When you get there...

INFORMATION FOR GUESTS

Getting there from Salzburg Airport.

If you are flying to Salzburg airport and hiring a car, follow these directions for the 75 minute journey: The car rental offices are on the ground floor of the building opposite you as you leave the terminal building. After checking in with car rental, the cars are parked on the floor below and found by turning right out of the office main door, first on the right through a door, down the steps and in the red door marked “U” on the right. The car can be brought up to the office door to load luggage but don’t stay long there. Once in the car, drive left around the back of the multi-storey parking building and then turn right at the monument. Follow the road round to the right to the traffic lights, taking the centre lane. Basically you are heading for Villach until you get to Radstadt. Go straight over the lights and immediately get in the left-hand lane to go down the under-pass. Approach the roundabout (when you return the car at the end of the trip you will need to fuel up and the nearest petrol station is here) in the left hand lane and go straight over, avoiding the first slip road off to the right to Wein and Linz. Take the next slip road right, sign Villach A1 and E55/E60, bringing you onto the autobahn. After two kilometres slip off right onto the A10/E55, the road you join if you’ve driven from Munich on the A8. (Note that many roads are coded with both a blue and a green number). You leave this autobahn after 62 kms, about thirty five minutes, at exit 63, sign Radstadt/Graz on road 320/99. About five kilometres later, by-passing Radstadt, fork right at the blue 320 exit, sign Graz/Wien/Schladming on the road E651/320. This road by-passes Schladming, and after a further 20 kilometres you turn off to  Mirlhof.

Returning to Salzburg at the end of your stay, you go almost past the city before turning off the autobahn. Be watchful as it is very easy to miss the airport exit.

Getting there from Graz Airport (About 2 hours):

Car Hire companies often have a representative who will meet you at the Information Desk. The airport is on the south side of Graz. Leave the Airport  and turn left at the first roundabout. Go straight over the next roundabout. Go over the autobahn and filter left immediately onto it, sign A2 Klagenfurt. After a kilometre filter off onto the A9 towards Linz and Wien. Have 8 Euros handy for the road toll. After about 20km Wein branches off right. Stay left on the A9 for an hour or so to Linz and Liezen. Soon after Rottenman, branch off left on the 320 to Liezen. Go through all traffic lights then onwards towards Radstadt and Salzburg. About 20 mins after Liezen, St Martin village will be signposted on the right. About 2 km later turn right, signposted “no through road” right and Mitterberg left. The no through road leads to Prenten and Mirlhof.

Getting back to Graz Airport

On the return journey, keep an eye on the airport signs, especially coming out of the numerous tunnels around Graz. As well as the Airport sign you are basically following the painted signs on the road SLO for Slovenia. After the last long tunnel south of Graz, swing off towards SLO, then follow the  “Flughafen” sign off the autobahn.  Fuel up by turning left at the airport control tower roundabout to Feldkirchen. Turn right at the lights, and there is a fuel station on the left after 2 km.

Mirlhof and its immediate location.

About five minutes after passing the last of the three Grobming village exits, and later the Lengdorf  village signed on the left, you will see the sign and lane markings off for Tipschern, also on the left. Barely fifty meters after the Tipschern turn off, slip LEFT off the main road at the next cross-road sign, which shows an arrow but no name to the left and Mitterberg to right. Take this road to the left, leading to a narrow lake in the pass between two mountains. Prenten is 2 Km up this road, beyond the second 40 km. speed sign, at the edge of a wood. Soon after a flat section of road and then a right hand rising hair-pin bend, you reach a small cluster of farm houses. At what looks like a bus shelter (for milk churns) turn left and finally after 100 meters turn right after the white house. Mirlhof is the second chalet on the left. (See location map)

The chalet is built in the NE corner of a gently sloping meadow between two farms; it is one of six houses individually built for families for their holidays or retirement over the last ten years. All have been locally built in traditional-styles in their own plots, all fenced in and sharing water & drainage with the local farms. We’ve put in some trees, and if the summer is dry we’d greatly appreciate any watering you might do.

Erica Hirz and her husband who keep an eye on the house, and have their own key, live in the hamlet at the bottom of the hill. With your back to the main valley road, their house is on the left side of the right-hand bend just before the first ascent. It is the right-hand of the second last pair of houses with a common driveway. The last pair are 50 meters beyond, on the outside elbow of the bend. (Erika’s house is easily recognisable in summer because of it’s garden flowers). She speaks no English. If you are not a UK resident, you can pick up Mirlhof’s house key from Erika.

Mirlhof is a spacious family house with four bedrooms and separate bathrooms and toilets on all three floors, it can easily accommodate a second family.

We suggest you use the ski room entrance as the main door to the building, so keeping the remainder of the house clean.

The ground floor includes a workshop which contains snow-shovels, tools, axe, scythe etc. and remains usefully cold in the summer for vegetable/beer storage. It may be kept locked for child safety because of the sharp tools. There is a second house key on the kitchen key rack. 

Vehicles

The lane past the house must be kept clear for neighbours cars and the snow plough which comes most days in winter.

There is hard-core standing for two cars on ground at the front of the house. A third car can be parked off the road on its north side under the kitchen window (part of the fence is detachable). Driving up and down inclines may very occasionally need snow chains if the snow is deep or icy underneath. The house has four sets of snow chains of various sizes from Clio size to Golf/Astra, (in brown bags) and for a Cavalier-size car (in red boxes). Magnetic type ski racks holding two pair of skis each can be hired at the airport car rental. There are also some at Mirlhof.

What you should take with you.

These notes, house keys, torch in winter, your own towels.

Arrival and departure from the house.

On arrival :

·      Enter the house by the lower door down the steps. There is an outside light switch by the entrance if you arrive at night (NB to lock the higher level door, it’s handle must be lifted up first to engage the latch)

Central Heating

The oil-fired boiler/central heating is programmed to provide central heating and hot water, and also frost-free protection during the winter when the house is unoccupied (Erika keeps an eye out in case it should go out). If you have a heating problem, there is a maintenance contract with Steinerhaus, opposite Billa, the first supermarket in Grobming. Tell them its for 35 Prenten, and they will sort out any problems and invoice us directly.  Their emergency telephone number is behind the pipes on the boiler room wall. To ensure the house remains frost-free the boiler remains on throughout the winter. The shutters should be closed when no one is staying in the house.

·      Go through the ski-room to the hallway where you’ll find the door to the boiler room opposite you.

·      The switch in the hallway on the outside-right of the boiler room door is the master switch for the central heating system. It works upside down to UK switches.

Winter (Nov. 1^st to April 30^th).

This master switch will already be on and it is essential to check that this is on when you finally leave. – or the water pipes will freeze.

·      Inside the boiler room (light switch inside on right) find the boiler controls.

Ignore all these except the left-hand two buttons: pressing the 2nd from the left turns the heating from frost protection to automatic central heating and hot water programme. The extreme left button puts it back to frost protection at the end of your stay.

The thermostatic valves on the individual radiators will need turning up to No 4 setting.

·      In the unlikely event of a previous power-cut the timer may show the wrong time. If so remove the instruction booklet and underneath there are various buttons, a digital clock and a strip indicator. The flashing cursor on the strip corresponds to the digital clock. To correct the clock, press the Day/Time button and use the two arrow buttons above it to alter the time. Finally pressing the auto button on the left of the main panel puts the heating back on, and the cursor should now be at the correct time. If you have any other difficulties please call Steiner.

Summer

The master switch will be off. Switch it ON and follow the above instructions to provide you with hot water and central heating.

In summer turn the radiator valves down if you don’t need heating.

·      There are shutters on all windows, accessed by opening each window and held in place by catch on the outside wall - windows and balcony doors open in two planes, handles are horizontal for fully open and when vertically-up they hinge from the bottom for ventilation

·      Turn on the fridge by plugging in the wall socket above the cupboard above the fridge.

·      The bed linen is stored in the cupboard in the large right bedroom on the upper floor.

·      Please familiarise yourself with the locations and operation of fire extinguishers.

On departure :

We would be grateful if you could leave the house in the condition you would wish to find it yourselves.

·      Please sweep through the house. Clean bathrooms, toilets, and the kitchen oven

·      Empty and clean the fridge, leave the door open and turn off by pulling out it’s plug at the wall socket above the fridge. Put all perishable foods in the outside dustbin marked 35 at the end of the lane.

·      Check throughout the house that all free-standing electrical appliances are disconnected from their wall sockets, including the ski waxing iron in the workshop.

·      Ignore all the boiler controls except the far left-hand button: pressing it turns the heating back to frost control. In summer turn the master switch off, in winter, leave it on.

·      Turn all the thermostatic valves on the radiators down to 1

·      Close all the shutters. Please check that the upright rods “catch” the hooks.

·      Please fold all the used bedding and put in the ski room.

·      Lock external doors.

·      Leave one set of house keys on the kitchen key-hook. If you collected house keys from Erika Hirz, leave them at her door. If you are UK based, please send them to Peter Wrate.

·      Close the fence

Facilities in the house.

 The kitchen has a toaster and kettle, an oven with four rings, fridge, micro-wave, dish washer (programme B) and full range of kitchen utensils. Brooms, dustpans etc are in the larder; there is a rubbish bin for the house at the bottom of the lane (collected on a Monday). Bin liners are in the kitchen or larder. There are some board games - incl. Trivial Pursuits - in the living area, and a guitar, violin, electric piano, penny whistles and radio/audiocassette player; badminton racquets and two A4 ring binders with tourist information.

There is a washing machine, iron and board, and various buckets in the ski room. There is a small barbecue there, which should only be used outside; snow shovels and spade are usually left with the tools in the workshop, plus a bike-rack for a car. There is plenty of cross-country ski equipment (adults and children’s sizes) and four bikes.

As you will appreciate, bikes do go wrong occasionally, and if you have a problem with one, it is in everybody’s interests to get it fixed before you leave. Please take it to the bike/sports shop in Grobming “Mandl” on the High Street on the right hand side. They are very helpful and speak good English. I will reimburse you on your return when you send me the receipt. If you can’t get it repaired, please let me know as soon as you are back.

If you want to use the 4-bike roof rack, and you are hiring a car, ask for one with roof rails - to which the Thule rack attaches. There are two different lengths of roof bars in the house.  There are also rain gutter clamps if your car has no roof rails, as well as clamps and bars for an Opel/Vauxhall Astra estate as these roof rails are different. Failing that you can buy various other Thule fittings from the “Furstinger” shop. That is located just beyond Liezen on the right of the main road and just beyond the petrol station after Kika. In 2004 the shop was yellow, and the entrance is at the back. It costs about £40 for the clamps but if you leave them at Mirlhof I will reimburse you 50% on production of the receipt. There are various keys which I have tried to colour code appropriately. Please leave all the bike “bits” tidily on the wooden shelves in the workshop.

The Little Things.

The best supermarket is Landmark’s Spar, reached by taking the first Grobming slip road from Mirlhof, left at the first roundabout and its on the right. It is open until 7.00pm Mon – Fri and at least 5.00pm on Saturdays. It has great cakes!  Billa supermarket is also quite good for meat and vegetables.

If you arrive after hours at the beginning of your holiday, many petrol stations sell milk and bread/cheese

Most petrol stations take VISA.

Switch cards which are “Maestro” are acceptable almost everywhere – but don’t always work!

You can take money out of the “wall” with both a VISA card or EC card if you have a PIN number. The machine in Grobming is only accessible when the bank is open, but Schladming’s town square has one on an outside wall. The banks shut at midday Saturday.

The lounge fire needs to be small otherwise the room gets too hot.

The glass of the stove should be cleaned at least every three days – or the tar bakes on too hard to clean. It’s easy with oven cleaner, kitchen towel from the kitchen cupboard and a bit of hot water. (bucket and marigolds in ski room).

When shutting the lounge double-shutters, lift from outside to engage the bottom catch.

Trains leave about every 2 hours from Schladming to Salzburg (for general info: www.salzburginfo.at) and take about 90 minutes. Salzburg main station is 10 minutes walk to the Old Quarter. Some trains require a change en route at Bischofshofen with a 20 min wait. The 2005 summer schedule is: first train 6.50 am, last train 19.17. Cost: Euros 66 return (for the group) for a group of three adults. Schladming Station provides an up to date printout of travel times and costs. Some trains stop at Grobming’s station at Mitterberg but some connections are not great so it probably simpler to catch trains at Schladming.

Radio Danube FM 103 has news and weather in English on the hour (on the black radio at Mirlhof – can’t seem to get it on the silver radio)

There is free internet access in Grobming after 10.00am-

Location: In Grobming turn right past the old church towards the Tourist Info Office.On the first street on the right and opposite the back of the church there is a blue building. Go in the main door and right up the stairs into what appears to be a hotel lounge. Ask there. On the Austrian keyboard the @ is made using the Ctrl/Alt/@ keys.

You can get a three day weather forecast from the Tourist Info Office in Grobming (spoken in English or printed out in German). From the web you can get a German language 3 day printable weather forecast on www.wetter.orf.at Navigate through Steirmark then “mehr” for further 5 days, or Salzburg, then Radstatt for up to 7 days in diagramatic form.

The road along the lake between Mirlhof and Bad Mitterndorf is closed for repairs until at least summer 2007.

"Many local people, particularly in shops, will greet you with “Gruss Gott”. The same thing is said in reply.

If you end up with lots of small Euro change there is an auto machine in the “Erstebank”, on right at the end of the high street. It sorts the change and gives you a ticket which you take to a teller and get paper money.

To preserve the wooden floors please don’t wear outside shoes indoors.

In Schladming, the car parking blue zones are for residents only.

Snow Chains:

The Rubbish

In Austria there is a commendable policy of mandatory waste recycling which causes some problems for a holiday home such as ours. We haven’t quite got a handle on it yet, but it appears that:

Yellow bin liners are supplied by the Council and must only be used for plastic bottles, tetra packs, styrofoam and tins. There should be some spare ones beside the green dustbin at the bottom of the stairs. These yellow bags can be left at the milk churn shelter at the corner where the Alte Papier green skip is located. They are collected monthly..

Paper and cardboard can be left in the green skip (marked “alte papier”) at the mike churn shelter.

Black and any other colour (apart from yellow) bin liners can be used for your normal rubbish and can be put in Mirlhof’s own dustbin, marked 35, and located at the end of the our lane. Please don’t put cardboard and bottles in the house dustbin or the council won’t collect the rubbish.

Most supermarkets in Grobming have a recycling area and cardboard boxes, bottles and yellow bags can be left here at any time. This is probably the best bet, and you should note that there is a machine in side the Landmark shop which will accept, weigh and give you credit for most of your bottles.

Smoking in Mirlhof

We would ask that you do not smoke in the building. A comfortable chair in the sun on the balcony will provide a good Condor moment.

Visitors Book

On the shelves near the dining table there is a Visitors Book (dusky pink) in which we hope you will write some comments about your stay.

Suggestions welcome ! Once you’ve been to the house, if there is information you feel would have been useful to have known before hand, or requires updating, advice, good places to eat/visit etc. - please let us know and we’ll include it in future information sheets. Please also add anything of interest to the file of pamphlets, piste maps etc on the bookshelves in the living room.

We very much hope you will enjoy your stay.

Our phone numbers in UK:

If you need to contact us, day or night,

Peter Wrate 0044 (0) 1651 872889

Robert Wrate 0044 (0) 131 447 2231

Back to TOP

About the chalet

Inside the chalet

Places to visit

Places to eat

Winter sports

Summer activities

Costs and availability

Back to Home