I could not find any recommnedation on the previous threads, we are looking for a family friendly hotel that we can spend a week and be very close to the ski slopes.
We are all beginners and my daughter will try skiing for first time (5years old)

Location: anywhere in Switzerland
Thanks!

http://www.booking.com/hotel/ch/rest...e76ba92a4c74X3


47 Swiss hotels with 50% discount

Riederalp, www.riederalp.ch (in Wallis) has a fantastic ski school. There are hotels and chalets to rent- all very family oriented. It's a very small car-free village. Bettmeralp is also really nice (it's in the same ski area). We've stayed at various chalets in both these regions and you can literally ski from your front door to the lifts.

Haven't been there but friends really like it:

Edelweiss in Engelberg

http://edelweiss-engelberg.com/engli...nd-activities/

Are you looking for hotels or self catering apartments? If you're going self catering then Grindelwald is for me still a good choice for kids and families - it's touristy yes, but then there are plenty of non-ski things to do as well if the kids get fed up of falling down.

If you can find a free apartment (e.g. if there's a cancellation as usually people book well in advance) then the reka villages are fantastic for kids.

There's the kinderhotel Muchetta http://www.kinderhotel.ch/ - we've often talked about staying there as it sounds lovely for parents as well as kids, never managed to actually arrange it though.

And there are a chain of kinderhotels in Austria too - just google it and you should get some hits.

We are going to Leukerbad this year, I forget the name of the hotel but I chose it as it's a hotel with an apartment in it so we can choose to either self cater or go to the restaurant, and they have a kids play room too - best of both worlds I think.

I have never been here but it's supposed to be really nice as they have many activities for children including a childrens dinner. It might be only (Swiss) German though so the fun maybe depends how much your daughter understands...

http://www.maerchenhotel.ch/index.php

Let me know by PM if you need help with translations

stayed at the Edelweiss in Engelberg previously and my 9yr old loves it - x-box360 heaven!! Not the most luxorious hotel, but very friendly and clean, the owners make an effort and come and speak to everyone at Breakfast, announcing ski weather etc. Have a hotel bus that shuttles you to the ski lifts every 15mins or so. And you can call them to pick up in an afternoon after 14.30pm. Would go back

I think you might do better if you first narrowed down your preferred location, the started to look for a hotel. Others have mentioned the Edelweiss in Engelberg, which I've no experience of, but I could think of several others (there) that might also be suitable.

What exactly do you mean by 'Family-friendly' anyway? Are there specific facilities or types of rooms you're looking for?

Hi all,

Thank you for your comments. By "Family friendly" i mean something with a playroom or some activities for kids or that we will not get angry looks if our kids scream (which they do often )
I can drive up to 2-3 h from Basel (so i guess that covers most of Switzerland)
I checked with Edelweis but they have no rooms available.
I am not sure how easy you can get to the ski slopes in leukerbad
and the maerchen hotel is a bit out of our budget (anything around 2000-2500CHF per week will be fine)

Thanks

You want to go to Serfaus, Austria (not that far away, maybe 2 hours from Zurich). Friendly, service-oriented, inexpensive (compared to CH), and they offer complete programs for kids including ski school, or all-day babysitting with kids activities, great food. For example

http://www.furgler.at/

I just spend some days in Mayrhofen, Zillertal, Austria. Out hotel was nice, the lift to the beginners mountain was just behind the house, so literally one minute walk and overall was Austria so much cheaper... simple example: rent of skis and boots for a week: 50-60 EUR. In Switzerland you can pay 40-50 CHF a day.

Our place was:http://www.perauer.at/en/

Food was great as the hotel has an own butcher. three course dinner was 15 EUR.

Hello thanks for your recommendation, is serfaus only 2 hours away as thought it was much further? Is the best way to go by car or train? Thank you!!

I have been in few of the kinder hotels in Austria but I wasn't really happy with any of them plus for the accomodation you pay the same money as in Switzerland

Look for 'Reka' Dorf, it's a chain of very mildly priced, reasonnably spacious apartments for families. They have absolutely everything you need for children and babies -high chair, baby bed, even the potty- so you only bring the essentials. Some excellent locations too! Same guys who do the Reka checks.

Can you give any specifics? Looking at perhaps going to Austria as I "believe":

- accomodation is unlikely to be more expensive (I'm not expecting much cheaper)
- eating out is possible from time to time
- self catering would be cheaper than in CH (cheaper supermarkets)
- ski passes and equipement hire will be cheaper

Of course I could be mistaken, but Treverus' post above does go along the lines I was thinking/hoping. I'd also consider France and Germany, but I hear that Austria is good at the moment (Italy would be great, but alas I speak no Italian).

Sorry, 2 hours, 39 minutes from Zurich.
use www.map24.ch

We spent 3 ski vacations there with small children, it was first class.
Kids had a blast too, and both learned to ski there as well.

We stayed at Hotel Streiff in Arosa, very family friendly and the resort is also ideal for beginners and children, would highly recommend.

http://www.streiff.ch/en/families/index.html

Just back from a trip to Galtür, Tyrol (Austria) - just up the road from Ischgl. Stayed at http://www.ballunspitze.com/ and would definitely recommend it, especially if you're looking for all day childcare.