Loud bangs out of nowhere, flashing and shining skies, mini earthquakes caused by the firecrackers - all these are the kind of impressions that are terrible for our pets and also for animals living in the wild - so if you have a Bang-free New Year's Eve verbringen will, um seiner/seinem Liebsten einen entspannten Jahreswechsel zu ermöglichen, wird um eine ruhige Location nicht herum kommen.

We did some research on the internet and looked for hotels that offer a bang-free New Year's Eve. This time we decided on the Steinschaler Dörfl in the Lower Austrian Mostviertel region. 

Achtung – Persönliche Meinung: I think the shooting is simply awful and totally out of date. Without attacking anyone personally, I don't understand the compensation for a deficiency that people try to make up for with ever louder firecrackers. Be that as it may - tradition or not - for many people this is the worst day of the year and the louder and more violent it is, the worse it is. Honestly, if you shoot all your powder at midnight - then so be it.
Wenn man aber schon eine Woche vorher anfängt zu schießen, oder nach Neujahr nicht mehr aufhört damit – das kann ich einfach nicht verstehen.

Knallfreies Silvester mit Hund – aber wie?

Wenn man schon alles versucht hat, seinen Hund auf den Lärm und die Eindrücke zu gewöhnen und es einfach nicht fruchtet, so bleibt immer noch eine Möglichkeit: Urlaub in einem ruhigen Gebiet machen. Nach zahlreichem Durchforsten diverser Hunde-Hotel-Seiten stießen wir auf das Steinschaler Dörfl, which guarantees a bang-free New Year's Eve.

We were already very late with the booking, but were lucky that a double room was still available for us. We didn't hesitate and booked the room straight away by email.

Location of the Steinschaler Dörfl

The nature hotel for a bang-free New Year's Eve is located in the Lower Austrian district of St. Pölten Land in the Mostviertel region. only 90 minutes by car from Linz and Vienna.

It is easily accessible via the motorway and a few kilometres on the main road. The approach is via Frankenfels.

Manche Gäste, die aus Deutschland angereist sind, haben die Möglichkeit genutzt, um während des Aufenthaltes mal einen Tag in Wien zu verbringen – durch die verhältnismäßige kurze Entfernung ein toller Ausflugstipp.

Die ruhige Lage ist bewundernswert – weit und breit kaum Häuser und man ist hier sehr abgelegen in einer ruhigen Umgebung. Wenn man ein Zimmer mit Talblick hat, kann man lediglich den Nachbarn sehen, der einen Kilometer entfernt ist. Das wars. Eine wunderbare und traumhafte Naturlage.

Stay and price at Steinschaler Dörfl

If you want a bang-free New Year's Eve with your dog in the Steinschaler Dörfl verbringen möchte, muss seinen Aufenthalt als einen Wochenurlaub planen. Der Mindestaufenthalt dauert 6 Tage.

Möglichkeiten, diese 6 Tage sinnvoll zu verbringen, gibt es einige. Das Hotel bietet ein umfangreiches Programm an und auch die Natur in der Umgebung lädt zum Entdecken ein. Jeden Morgen beim Frühstück bekommt man zudem einen Tipp für einen Tagesausflug in der Umgebung.

The price for the 6 days including programme and half board for a double room is around €1900 (incl. daily breakfast buffet, daily evening buffet, New Year's Eve gala dinner, daily cake buffet and social programme)

Drinks are always charged extra (recorded during your stay and charged at the end when you check out). However, I have already taken this into account in the above price. Attention, the price is only an estimate from me - you get the offer in advance by email (ohne Getränke und Mittagessen).

Furnishings and rooms

I think the furnishings and style are typical of a nature hotel in this location. The hotel was furnished and designed exactly as I had imagined. You can find a picture gallery with our impressions below.

The rooms were clean and we felt very comfortable with our dog. Nothing was dirty or „messy“, despite the high number of dogs in this hotel. The guests are very considerate of each other here and the host also ensures that the surroundings are clean.

It is a very rural hotel and an old building - you should not expect a modern and newly furnished property. But that is not promised either.

For the dogs, there were water bowls at the entrance, water and food bowls in the room, fenced dog exercise areas and dog biscuits. You can tell that a lot of value is placed on man's best friend here.

Shaggy was also allowed everywhere - even in the dining room.

Supporting programme at the nature hotel

The Weiß family and the team make every effort to make the guests' stay as pleasant as possible. There was a Extensive supporting programme such as:

• Active into the day
• Bake a dog biscuit
• Punch & welcome
• Massage on New Year's Eve
• New Year's Eve hike to the wooden church 
• Handicrafts for the dog
• Gala dinner on New Year's Eve
• Late riser breakfast for New Year
• Kaiserschmarren in the Dörfl
• Nature garden tour
• Beaver - Guided tour

Langweilig wird einem bei diesem Programm auf jeden Fall nicht.

Culinary delights

The food at the hotel was really commendable. There was always a large selection of great dishes and always At least one vegan dish. Das vegane Gericht war nicht einfach ein Gemüselaibchen mit Reis – nein – es war immer ein super, vollwertiges und äußerst leckeres Essen. Großes Lob an dieser Stelle an die Küche!

Auch beim Kuchenbuffet gab es immer einen veganen Kuchen.

At the breakfast buffet, there is a table with extra vegan treats. Cheese and butter alternatives, vegetables, hummus, vegan milk substitutes and much more.

For everyone else, there was of course the classic breakfast buffet with eggs, sausage, cheese, muesli, etc.

New Year's Eve hike to the wooden church

The municipality of Schwarzenbach an der Pielach organises an annual New Year's Eve hike to the wooden church. Beim Abstieg geht man dem Sonnenuntergang mit Fackeln entgegen. Ein echt tolles Erlebnis für Jung und Alt!

Wir dachten, wir gehen bei diesem gemütlichen Spaziergang mit und hofften darauf, dass keine Raketen oder Böller währenddessen zu hören sind. Leider konnte man beim retour gehen ein paar Knaller aus sehr, sehr weiter Entfernung hören – das war jedoch so leise, dass es Shaggy nichts ausgemacht hatte.

Wer also so wie wir dachte, das wäre ein gemütlicher Spaziergang, derjenige wurde eines besseren belehrt – denn es war nicht gemütlich – es war tatsächlich sehr anstrengend. Die letzten Meter waren richtig steil und man hat sich sein Abendessen somit redlich verdient.

You should be sure-footed and experienced hikers generally have no problem with this hiking trail.

Brief key data:

Dauer ca. 2,5 Stunden

ca. 8,5km ausgehend vom Haslaustüberl

ca. 320 Höhenmeter

für fitte Hunde geeignet

Trittfestigkeit und Grundausdauer erforderlich

festes Schuhwerk notwendig

Wanderstöcke von Vorteil

rutschig durch Laub und Felsen

nur für geübte Kinder möglich

für Kinderwagen nicht geeignet

ATTENTION: We expressly point out that we accept no liability for accidents or possibly closed paths. Check the availability of the trail before you set off and check your own fitness.

Gala dinner on New Year's Eve

The gala dinner was really brilliant - so I was able to experience the turn of the year with a full stomach.

As a welcome drink there was a Elderberry lillet. In addition a small Sesame balls with herb butter. As a vegan starter, I was served a Savoy cabbage roulade with sweet potato cream. The next course was a Salad plate from the buffet. The Vegan cream of chive soup was then served to our table. As a warm starter we were then served Glass noodles with vegan spring roll and lemon cream sauce. 

The main course was again from the buffet and there was plenty of choice. Napkin dumplings, spinach, vegetables, potato gratin, bulgur, suckling pig, wild mushroom risotto, warm coleslaw and much more.

Habe mir selbstverständlich einen richtig bunt gemischten Teller angerichtet.

Als Nachspeise gab es Panna Cotta und einen Punschkrapfen.

Bang-free New Year's Eve with a dog - was the promise kept?

Um ehrlich zu sein – nein – es war nicht knallfrei. Der Nachbar hat um ca. Uhr 22:00 einige Böller und Raketen gezündet, wohlwissend, dass im Hotel nebenan viele Panikhunde sind.

Nevertheless, to be fair: It was bearable for us and Shaggy. It didn't last long and it was quiet at midnight. If I compare it to New Year's Eve at home, this was in a completely different league - it was relatively very, very quiet and we were so tired from the hike to the wooden church that we almost slept through the New Year.

For some dogs in the hotel, however, the firecrackers came as a surprise and they were extremely panicked despite the distance - for us, as mentioned, it was totally fine. We were also able to go for a normal walk after midnight, which would be completely impossible at home.

You also have the option of taking your dog into the hall on the ground floor, as you shouldn't hear any firecrackers there. Some people did this and I was told that it was really quiet and you couldn't hear the firecrackers.

Conclusion on the New Year's Eve holiday

So if you want to have a completely bang-free New Year's Eve with your dog, you'll probably never get a 1001TP3 guarantee. But if you want to have a very quiet and relaxed New Year's Eve, then you've come to the right place.

The 6-day stay is really long, but there are so many great ways to make the most of your time in the area.

As for the price, ok, that's debatable. But it was definitely worth it for the dog owners here and there were a lot of regular guests from previous years.

It was also very funny to see how many different dogs, owners and characters were here. A really funny and colourful group with cute dogs. From time to time you had the feeling of being stranded somewhere after a shipwreck and making the best of it.

We really enjoyed our stay and who knows - maybe we'll see you again next year?

Further recommendation

If you're looking for an excursion tip for the whole family, then you should definitely read this: Harry Potter: the exhibition in Vienna.

Der Beitrag Knallfreies Silvester mit Hund – Urlaub im Steinschaler Dörfl NÖ erschien zuerst auf muats drawig.