Hotel Rasmushof Kitzbühel

Skiing in Kitzbühel goes back to Franz Reisch, a forebear of the family, who imported a pair of skis from Norway, brought the sport to the town in 1893 and served as its mayor. The Reisch family has run the Rasmushof since 1974, when it opened as a small hotel on the Rasmusleitn meadow at the foot of the Hahnenkamm. The first Hahnenkamm race was held in 1931, and today the racers on the Streif pull up in the finish area a few metres from the house; the conservatory looks straight onto the course.

In winter this is a ski in, ski out address. You ski from the door to the gondola and back to the doorstep in the afternoon, the nearest ski school sits at the hotel entrance, and rental shops deliver skis to the ski cellar. Kitzbühel's centre is a five minute walk. When the snow has gone, the finish area becomes a nine hole par 3 course that the family laid out in 1977, the first of its kind in Austria, with a covered driving range and a golf academy that also teaches children.

The 49 rooms and suites are furnished in country style, with balconies facing the Kitzbühel Alps; there is an indoor pool of 12 by 5 metres with sauna and steam room, Tyrolean cooking in the Stuben and on the sun terrace, and a cellar of more than 400 wines. Signe Reisch and her family keep the hotel open all year, and dogs are welcome, in the restaurant too.