced stay with breakfast served every day and the Maiskogel piste at the door. Its booking conditions rule out cooking for yourselves, so it fits a group that wants to be looked after, not one planning to run its own kitchen.

The largest houses here sit in a class of their own. Chalet Alber takes 32 to 39 over four floors with catering confirmed, and Chalet Tiroler Hof in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis is listed by its owner for up to 38. At that size, ask about house rules, the number of tables and how a same-day arrival is handled, because a changeover for forty people needs planning on both sides.

See:Chalets in the Zillertal

Where they sit

Where to find large group chalets in Tyrol and Salzburgerland

The Arlberg has the largest cluster. Four of the St Anton houses on this page include meals, and the Ski Arlberg lift pass covers St Anton as well as Lech and Oberlech, which the Flexenbahn gondola joined into one ski area. The guide to chalets in St Anton covers the village, the terrain by level and each stay in turn.

Sölden has five large chalets in this selection, several with a bathroom for every bedroom, and the Sölden chalet page sets out the village, the lifts and the full list. Saalbach-Hinterglemm has four, including the 26-guest Landhaus Felix, and the Saalbach-Hinterglemm chalet guide shows where each one sits in the valley and how far it is from the lifts.

In the Zillertal Arena, Königsleiten has three group houses close to the snow, two of them listed 50 metres from piste and lift; see chalets in Königsleiten for all of them. Hopfgarten, home of Chalet Alte Mühle, and Ellmau both belong to the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental, which the SkiWelt stays page covers.

Salzburgerland spreads its group chalets more widely. Mühlbach am Hochkönig has three, Wagrain and Großarl belong to Ski amadé, Zell am See has two, and Kaprun has a serviced house where a chain of cable cars links the Maiskogel to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier. The Salzburgerland chalet overview groups them by valley, and the Tyrol chalet overview does the same for Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis, the Zillertal and the Stubaital.

Kitchen and extras

Food, saunas and house rules in a chalet for a large group

Decide early who cooks. Feeding twenty for a week is close to a part-time job, and a domestic kitchen is not always laid out for it. Four of the St Anton houses and Chalet Kelle include meals, confirmed by two sources, and they are collected on the page of catered chalets in Austria. For both ways of running the week, read catered or self-catered for a group.

Self-catering groups should plan the shopping around Sunday. Under Austrian opening-hours law most shops stay closed on Sundays, with exceptions that the provinces can allow for tourist areas, so what is open depends on the village. One big shop on Saturday, split between two cars, saves a lot of improvising. At Kellnergut chalet Frieda, the owner lists an optional chef, a middle way for a group that wants a night or two off.

Wellness is where large chalets differ most. Some have a private sauna for the group, others a shared one, and a small cabin does not serve sixteen people in a single evening. The page of chalets with a sauna or hot tub shows which are confirmed and which are only listed. Pets are a separate question: check dog-friendly chalets before you assume a dog can come.

Expect some paperwork. Austrian law requires commercial accommodation to register its guests, normally within 24 hours of arrival, so the organiser is often asked for every guest's name and date of birth. Collect them when people pay their share, and agree house rules on noise, smoking and arrival times before the trip rather than on the doorstep.

If none of the large chalets fits, there are other routes. Two neighbouring ski apartments in Austria can house a group that does not need a single table, and the guide to choosing a chalet or an apartment sets out what changes. For a smaller party, the full list of ski chalets in Austria starts at much lower capacities.

See:Best ski resorts in Austria for chalet holidaysSummer chalet holidays in Austria