The best thing about Breathtaker was the Signature Restaurant. The chef exceeded all our…read moreexpectations with a vegan feast for my very easily disheartened vegetarian family. I'm not vegetarian and even I thoroughly enjoyed the multitude of overflowing platters of delicious dishes. Considering vegetarians are barely catered for at Buller I recommend you call ahead and see if you can talk the chef into doing a vego meal for you too. Not sure if you have to be a guest or not, but I get the impression that a large passionate foodie group might be accommodated. They have a descent wine list, good coffee and stunning views.

Great location right on the beginners slope. The staff couldn't me more accommodating. Handy…read morecoffee shop for a hot chocolate watching the skiers descend the mountain. Lovely new restaurant - the Wood Room. Excellent ski hire service.

My family and I stayed at Arlberg for 3 nights as part of a winter driving holiday. It's no luxury…read moreski lodge, but for families it's fine. We booked a larger apartment with balcony and kitchen so that we could cook some meals. It was fantastic having the balcony, but as a corner room I sometimes couldn't sleep with the driving rain and wind making so much noise! The room itself wasn't great. Our double bed and pillows were extremely uncomfortable and, oddly, no beds came with sheets, just quilts with covers. The kitchen itself had poor equipment and this was an incredible frustration. The stove and oven didn't work well. There were only two large mugs, odd in this cold environment which just screams out for hot chocolate, and one of those mugs was chipped. Thankfully, the rooms were heated really well, including the bathroom. Lots of guests would have appreciated that. The staff were lovely and friendly. The atmosphere in the dining / recreation areas was relaxed, but some of the furniture and equipment is showing wear and tear. It looks somewhat like a school facility. Wifi was apparently available in the common areas, but didn't work for me. One of the great features of the Arlberg Hotel is that it sits atop Mount Buller and you can venture out of the doorway and straight onto the slopes. It also has ski hire within its facility and the large staff team there is incredibly attentive and knowledgeable. I think I'd save up to stay elsewhere next time, unless I hear the Arlberg has had a refit.

If you've ever wondered if people get cabin fever ontop of a mountain and go a bit strange then…read morethis is the place to go and observe a wide variety of most likely normal, lovely people turned into frogs (ok maybe not literally frogs but common sense does seem to check itself out at the door). Unfortunately this doesn't go just for the patrons but also the staff. Whilst typically lovely and almost friendly they do seem to all be suffering from the same snow induced fever. Over the past four seasons I've seen quite a few different rounds of staff all in developing stages of suffering. The space here is large. And crowded. Despite the vast space it's poorly used. Bar is here, food is there, the chair chairs tables wet floors. Such. Slippery wet floors which you have to slide across to order your food. The price of food here is rather amusing. You don't have to be from Melbourne to know what the hipsters are enjoying. Just look at the prices in the menus. This year you will happily hand over $27 for a Parma, $22 for a pulled pork roll and $22 for an open lamb souvlaki. Sides set you back a lucky $8 each. Yet not all the menu is over zealously priced. $18 for pumpkin gnocchi, $22 for fish and chips. Yeah ok it's a bit steep but you are paying Tourist prices and not that much more than a Melbourne cafe. But it is still a lot of money for basic cafe/pub inspired food. Our lunch was a neat $20 for a bowl of chips and pumpkin-sweet potato soup. The soup alone was enough to feed two hungry snow bunnies. 5/5 for flavour, texture and general amazingness. Despite the 45min wait and the three staff members vaguely checking our order the soup was the all might forgiving star. The soup though could not forgive the dangerously wet floors, disgusting state of the ladies room and the general lack of tidiness and care shown by the staff.

When the weather outside was poor, ABOM became our sanctuary with a quiet place to sit, drink…read moreCoffee and Hot Chocolate and enjoy the food. The staff made us feel welcome and we did not feel like we had to drink and run. At lunchtime we had their 'famous' pizzas that were delicious and reasonable value for mountain food! Definitely a great place to hide while waiting for the kids to finish their lessons!

Overpriced food and poor service. $25 for a Hawaiian pizza!read more