Hotel Reinisch

The boss (who is mad about horses) and I chose Koflach as our base for the Autumn Parade at Piber (19 Sept 2015). We had booked the hotel Reinisch as it had good reviews, especially for their food, for 3 nights spanning the horsey event. We arrived on the train from Vienna via Graz and, finding no taxis after a long wait, dragged our cases up the road to the town centre. Here we found no one who spoke English but were directed to the Hotel with the usual international sign language - up a bit then left a bit etc. We found what we thought was the hotel and went in (this turned out to be the restaurant/bar/ and cafe part). The young woman behind the bar (who had no English - allegedly) found our reservation and handed over our room key and then ushered us outside. More waving of hands - right up the road, then first left, and finally we found the hotel part and our comfortable room. The swimming pool looked inviting but a beer at the bar was more so. The evening meal was wholesome and tasty with a medium length menu catering for most tastes. The wine was pleasant but I have yet to become used to the habit of chilled red wine, and the bill even more pleasant at around 40 Euros for two. Bed and breakfast for 80 Euros a night seemed good value to us with ample cold meats, cheese, breads, a boiled egg, juice, and a decent coffee to set one up for the day. The boss drinks tea and had her usual rant about only the Brits knowing how to make tea properly. We had three evening meals here, including a dish they charmingly called "bambi" with dumpling twice. As time went on more English speakers emerged, including the owner who married at 17 and has run the place for the past 50 years, and others who overcame their shyness and tried hard to explain the various dishes and wines. Breakfast merges with lunch which merges with supper, the place full of people eating and drinking and chatting. The only problem encountered was when I re-discovered the perils of a small shower cubicle with a single lever volume and temperature control mounted at buttock level. Twisting to refresh my privates caused the ample flow of hot water to turn into an ice cold jet which certainly caused my first morning to begin with a flourish. I proceeded with extra caution thereafter.