Tennis holiday in the Austrian Alps

"SIX!" screamed Todd, as he sent a ball hurtling down the slope. Here we were - two adults and three under-10s on a short, half-term break from our homes in the UK - in the middle of the Alps, playing an impromptu game of cricket, English-village style.

The game was at the instigation of Connie Hinterberger, the 30-something Austrian who runs the Tennis Hotel Wolfgangsee with her family.

This was just the kind of hospitality my friend, Gretchen, and I had quickly become used to.

From the minute we arrived, nothing proved too much trouble for Connie and her staff - from keeping the breakfast buffet going just for us on the first morning we arrived, exhausted from a 3am start to catch our low-cost flight from Stansted, to keeping an eye on the children while we strolled down into the village of St Wolfgang.

Connie's father started the Tennis Hotel more than 30 years ago on land purchased on the slopes above the Wolfgangsee lake, 50 km east of Mozart-mad Salzburg.

He had never picked up a tennis racket in his life, but recognised a gap in the market, offering tennis-loving Europeans top-quality hospitality and food, together with the chance to play tennis and have top-class coaching in an indoor environment.

Today, Carl Kassier and Llewellyn King are the two professional head coaches, assisted by Pravesh Mahabeer and English coach, Damian Scott.

All packages to the hotel include a daily, 90-minute coaching session - something that I, with my rather individual playing style, was dreading. In fact it turned out to be tremendous fun.

Groups of no more than four per court rotate every half an hour or so, meaning you get a chance to learn new techniques from each of the three coaches in each session.

Whether you are a seasoned pro, a novice, adult or child, the coaches proved incredibly slick and were experts at making one feel at ease.

Something as simple as moving my hand further down the racket handle on my serve has made so much difference! No wonder the hotel has been named as one of Ace magazine's top ten tennis resorts in Europe.

In addition to the three indoor courts, there are three clay courts outside but, due to an early snowfall, we didn't get the chance the try them out.

The snow meant the three children spent countless happy hours bum-boarding on the snowy hillsides around the hotel. Thank goodness for the jacuzzi in the spa area of the hotel, where the children had free reign and were able to thaw out after each soaking on the slopes.

With so much emphasis on tennis, it goes without saying that an interest in the sport is a draw card to the hotel but the Hinterbergers are by no means exclusively focused on it.

Both Connie and her brother, Hubert, are trained gourmet chefs and the five-course dinner each night bears testament to their skills.

Connie says she became so adept at writing out recipes for her guests that she realised there had to be a demand for cooking courses together with the tennis, hence the introduction of the luxury culinary spa and tennis breaks.

Or you can go for one of their Fitness Weeks, which combines healthy eating with all the exercise you can wish for, from tennis to Nordic walking, organised running sessions and horse riding.

Not to mention the spa at the end of a long, tiring day - use of the sauna, steam bath and solarium are all free but the Jacuzzi needs a token, much to the distress of our children!

And, being in the Austrian Alps, skiing is an integral part of the winter activities.

Because St Wolfgang is situated on the edge of the lake, getting to the ski areas does involve a short bus ride, but the ski runs around Postalm are perfect for beginners, while the Zwölferhorn mountain at nearby St Gilgen offers great areas for the more experienced skier and snowboarder.

"That wasn't out," shouted the enthusiastic young cricketer in our midst, as the tennis ball once again hit the handbag which was doubling as the stumps.

And the next ball was whacked with such force that it went sailing down the snowy slope towards the shores of the Wolfgangsee.

Val Proctor