This summer is testing our endurance, stamina, and love of new places. We did not find one continuous accommodation for the summer or for next winter's skiing, so we will have to hop from chalet to apartment to hotel every week or two. In the chalets and apartments, we will not have any bellmen or help, so we will be schlepping all of our worldly possessions--summer and winter clothes and ski gear--from place to place. This will be true next winter too. If it sounds horrific, it probably will be.
Our first accommodation in the Dolomiti
We arrived at our first accommodation on 19 July, and it was chilly. It stayed rainy and chilly until the beginning of August, when it suddenly became summer and very hot. So much for coming to the mountains for cool weather!
Our first accommodation was fabulous--we loved it and it was nearly perfect for us. The owners, Cinzia and Markus, did everything that they could to make us feel welcome and cared for. The views were breathtakingly spectacular, and the outdoor Jacuzzi was perfect at 40° C in the beautiful garden with the fabulous views. It was in the Selva di Val Gardena area, and we liked the neighborhood too. We loved the price too of Chalet Ski (La Selva street 109/B 39048 Selva di Val Gardena, Dolomites, Italy, info@chaletski.it, +39 339 8642719): 442.85€.
The layout of the chalet with its two bedrooms and two bathrooms was good, and there was enough storage (although the open closets were a little down-market). Everything else in the apartment was top-of-the-line and well-designed. The garden was huge and the flowers and trees were lovely. We didn’t use the sauna in the garden (we wished that it were instead an elevator from the garage). The kitchen was well-equipped and easy to use. The apartment was personalized to our liking, and Markus even made us two desks so that we could use our laptops comfortably (one of the single beds in the second bedroom was removed so we had more space for the desk and our stuff). Markus and Cinzia were always available to help us with whatever we needed, and we truly appreciated that.
The underground garage with its remote door opener was great and huge (and all ours!). Cinzia offered to store our skis and our ski clothes suitcase until January. Phew, we did not need to have those things in the car.
The ski room was off the garage and was large and comfortable. Also on that level was the washer and dryer (separate machines that worked), along with the massage room. The only design defect in Chalet Ski was the long staircase up to the patio where the front door to the unit was. It was opened by a reader on the wall a little distance away from the door (we will see how all of that works when we return in the winter).
The unit is right on the Saslong World Cup downhill ski run, and while it is a black run, we will use it for our ski-out and ski-in. In short, we can’t wait to return to Chalet Ski.
We actually left Chalet Ski one day early. Cinzia said she needs to have the maid start at 9:30 am, and that would not have been comfortable or convenient for us. We went to the Relais & Château that had initially called our attention to the Sud Tyrol area for skiing and ski-in/ski-out accommodations. The Hotel Capella (Familie Pizzinini, Colfosco - Str. Pecei, 17 - 39033 - CORVARA (BZ) – Alta Badia – Dolomites, +39 0471 836183, www.hotelcappella.com) is indeed ski-in/ski-out. We had a very nice room with half board (and very good food) for 558€. The next morning was leisurely, and then we went on to our second accommodation for the summer.
Our second accommodation in the Dolomiti
After one week at Chalet Ski in Selva di Gardena, we moved to San Vigilio di Marebbe in Val Badia. Immediately, we noticed that the views were not as spectacular. As much as we liked Chalet Ski, we disliked Florisa Mountain Penthouse.
We were very disappointed in the apartment (531.25€ per day). There was no management onsite whatsoever—not even to change burnt-out light bulbs. We were totally on our own with a TV that didn’t work properly and appliances with everything in German. While there were ample square meters, we did not like the architectural design, the layout of the apartment, or the interior design—the sofa was very, very uncomfortable, and the dining room chairs were only “okay”.
The kitchen was poorly equipped—no microwave, no toaster, no juicer (not even a manual one), and no serving utensils or salad fork and spoon. It was annoying that there were not enough plastic bags for the garbage bins under the sink and not enough dishwasher tablets for our 3-week stay. There were many wine glasses and highball glasses, but no smaller glasses. The shelves were too high, and there was no step stool (we asked for one and were told implicitly to stand on a wobbly chair). The beige carpet in the living room was stained. There was a grill but no table with chairs on the balcony. There was a sitting area on the balcony with very uncomfortable, low furniture. In the afternoon, when one might use the area for aperitivo, it was unbelievably hot with the afternoon sun on the area. Also on the balcony were chaise lounges—totally useless for us, as was the sauna.
The bedrooms were very close to each other and would not be comfortable for couples/friends unless they were very close friends. The view in one direction was good (with Piz da Peres visible), but mostly it was of the town of San Vigilio de Marebbe (and, from the dining table, the view was dominated by the ugly Miara/Bronta lift structure).
Dimitri (the techie) spent 3 hours figuring out how to get rid of the flashing banners at the side and the bottom of the TV screen with only a little help from the owners (by telephone). Finally, he did so that we could watch the TV.
There was plenty of storage, but it was high up and without a step ladder, inaccessible.
We used the Jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom once.
That was enough (even for us who generally love hot tubs). It was difficult to
get in and out of it, and not comfortable once in.
For skiing, the FloAlp apartment building was too far (331 meters/almost 1108 feet) for us to walk in ski boots, carrying skis (on a snowy, icy road). There was a ski depot near the Miara lift where we would have had to rent space for our things. But we cancelled our two other winter reservations and did not want to ever return to Florisa. In the neighborhood, the large top-floor apartment of Terre 71 (Helga Erlacher), Str. Plan de Corones, 33, which had a Jacuzzi on the balcony, would have been a better choice. We wondered how that one had not come up in our accommodation searches.
Every time we went in or out of the garage, Audre needed to get out of the car to open the garage gate. That was annoying enough in the summer; in the winter, on the snowy, icy driveway, it would have been awful.
When the weather got hot (35° C+), the apartment was an oven without air conditioning, and there was no fan.
Last but not least, the garbage bins were next to the
entrance to the garage. To get to them by foot was a real, uphill trek.
We didn't like the apartment, and we made the best of our stay in San Vigilio. We found a mountain bike of the correct size for Audre at our neighborhood bike shop (a Giant XS Luuran).
No comments:
Post a Comment