I stayed at the Hotel Vicky this year 2004. I have to say i had the best holiday ever. Although the staff are all English as it is owned and run by Thomson's and Crystal, it makes everything so much easier. They are a bundle of knowledge, they all speak English as you would expect, but they know so much about the area. I found Justin the manager to be rude and offensive and not very helpful, however, the rest of the staff are brilliant and i cannot praise them highly enough. In a world where we seem to lambast reps for being useless, and i am sure i am not alone here, our rep Steve, who has been with Thomson for years and lived in Austria, was the best and most knowledgeable rep we have ever encountered, and funny too. Nothing was too much trouble for him, he always wanted to ensure you had the best holiday. If the old complaint 'we never saw our rep' still applies, our complaint would be, 'we saw too much of our rep'. He was and is brilliant. Being also a walking guide, along with his colleague Claire, (who incidentally was brilliant too and the Crystal rep) all walks took approx 4 hours,, but that includes stopping at the most beautiful place for lunch, where they will even let you eat your own lunch, such was the relationship of the owner and Steve the rep, unheard of in my opinion.
The food at the Vicky was superb and portions enough considering no-one is used to a 3 course meal everyday. Unlimited wine at meal times, all you have to do is ask for a top up. Rooms are basic but clean, and have all you need, and the bar is a good place to meet and chat. They also do a quiz in the bar once a week which i have to say is the best quiz anywhere on this planet and definitley a must. Steve is in charge, and will deduct points if you disagree with him, everyone gets a prize, we won a limited edition watch haha, you must also think of a limerick for the end of the evening, which is hilarious. If you are lucky enough to have him as your rep, then you will have the best time of your lives.
Niederau is a beautiful village, the people are friendly, there is no crime, which is unthinkable, but true. It is not expensive, in fact i would say it is cheaper than at home. Excursions are superb, although as another says, the Grossglockner is an early start, it is one of the wonders of Europe, Austria's highest mountain and a 76km long glacier. Salzburg is a must, but my favourite was a trip to Hitlers Eagles Nest. Wow.
I hope you have a great holiday if you visit Niederau, i know we did.

I disagree with the review written by Mrs Scott King on June 1, 2004. I have stayed at the Hotel Vicky twice now with my husband and have had a fantastic holiday both times. The last time I stayed at the Vicky was the last two weeks in June this year and it was fantastic as usual. The hotel atmosphere is relaxed as there are not the same rules and regulations as a traditional hotel. The staff are all English as it is owned by the Thomson group and they are all fantastic and friendly. I found Justin the Manager to be very knowledgeable about the local area and was always willing to help if we had a problem. As it is not a traditional hotel but classed as Catered Accomodation you do not need facilities in your room as you can have plenty of tea and coffee with your breakfast and at afternoon tea and as you are probably out for the most of the day you would not need hot drinks in the hotel any other time.

The food is not basic and was absolutely fantastic every day. The vegetables for the evening meal were always fresh and steamed which is a healthy way to serve them. The choice of mains and starter were always good and you could have as much wine as you liked, you just asked the waiter or waitress for a top up. At the evening meal they provide you with an order form with which you can order your packed lunch for the next day and make your choices for the evening meal the next day. A buffet breakfast is served early at 7am if you are going out for the day and if you want a cooked breakfast (which was always good and tasty) this is served between 8-9am. The packed lunch is always good as they use mayonnaise as the spread instead of butter or margarine. The cakes for afternoon tea were always fantastic and I disagree with Mrs Scott King when she said that they were from a packet mix. We had Banana Cake, Fruit Cake, Chocolate Cake and many more which could not be made from a packet.

To finish; if you like a nice quiet, relaxing holiday and like walking then Niederau is the place for you. The Hotel Vicky is the best hotel you could choose as although the price for the the holiday is good value you are looked after as if you were in a top hotel. I can fully recommend you stay at the Hotel Vicky and I have already booked my next holiday there in 2005.

We paid ?299 each to stay in this hotel for 7 nights with Thomson Lakes and Mountains. We can not fault the reps they were fantastic very knowlegeable and chatty. The rooms are nice and airy too with lots of wood -as you'd expect in an Austrian hotel. However no kettle or cups to make you morning tea and no alarm clock either. The bathroom needed updating also.

Our room was room 209. It was a quad room it had a set of bunk beds and a double bed and a sofa aswell as a large wardrobe. The bathroom had a loo, biade, basin and bath and over shower. Toileteries are provided which is a nice touch. On your arrival night little chocolates are provided on pillow.

All the staff [this season] were English but some did speak quite fluent
German/Austrain. The manager Justin is very good with guests and builds up a great rapport but is not to good at handling problems/complaints and doesnt seem to have a great knowledge of the area, Niederau and surrounding area.

The food is very English and very basic, if your wanting traditional Austrian food or restaurant style then go out every night.
We went on half board which included continetal and cooked breakfast, packed lunch afternoon tea and three course dinner

For breakfast [served 8-9am] there was quite a selection bread rolls, butter, jam, honey, ham and cheese, fruit, cereal, fruit juice, natural or fruit yogurt. Tea and coffee is brought to the table. Each day their is a cooked breakfast which tends to consit of three or four of the following...sausage, bacon, mushrooms, hash browns, plum tomatoes, baked tomato, bubble and squeak, fried egg or scrambled egg. Service from the waitering staff tends to be quite slow on a morning especially if its the day after their day off.

For lunch [12-3pm] the packed lunch whch is provided you receive a bread roll [with your choice of filling] but no butter, a small 250ml carton of drink and a chocolate bar. Or they do snacks at the hotel and they give you 2 Euros off.
They do a special each day of homemade soup and a sandwich or salad for 5Euros but with your special ticket its just 3euros which is only ?2-bargain!

Afternoon tea, if your expecting tradional Austrian cakes Hotel Vicky isnt the place to go. Many of the cakes offered to us were from packet mixes. The usual bread, jam, honey and fruit and tea and coffee were served too.

For dinner [6pm-9pm]...there are two choices of starters, mains and pudding every night. Ice cream and fruit salad seemed to be the alternative sweet. The portions of the food [especially after a long days walking] arent very large and fresh vegetables werent used very often either. In the brochure it states your given a carafe of wine with dinner what really happens is that they fill your glass up with your starter and refil after your mains and that is it.

I really wouldnt advise going to the Glossglockner tour as it is a 7.15am start and after all the pick up you get a the Glossglockner about 12.30 and then leave at 1.45/2pm. You arrive back at the Vicky at 7pm-exauhsted. The trip to Vienna takes 7 hours there and 7 hours back. Always ask how long it will take to get to your chosen tour place and how long you will have there too.

Niederau is a beautiful little village with a little church and qute a few
Austrian pubs and eateries. The cable car takes you up to the top of the
mountain and you do truly believe your in The Sound Of Music, the hills really are alive! It is breathtaking up there beautiful.

I would advise you to go on the guided walks we did a few ourselves and got very lost [we chatted with others who'd done the same walk and they got lost too. FYI its walk number 21]. The guided walks we were told it woudl take 4 hours and were shocked at that but they go as slow as the slowest person in the group goes and they wait for you and help you. The guide [a Thomson or Crystal rep] knows so much about the country and you'll find out alot about Austrian family life, the tradions/customs and basically anything you want to know about Austria.

It was a great holiday I would advise people to go to Club Hotel Vicky if they want English food and a very English Hotel. We would definately advise both novice and advanced walkers to go to Neiderau as there are walks for people of all standards and abilities [our hotel was amixture of 20 somethings and 40-60 somethings!]. Hope this has hel;ed youa little to decide on your holiday and hope if hasnt put you off Club Hotel Vicky [do remember though that every season the staff change so one year they will be great and the next not so good].