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Is Familienhotel Laurentius in Fiss one of the best family hotels in the Austrian Alps? Here’s my honest review of what it’s like staying here!
When I pulled back the curtains one morning at Familienhotel Laurentius, the sun was just cresting over the mountains around Fiss, bathing everything in that beautiful golden glow. Cooper was already bouncing on the bed like it was Christmas morning. “Daddy, look at the mountains! Look at the mountains!”
After breakfast, I asked him what he wanted to do. “Kids’ club!” So while he went off to play and make new friends, I squeezed in a few ski runs before lunch. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to get some skiing in while I could.
Then I headed back to the hotel and swapped the slopes for the pool slides, which Cooper absolutely loved, before we went out to explore the snowy streets of Fiss. That was just one day of the best father-son trip we’ve ever had, and the hotel was a big reason why.
I know that sounds over the top, but this is a family hotel in the Austrian Alps that lets you be the best version of yourself as a parent while still having a proper holiday. It isn’t a holiday all about your kids, and it isn’t a holiday all about you. It’s about making those memories together.
In this Familienhotel Laurentius review, I’ll tell you what it’s really like to stay here, including the rooms, the kids’ club and what the food is actually like. If you’re planning a family trip to Tyrol, keep reading!
Quick overview
- Location: Fiss, Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis, Tyrol, Austria
- Type: 4-star superior baby and children’s hotel (Kinderhotel)
- Ski access: around 50m from the slopes
- Rooms: 16 types of family suite, each with a separate children’s room
- Board: full board, including a five-course dinner for adults every evening
- Childcare: free, every day from 8.30am to 9pm, from birth
- Pools: indoor family pool with triple racer slide, children’s pool, baby pool and heated outdoor pool
- Adults-only spa: S’PAnorama, for over-16s
- Prices: suites from around €198 per person per night with full board
- Nearest airport: Innsbruck, around 1h10m by transfer
- Best for: families with babies, toddlers and primary school-age children
What is a Kinderhotel?
If you’ve never heard of a Kinderhotel before, let me tell you all about them. “Kinder” is German for children, and a Kinderhotel is a hotel built entirely around families. They’re designed for EVERYONE to have the best time possible: the baby, the toddler, the parents and even the grandparents.
That’s very different from a normal family-friendly hotel. Plenty of hotels in the Alps call themselves family-friendly because they’ve got a high chair, a kids’ menu and a box of toys in the corner of the lounge. At a Kinderhotel, childcare is usually included in the price. You’ll also find family suites with separate kids’ rooms, children’s pools, play areas, kids’ clubs that run all day, and lots of little touches that make a holiday feel magical.
But just because they’re aimed at kids, it doesn’t mean us adults have to sacrifice our holiday. We’ve been on a few holidays over the years that were all about the kids, and they left us with nothing to do. The food was pretty grim and the evening entertainment was budget at best. You know the type.
A good Kinderhotel gives you a proper luxury hotel experience too. We’re talking five-course dinners, an adults-only spa and all those things that actually make a difference to a stay.
Laurentius is part of the Original Kinderhotels Europa group, which was founded in Austria in 1988. As of 2026, the group has 20 member hotels, 16 in Austria and four in Italy. Plenty of independent hotels use the name too, and the booking site kinderhotel.info lists around 700 Kinderhotels across Europe.
The only real downside of staying somewhere like Familienhotel Laurentius? They’ve set the benchmark now, and I want every hotel to be like this.
What is Familienhotel Laurentius?
Familienhotel Laurentius is a 4-star superior baby and children’s hotel in Fiss, the middle of the three villages that make up Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis in Tyrol. I stayed there last winter with Cooper, who wasn’t quite three at the time and too young to ski.
That made the hotel a much bigger part of the holiday than it would be on a normal ski trip. With a toddler, you’re not out from first lift to last. You’re back for naps, swims, snacks and early dinners, so where you stay really matters.
The Neururer family opened Laurentius in 1988 with just 40 beds, and it’s grown steadily since. The hotel now spreads across three buildings: the Sonnenhaus, Mondhaus and Sternenhaus. The adults-only spa arrived in 2018, an old swimming pool became an interactive play area in 2022, and 30 rooms in the Sternenhaus were completely refurbished across 2023 and 2024.
At peak times there are up to 120 children staying, so this is a lively hotel. If you’re after hushed corridors and quiet dinners, it isn’t for you. If you’ve got young children, though, that’s exactly the point. Everyone is in the same boat, so nobody is going to tut when your toddler kicks off at breakfast.
Fiss sits on a sunny plateau above the Upper Inn Valley, between Serfaus and Ladis, and all three villages are linked by cable car. Laurentius is around 50m from the slopes of the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis ski area, which has 214km of runs and 68 lifts.
Rooms at Familienhotel Laurentius
Laurentius has 16 different types of family suite, so there really is something for everyone. Most of them are built around the same idea, and it’s the one that matters most to parents: a separate children’s room.
That might sound like a small detail, but anyone who has shared a single hotel room with a toddler will know the difference. Once the kids are down, you’re not sitting in the dark whispering to each other. You’ve got your own space to read, have a drink on the balcony or just watch something.
Every family room comes with a balcony or terrace, a fridge, a flat-screen TV and a bathroom with a double basin. There’s also a baby monitor with a portable receiver, which is exactly the kind of thing you appreciate at 8pm. You’ll find a bag with towels and bathrobes for the pools and spa too, so you’re not lugging your own up and down. The floors are cork, which is softer and warmer underfoot than tiles.
If you’re choosing a suite, these are the ones that stand out for different families:
- Suite Anna (around 40m²) is the best value, with a walk-in wardrobe, and works well for one or two children.
- Suite Tirol (around 60m²) has room for several cots, plus a separate kids’ room with a bunk bed. It’s a good pick if you have a baby and a toddler.
- Laurentius Suite (around 50m²) has a kids’ room with a bunk and a single bed, and the bottom bunk can be turned into a cot.
- Suite Sternenglanz (around 50m²) has two raised beds instead of a bunk, which suits older children.
- Mondscheinsuite (around 70m²) has two bathrooms and a separate sleeping area for grandparents.
Food and restaurants at Familienhotel Laurentius
Every stay at Laurentius is on full board, and I was really impressed with the food. Each evening Cooper and I would do this dance where I would load up his plate from the kid’s buffet, before steaming through a five-course dinner myself before he crashed out. I have to say though, all the food at Hotel Laurentius is absolutely delicious. I’m a massive foodie, so the dinners were a real highlight for me.
The rest of the day is just as relaxed. Breakfast is a buffet from 7.30am to 10.30am. They also put on a buffet lunch for people who were still in the hotel, and they had cake/snacks from 3-5pm too. The afternoon cake and snacks (usually popcorn) quickly became a part of our daily routine. Children can also have a supervised lunch in their own dining room at noon which is really handy if you want to stay out on the slopes.
Things to do at Familienhotel Laurentius
The indoor and outdoor play areas are fantastic, the kids’ club is brilliant, and the pools and saunas mean everyone can unwind after a day in the snow.
Family Water World
The Family Water World is the hub of the hotel for kids. There’s an indoor family pool with a triple racer slide, where three lanes run side by side so you can race each other down. Little ones have a children’s pool with a water play station, plus a separate baby pool. There’s also an outdoor panoramic pool that’s heated all year round, with a sun deck looking out over the mountains.
When it’s -18°C outside, as it was on one of our walks, a heated pool on your doorstep makes a big difference. The hotel also runs a swimming school, which is worth asking about if your children are learning.
Cooper’s favourite thing was the slides. He would go round and round and round racing me each time. He would’ve done that for hours if I let him!
SPAmilia family sauna
SPAmilia is a family sauna area where everyone keeps their swimwear on, so children can join in. It has a large bio sauna, an aroma steam room, a relaxation room and a lounge. There’s also a dedicated late check-out area, which is handy if your transfer doesn’t leave until the afternoon.
S’PAnorama adults-only spa
For a lot of parents, this is the part that matters most. S’PAnorama is the hotel’s adults-only spa, open to over-16s, and it’s there to give parents a proper break from the noise.
It has an outdoor infinity pool up on the roof, a panorama sauna, an aroma steam room and a relaxation room. At around 200m², it’s a compact space rather than a sprawling wellness centre, but that’s not really the point. Combined with childcare that runs until 9pm, the whole setup is built so you can hand the kids over and have a couple of hours to yourselves. There’s also a beauty and massage department, plus a gym.
When I used the outside heated pool, it was dark and snowing outside which gave it a proper winter wonderland feeling. I just wish I had someone to share it with!
STAR.Club and the kids’ facilities
Now we’re talking. The kids’ club, STAR.Club, is brilliant. The play areas are huge, with around 1,500m² of space spread over three indoor areas, plus a big playground outside, a rooftop play terrace and a garden.
Older kids will love the STAR.Fun.Area, which used to be the hotel’s swimming pool. Now it’s packed with a climbing wall, an interactive trampoline and an airbag you can jump into from the floor above.
Childcare is free, seven days a week, from 8.30am to 9pm, in both summer and winter. The Baby.CLUB has its own area for babies from birth up to their third birthday, with soft toys, a crawling tunnel, a cuddle corner and a puppet theatre. The STAR.Club takes children up to the age of 15.
Because the childcare is FREE (yes, you read that right), there’s no mental maths about whether an hour is worth paying for. You can drop the kids off for a swim in spa or a quiet coffee, then pick them up again later. That flexibility is where a hotel like this really makes life easier. As I said, it’s all about everyone having time for themselves, not just you or the kids.
Skiing from Laurentius
The hotel is prorably around a 5-minute walk to the ski lifts, so it’s really easy getting to the slopes. Obviously the hotel has a boot room to keep all your ski gear.
The Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis ski area is one of the best I’ve been to, especially for families. It has 214km of slopes, 68 lifts and 125,000m² of snow areas just for children. Younger kids learn at Berta’s Kinderland between Fiss and Ladis, and Berta’s Kindergarten in Fiss takes babies from three months old.
I did manage to get on the slopes for a few runs which was brilliant, but this trip was more about what you could do in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis with the kids that wasn’t just skiing.
Things to do with a toddler who doesn’t ski
Cooper was too young to ski, so we spent our days doing everything else, and the hotel made that easy. The hotel lends out buggies and toboggans for free, which made all of this much easier.
We caught the cable car up to Steinegg and tobogganed the Witches’ run back down to Fiss. We were going pretty fast, Cooper got pelted with snow on the way down, and he still loved it. Another day we walked from Fiss to Ladis with the hotel’s buggy, past Wolfsee and through Berta’s Indianerland, a Wild West themed play area, ending at Laudeck Castle. It was -18°C and somehow the lake still wasn’t frozen.
At the top of the Schönjochbahn, we spent a good hour at the Kinder-Bergwerk playground before warming up with a hot chocolate at BergDiamant. If you want more ideas, I’ve written a full guide to things to do in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis with kids in winter.
My experience staying at Hotel Laurentius
I absolutely loved staying at Familienhotel Laurentius, and I’d recommend it to any family with young children heading to the Austrian Alps.
The hotel’s motto is “bei uns sind ALLE glücklich”, which roughly translates as “everyone’s happy here”. With a toddler in tow, that’s a bold promise. On our stay, it held up.
What really stood out for me were the thoughtful touches. The marble run at check-in, the free buggy and toboggan, the baby monitor in the room, and a kids’ buffet that opens before the five-course dinner. None of them would make the cover of a brochure, but together they take the hassle out of travelling with young children.
The food was genuinely delicious, the play areas and kids’ club were fantastic, and the location made getting to the lifts simple. And I will say this again – they have FREE childcare, which is such a selling point. It felt like the entire hotel had been designed with families in mind, because it has.
So is it good value? It isn’t cheap. Suites start at around €198 per person per night, with separate rates for children. But that price includes full board, free childcare from birth for twelve and a half hours a day, the pools and both spa areas. Once you add up what you’d pay separately for meals and childcare at a regular ski hotel, the premium for a dedicated family hotel starts to make a lot of sense.
I’d recommend Laurentius to families with babies, toddlers and primary-age children, especially if you’re mixing ski days with non-ski days or travelling with a child who’s too young for the slopes. It’s also a great choice if you want some time to yourselves without leaving the building.
So would I recommend Familienhotel Laurentius to another family? Yes, without hesitation, if your children are young. Cooper had a brilliant time, the dinners were genuinely delicious, and the whole hotel is set up to make life easier for parents. That’s exactly what you want from a family hotel in the Alps.
Have you stayed at Familienhotel Laurentius, or another Kinderhotel in the Alps? I’d love to hear how you found it. And if you’ve got any questions about staying here with kids, drop me a comment below and I’ll help out as much as I can!
If you’re flying in, it’s well worth adding a night in the city, so have a read of my things to do in Innsbruck in winter and the best boutique hotels in Innsbruck, plus these day trips from Innsbruck. Comparing ski resorts? My guide to skiing in Fügen in the Zillertal is a great place to start, and if you fancy Tyrol in summer, here are the best things to do in Alpbach.
