Patrick

OK, here we are planning a trip through the Dolomites for next August. Wouldn't you think that would be early enough? But we've already received two emails back from selected hotels that they are fully booked. Yes, we knew it would be busy then, but weren't ready for this. To begin with most hotels require half or full board then and at least a three night minimum stay. We may have to give in either on the length of stay or the board thing, but we refuse to stay at a place where we need to eat dinner three nights in a row. We were hoping to stay in Cortina for two nights, then take a day to drive and explore the pass, and stay in Ortesi for two nights before going on to Lake Garda. We really thought we'd found our answer with the Montana, which doesn't have a restaurant so they didn't require any meals, but they too are full. We really prefer staying right in the center of towns, not out in the countryside. Any suggestions?

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Buon giorno Patrick, We stayed at the Montana in Cortina for 2 nites in 1999. Perfect location next to the bell tower in the heart of town--hope you can get it. In Ortisei, try the Anglo-Engel for good value. You can find them on the Val Gardena site. However, consider staying in Castelrotto instead. There are 3 good hotels in the heart of this charming village, but 2 of them are 4 stars and are often booked. The best deal is at Hotel Zum Wolf you can see at www.hotelwolf.it We stayed at the Post Hotel Lamm last month but probably paid more than we needed to. Good luck

beth

We did a vacation this pass summer which included 2 nights in Lake Garda. We stayed at the Grand Hotel and loved it. I would highly recommend it. We traveled North through the Dolimites and stayed in Ortisei at Hotel Adler. This hotel is like a spa and had more of a German flair. If you like a spa type of place you may want to check this out.
Beth

Mariarosa

Hi Patrick! I can personally recommend the Cavallino d'Oro in Castelrotto www.cavallino.it The town of Castelrotto is very small and charming. They will require half-board and they may require a minimum-night stay. Their food was pretty good - we stayed 5 nights, and only the last night we felt a little tired of the food. From Castelrotto you can easily visit the Alpe di Suisi and Val Gardena (30 minutes from each).

Now, I haven't stayed at any of these, but I am researching them for an upcoming trip:
To avoid the half-board issue, my recommendation is to check out the Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano (in Alta Badia). It is a Relais and Chateaux and their rates are bed-and-breakfast, so you won't have to take half-board over there. They have two restaurants on the property - a more formal one, and an informal "stuebe".

Another option is to choose a hotel with a restaurant that is supposed to be very good. One option is in Armentarola (Alta Badia), the Ciasa Salares. Their restaurant La Siriole is supposed to be escellent. http://www.altabadia.it/ciasa/index.html Also, the Hotel La Perla , in Corvara (also Alta Badia) is supposed to have wonderful food too. http://www.altabadia.it/laperla/

Finally, an excellent resource for links and information on hotels in the Dolomites is www.dolomitisuperski.com - they have an excellent search function. Good luck!

Jim

We requested room reservations from the Hotel Zum Wolf in Castelrotto for July and were told they would not take reservations until winter. Have stayed at hotel Angelo Engel in past and thought their food was excellent-no problem eating there 3 nites.

Patrick

Isn't this fun? Some hotels say that it is too early to take reservations for July and yet some are already sold out for then. I tried the Dolimitisuperski site which tells me via their search function that there are no 3,4,or 5 star hotels available for my dates in August. I suppose that means that either it is too early for them to have them plugged in, or maybe because it is a ski site they don't even list summer dates? I checked out Hotel Adler, which seems a bit remote? At least they don't require board, but the standard rooms are 263 Euros for my dates. That is a bit steep for this trip. When we need to book over 90 nights of hotels we need to try to keep most of them well below 150 per night, hopefully even less, but I realize we may have to up the ante a bit for the Dolomites in August. That's why I loved the Montana -- 128 Euros per night with breakfast for a charming small hotel with parking in the center of Cortina. Too bad it is already sold out, but I can understand why.
Maybe we are unique in that we literally seem to travel to eat. I don't care if the hotel we are staying in has the number one restaurant in the world, we'd prefer to venture out every night and find a different place, so how good the restaurant of the hotel is, really isn't the issue. We just like being in town where we can walk to a different place each night for dinner. That's why we hate the half-board idea. I suppose if we had to do half board for two nights, and just didn't use one night, that wouldn't be so bad.

Mariarosa

Hi Patrick! The Dolomiti Superski search function does not work for me with specific dates (It never retrieved any hotels last year, nor this year).

There's a way to search for hotels without looking at specific dates:
1) Click on "booking online"
2) Click on "Choose" (on the text of the page, NOT on the menu on the left)
3) Select the areas and click on "ALL accomodations (without consider availability)"

I think most places will take reservations for next August, but you may have to pay a deposit. One hotel that I'm considering in Val di Fiemme for February skiing is asking for a non-refundable deposit of 350 euros. I like the hotel very much, and it is great value, but I'm not used to reserving a hotel 3.5 months in advance that does not return a deposit if the reservation is cancelled 1 month in advance. I may bite the bullet and reserve send them the deposit today though.

Bill

Patrick -
We stayed at the Hotel Mendari in Cortina and the Hotel Cavallino d'Oro in Castelrotto. Both are very nice and neither requires half-board (breakfast is included in the room price.) The Cavellino d'Oro is very old and is right on the medieval plaza -- utterly charming. Mendari is a bit of a walk to the center of town, but there's a very pleasant paved trail off the road that runs right behind the hotel.

Very easy access from Castelrotto to the incredible hiking in the Alpe di Suisi. We avoided the up-hill part of the hike by taking one of the ski lifts, most of which are open in the summer. Stunning!

I posted a report of our trip last summer. Do a search on "Dolomites" to find it.

richard j vicek

Good afternoon, Patrick
Way back in the mid 70's we stayed in
Cortina at a wonderful old hotel called
thje AMPEZZO, via 29 Maggio, 15..
Recall oa very good ristrauante, and
being later September having a very
good heating system. Being old the
remodeled, the bathroom was as large
as the room and plus we had a terrace
being on the second floor. Have never returned there, would if could only
hope, we can someday.. Richard of
LaGrange Park, Il...

Patrick

Bill, thanks. Actually I had already printed off your report and lost track of it. I did a search on Cavallino d'oro, love it, and have requested a reservation for two nights. However, their website shows only half-board or full-board rates. If their web rates are correct however, at 106 Euros (53 per person) including half-board I don't see how we can go wrong. In fact we might even spring for a jr. suite at a total of 130 Euro with half-board. I assume their regular rooms must be very small. I have emailed several of the B&B only places in Cortina to see what comes of those. And after reviewing a number of the posts, I think we are ready to change our 2 nights in Ortisei for 2 nights in Castelrotto, especially if the Cavallino d'oro is available.

richard j vicek

Good afternoon, Patrick
Way back in the mid 70's we stayed in
Cortina at a wonderful old hotel called
thje AMPEZZO, via 29 Maggio, 15..
Recall oa very good ristrauante, and
being later September having a very
good heating system. Being old the
remodeled, the bathroom was as large
as the room and plus we had a terrace
being on the second floor. Have never returned there, would if could only
hope, we can someday.. Richard of
LaGrange Park, Il...
tel 0436 4241
tax 0436 2698
[email protected]

Jim

Patrick,
If you check out the website of Hotel Cavallino d'Oro,you will see that they offer a 20% reduction for room with breakfast only.

Patrick

Duh, gee Jim, you're right. I went back to the site and there it is staring me right in the face. Now I realize that we should be able to get a Jr. Suite there B & B only for less than 95 US per night. Sounds like a deal to me. Here's hoping that it will be available. Meanwhile I've gotten a couple of answers from places in Cortina -- including the very good looking 4 star Cortina Hotel which is right in the heart of the town which will offer B & B only at 220 Euro per night -- still steeper than we want to pay, but we'll see.

Fred

Patrick,
Rooms at the Cavillino D'Oro carry a 25% supplement for stays less than four days.

Laura

Patrick:

I know you didn't ask about restaurants but I just HAVE to pass on a recommendation. Though you may not end up sleeping in Cortina, if you are visiting it anyway, you should try to have a meal at the Tivoli. We ate this summer and it was one of the best meals we had during our 3-1/2 weeks in Europe. My fiance had ravioli with a bacon fat sauce over it -- I know, sound gross, but it was unbelievably delicious. We ate outside and the view of the Dolomites was spectacular. Someone (Paolo) on this website recommended we try to eat there and I am so glad we followed his advice. Eating there was one of our fondest memories of a great trip. I don't have the exact address but it is on the main road through town, just on the outskirts of town.

Patrick

Hmm, this thread came back to the top this morning with a couple of new posts. Thanks for the info. I thought I had posted yesterday but it must have disappeared, that I received an email from Cavallino d'Oro saying that it was too early to book for August and to check back with them the "end of June". Does anybody believe that they won't be fully booked by late June for August, since three of the places I've contacted are already completely booked for August? I just don't get it. No mention was made of the supplement for stays less than 4 days. Maybe they mean that if they have a couple of nights still open by late June that they will then consider my two night stay?

Joe

Patrick: We stayed two nights at the Cavallino d'Oro in Castleroto and loved it; right on the square. We opted for breakfast only and it worked out fine. There is a very nice restaurant right across the square (up by the Cavallino Parking Lot) called Zum Turn. Beutiful intrior with old world paneling, great garden view and "NO SMOKING". Dinner was very good as was service and a very good wine list (had an Amerone as I recall).

If you are into hiking, ask the receptionist for directions to the trail-head to a small 15th Century Castle down the hillside from Tagusens which is about two miles from Castelrotto. They have the details for several hikes. Good, narrow, windy two lane road. The hike to the Castle after crossing a meadow is straight down and then, returning, of course, straight up. But, the Castle is amazingly intact, beautifully done by a wealthy merchant and the interior rooms are wonderfully decorated. Tours are only in German (Austrian?). WE were fortunate that a Belgian Family that was in our tour spoke English and could interpret for us. Really one of the most impressive little Castles we have seen in all of Europe and the hike was fun. Before or after you take the trail-head to the Castle, go into the little Church in Tagusens. Also 15th Century. Beautiful! Town is the Church and about five buildings. Park on side of road anywhere. We saw a farmer and asked if we could park and he was fine with that.

When you come through the town of Castelrotto up to the main road (where all the flags are), cross the road and go up the hill. You will come to the trail-heads for about five different, well marked trails into some of the most beautiful country you have ever hiked in. What views! You will see a little restarant off to the left (facing up hill) called Lift Steubel (that's close). It is a very pretty little restaurant right by the ski lift (hence, name). Great service, friendly propietress and very good bistro style food. Lots of locals eating there.

We did stay at Hotel Mesina in Cortina. Had the halfboard which I too try to avoid. But the restaurant is pretty and the food was good. service was frienly and excellent. Hotel is more like a Tyrlean Ski Resort, at least the annex whetre we stayed. Nice large room, well furnished and those big, fluffy comforters. Great area and the drives from location to location are awesome. You'll find yourself stopping at every turnout. Bring plenty of film. Great part of the World. Have fun.

Bill

Book in June for August? That seems VERY late. We booked in February, as I recall, for a 2-night stay in early July. You may want to press the matter a bit with the manager (owner?), since the hotel is such a unique place and you don't want to be blocked out. Maybe send them the reservation info and your credit card # by surface mail and ask them to send confirmation "at their earliest convenience" - or words to that effect. That way they can hold onto it for a while before processing the reservation, though I can't figure out why they would be unwilling to plug you in now. Maybe it's that August is the prime time for holidays by Europeans, and they want to book as many week-long stays as they can.

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Patrick, I have tried to book the Cavallino d'Oro 3 various times and have always gotten the run around. I think they are so popular that they can afford to wait for a better booking. You will be happy at either the Post Hotel Lamm or the Zum Wolf. They are all within 50 meters of each other.

Patrick

Thanks, Bob. I think you are right. I can't believe that they don't already have reservations on the books for next August, especially some of their regular returning visitors. I suspect that they don't really want us, but if by late June the bookings are really low, then maybe they'll consider letting us stay there. I don't need that attitude. Especially when other hotels have returned my emails with a polite "sorry, we are already fully booked for your dates in August." While sending the credit card info sounds like a sort of good idea, I can see my doing that, leaving in June and never hearing from them, assuming I don't have a room, then find out later they charged my card at the last minute. Meanwhile I don't want to get shut out altogether at such a busy time, so I feel I must book soon.