Where to stay in Dolomites

Ortisei is mentioned a lot here in this forum and the most convenient. However, some hotels are on slopes and you will have to check the precise location. Selva is ok too. I avoided Castlerotto and was glad that I did. It's ok but not the most convenient.

One of the three villages in Val Gardena (Ortesei, Santa Cristina, Selva) would be best, as they all offer lifts that go up to the mountain huts and hiking trails. Many hotels will offer lovely views of certain peaks from the room balconies.

Castelrotto is outside the valley, lower down. It is a nice village, but it is not actually in the mountains like the Val Gardena villages, with access to hiking trails just a short walk from your hotel.

I stayed in Hotel Grones on Ortisei. I loved the hotel and the village. If you stay at Hotel Grones, get the half board package - the food is fantastic. There are three lifts from Ortisei, so it was very convenient for hiking. You can catch a bus to the other two villages and take lifts from there as well. I am dying to get back there.

Another Hotel Grones fan with the half board. We loved Ortisei.

Ortisei is the largest of the towns with the broadest variety of accommodations and restaurants. It has a southern gondola up to the Alpe di Siusi and a northern gondola up to the peaks in that direction. With the excellent local bus system and the fact that your hotel will giver you a free Mobi bus pass for your stay, which town you stay in is not confining since you can take.a bus everywhere and back. This also means you can gondola up, hike and come down elsewhere and take a bus home. Castelrotto is a lovely little town but half an hour by bus from Ortisei before you can go on to other points. It also requires another bus ride to the gondola up onto the west edge of the Alpe di Siusi. I have always used Booking.com for picking hotels in that area and have found them all to be very nice (but look for one rated 8 or higher).

Ortesei, Santa Christina and Selva are each 5-10 minutes drive/bus ride from each other. With the local busses, you can easily get between them. There are many hotels in the area. I used booking.com as well as the Val Gardena tourist website in researching lodging. https://www.valgardena.it/en/holidays-dolomites/accommodations-val-gardena/

It all depends what you want: close to the town center, or more secluded? Pool? Balcony with Mountain Views? Restaurant onsite? And on and on. I found lodging to be much more expensive in Ortesei than the other two towns.

Back in September 2017 we stayed a week at Residence Risaccia- http://www.risaccia.it in Selva Gardena/Wokenstein. We had a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment with a full kitchen. It was well appointed and so clean and very reasonably priced, with daily housekeeping. The hotel has a full wellness area with sauna and steam baths. It was super close to one of the chair lifts to take up to hike/ski. I highly recommend it and we want to stay there again soon!

I plan on staying for at least 3 days in the Castelrotto area to explore and hike the trails. Will any of the chairlifts or gondolas be open the first week of June? With the lack of snow in the Alps this year, hoping some of the trails will be open.

June should be at the beginning of the summer tourist season so many gondolas/chairs should be open. April and May as the shoulder season are more problematic. You should check locally.

Our 2019 trip was June 5-10. We stayed in Ortisei and there were plenty of hiking options even though not all lifts were running (notably, Seceda), which was to open on June 15.

We stayed in Ortisei last summer and loved the town. It was easy getting to the gondolas. We stayed at the Grand Tubla and had stunning views. It was a little walk down to down, but not bad at all.

Hi there..I am going to the Dolomites latter part of June for 10 days..5 in Ortesei and 5 in Corvara..super excited. I just bought a wonderful book by a RS member..Laurel..and can't wait to read it. My one piece of advice is to book your hotels as soon as you feel ready...these beautiful mountains are quite popular!
We are hiking each day...but taking it easy on every other..while I do not know what to expect..I do expect stunning beauty!

Walking in Italys Val Gardena
Is the book..avail on Amazon. I hope this does not break the RS rules..but..how lucky are we to have Laurel who is not only knowledgeable about the rea but oh so passionate too!!!

Linda: regarding Laurel’s book.

Not breaking any rules if others on the Forum promote her book. She never mentions her book.
In fact on our first trip to the area, I bought the first edition…and didn’t realize until much later that Laurel posts on the Forum. I value her book as well as her posts here on the Forum.

I am planning a trip to the Dolomites in September 2023.

When are you going to be there, Cheryl? We are looking to book lodging in Ortisei 3 nights starting Sept 18, and we have a hotel booked for 2 nights in Dobbiaco starting Sept 21.

We are there the end of September and decided on Cortina 2 nights and Ortisei 4 nights. Booked the Hotel Grones in Ortisei that a few people on here recommended.