Rohskopf

Far from being one of the mega chalets that seem to sprout up everywhere these days, this is one of the older establishments in Mallnitz, the house partly built with stone extracted during the building of the Tauernbahn railway tunnel at the beginning of the 20th century. It is solidly built and surprisingly quiet - the main sound is that of the river that runs through the village. There isn't much of a view from the property, but the vistas open up when you get onto the mountains, so that's not really a problem. We came for a week's hiking at the end of the summer season, and were well set up for our activities by a hearty breakfast each morning . A tasty dinner was available (by arrangement) at the end of the day, and the vegetarian in our party was cheerfully catered for. My only grumble is that smoking is permitted in the bar during the evening; I would have enjoyed spending more time there with the friendly regulars and proprietors had it not been for the smoke. However, the room we had seemed smoke-free and had comfortable beds and plenty of hot water. We didn't get round to trying the sauna - not really our kind of thing. All in all, Haus Rohskopf is conveniently situated for the local bus services, train station and shops, good value for money, and made a very nice, relaxed base for our holiday.