The apartment and the village are fantastic for families or groups of friends wanting a relaxing holiday in beautiful surroundings. Rauris is small but perfectly formed with all the facilities you would want in a resort but none of the baggage that comes from mass-tourism.
The four restaurants on the mountain offer a good mix of traditional staples (spaghetti bolognese, grilled chicken etc.) and more authentic Austrian fare all at sensible prices. The restaurants and bars in the village cater for most tastes with a combination of Italian and Austrian dishes appearing on most menus. For those seeking fine dining there is also the excellent Restaurant Gusto. Children are particularly welcomed and well catered for throughout the village with a whole host of activities to keep them busy when they’re not on the slopes, including night-time sledging and sleigh rides.
The skiing/boarding is ideal for beginners/intermediates that enjoy well-groomed, wide pistes with no queues. The majority of the skiing is above 1650m and peaks at 2200m. Snow cannons now cover all the runs into the resort, which lies at 900m. In total there are 36 km of marked runs. For those, like me, that are bothered by the type of lifts available in a resort there are two gondolas (6-seat and 8-seat) that carry you (via three stations) to the summit, five drag lifts (t-bars and buttons) and one chair lift. Whilst the drag lifts aren’t ideal for boarders they are very well groomed every day so there are no bumps or nasty cross-slopes.
If you enjoy the social-side of ski-school the Karl Maier school really hits the spot. It has 20 or so enthusiastic instructors catering to all abilities and offering encouragement all the way; culminating in the awards ceremony on Thursday night when each class (children and adults) gets the chance to socialise together, pick up awards for their timed runs and generally let their hair down. Entertainment is provided by the ski instructors, which is interesting, but it all makes for a memorable end to everyone’s skiing week.
