Dolomite base camp question

I'd suggest Ortisei.

There are tons of threads in this forum about the very same question. Ortisei is the very best.

The entire Dolomites is an expensive area. A budget of $100-200 per night with a view in Sept (still high, though not peak season) is challenging.

We really enjoyed Castelrotto/Kastelruth for our trip to the Dolomites. We had a car, so could get around easy, but we also used the local bus for more nearby trips to places like Alpe di Suisi. We drove easily to Bolzano to wander as well as see Otzi.
There was a lovely mix of German and Italian there - especially in the food and the language (as well as Ladin).

Since I'm not sure you're going to find on-budget lodging in a mountain village, I want to warn you to check weather statistics very carefully if you end up booking a place down in one of the valley towns (like Bolzano or Bressanone). That valley can be surprisingly hot, and at least as of 2015, not a lot of the hotels were air conditioned. I had an unpleasant stay in a hotel without a/c.

The website timeanddate.com provides actual, historical, day-by-day weather data for most places of tourist interest.

Bolzano weather -- September 2023

Use the pull-down box at the right, just above the graph, to change the month and year displayed. Use the Search box at the upper right to change the location.

We went to the Dolomites for the first time in September after two consecutive years in Lauterbrunnen. We chose to stay in Ortisei after reading the recommendations on the forum. We stayed in Villa Stella which we found on booking.com (also AirBnb) and paid around $150/nite which included a balcony facing the mountains. It is not Murren, but still, a lovely view. We did not have a car. We received a bus pass for free travel in the area from reception for our time there. We found the bus service excellent and the bus easily took us to S Cristina and Selva. We found Ortisei to be the perfect base for our five nights in the Dolomites. I would say it is more on the touristy side. When we return to the Dolomites we will choose to stay in Ortisei.

We spent the month of September in Italy, the first week in Ortesei. The hotel will give you a bus pass, it's easy to get around to every little town and hike in different locations. you do not need a car and parking on the weekends by the lifts will be a challenge. We laughed at the cars parked for miles down a road while we passed on the bus - which was not crowded.

We bought the gondola pass and used it every day, totally worth the price. We hiked in a different location for 6 days. The one thing I'll say about Ortesei, the restaurants leave something to be desired. There was only one that had good food, the rest, real middle of the road or down right awful.

Ortisei, for certain. Check out Hotel Garni Walter and Residence Astoria, both of which in my experience have good rates starting in September. Both have parking.

Restaurants we like in town: Da Checco, Maurizkeller, and Concordia. (We often cook so not too many dinners out.) Also, in Santa Cristina, La Tambra is fabulous for lunch or dinner, pizza or something fancier.

Your car, if you choose to drive, should remain parked as much as possible as the buses are efficient and free with your pass and parking at the lifts is tough. Plus, the locals like having people stay off the roads to reduce pollution and crowding.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I have found a number of decent looking apartments with balconies and views and high ratings for under $150 a night on booking.com, in or near Ortisei. It is just hard to know which area might be more desirable. For those who have stayed in the area around Ortisei, what would be a nice area that is quieter? I also have a few questions about using public transportation, which I could post separately, or if anyone wants to chime in that would be great. Did anyone take a bus up from Verona and make a loop, and come back down to Venice? (or vice versa) Did you make reservations for the longer distance buses? Were you able to visit other areas of the Dolomite while you were there on the bus without reservations? We are talking about the middle of September (15-22 approx) It is the same week that we were in the Swiss Alps this year and the weather was just perfect, no AC ever needed.
Again thank you all who have chimed in so far. I really appreciate your help. :-)

Why don’t you post links to two or three places you are considering and we can comment on specifics?

Were you able to visit other areas of the Dolomite while you were there on the bus without reservations

It depends on how far you want to go. Once you are there, you may not want to leave the Val Gardena as there is much to see and do. You can take a bus without reservations to one of the next valleys for a day trip. The bus leaves you free to enjoy the scenery and not have to worry about the treacherous curves and fight with those very buses for space on tight curves.

My experience is that places under 1000 m in elevation (this includes Bolzano, Bressanone, Chiusa, Brunico, Merano) are very hot in summer. Also, the Dolomites area is large and roads are windy, so you cannot really see everything from a single place unless you drive 4 hours per day. IMHO it is not necessary to switch places, just be happy to stay in a single place and see what is around. For such an approach Ortisei (and the whole Gardena valley) and Cortina would be optimal (Ortisei is expensive, Cortina is very expensive); but also Canazei or the whole Fassa valley offer a lot of mountain hikes. When I was a boy we spent a lot of family holidays around Villabassa and Dobbiaco, whose local hikes are less spectacular (but Cortina is not distant), but are a bit cheaper and often have better weather (at this climate change times a lesser issue).