Seehotel Gruener Baum

Our stay in Hallstatt was absolutely unforgettable. The views here are truly breathtaking and unlike anything else in the world, with the dramatic mountains meeting the serene lake. While the standard check-in time wasn't until 3:00 PM, we found the perfect strategy to enjoy this popular destination. I highly recommend arriving later in the afternoon or early evening. Once the last ferries leave and the heavy crowds of day-trippers depart, the town completely transforms. Walking through the quiet, winding streets at evening feels like you have the entire fairytale village all to yourself. It is peaceful, romantic, and the absolute best way to experience Hallstatt's true charm. If you want to avoid the crowds and see the town at its best, plan for a later arrival and enjoy the evening calm!

DONT GO THERE TO EAT. I write it in english, so nothing gets lost in translation. The restaurant was recommended to me second hand. So I gave it a try, mainly for the location next to the lake. From the 70 Euro I paid for 2 PAX it was worth 20 Euros for food and drinks, the 50 for the view. We had Schlutzkrapfen and Kasnocken. Nothing complicated, but they absolutly made me regret it. They arrived 30 seconds after we received the couvert. For both we waited about 20 minutes or so - so 0 stars for the service. Especially for not exusing them for their mistake. The food was not warm. Both were quite dry. I know butter is expensive these days, but wtf - nothing at all. We could argue about some grated parmesan, but dont need to. So 1 star for the kitchen team in serving convinience products warmed up for several times already. 0 stars for the management, to let this happen. Good for them, they did not ask if everything was good. Probably they know, what they do.

The Seehotel Gruener Baum is the best-located hotel in Hallstatt, right beside the Evangelical Church, which is supposed to be the center of the town. It actually sits in front of the small town's main square - how can you get better situated than that? We were given the room on the 4th floor. The problem was - the elevator only worked till the 3rd. So we had to hoist the luggage up and down to the 4th personally. The other major inconvenience was that cars were not allowed into the town - they could only stay at the upper highway levels. So you had to ask for a hotel van to come up and bring your luggage down - and that took a lot of time. Especially since no one was answering from the hotel when we tried to call. Then the same problem when leaving the hotel - the hotel had to get a taxi for you - at your expense - to bring you and your luggage up to the upper highway levels. We were on a tight time schedule - so that caused a major problem for us. The room was large and high ceilinged - but since it was on the top floor, one wall was very heavily angled and we kept hitting our heads on the ceiling till we figured out to look before getting up from the chair or the bed. There was no ac- they had a Dyson blameless fan - but that worked well enough to combat the summer heat. Breakfast was very good.