Need advice on Dolomites! Where to stay?

Theresa,

I've not been to the Dolomites, yet, but I know that Laurel's favorite place is Ortisei!

You may be interested in reading this post from November about Dolomites-Val Gardena lodgings

Enjoy!

I also like the Val Gardena (Gardena Valley) or Groder, in German.
Ortisei (Sankt Ulrich) is the main bigger town in the valley and probably the one that offers the most in terms of accommodations, amenities, etc.
Other smaller towns like Selva di Val Gardena or Santa Cristina, are a bit smaller, but also very quaint.
When I say that Ortisei is bigger, you have to take that in context. The entire municipality doesn't reach 5000 residents, so not a really big town by any stretch of the imagination.

We stayed at Hotel Uhrerhof-Deur, last June. It's just outside Ortesei. In 10 minutes or less from the hotel we were at the lift taking us to Val Gardena. It's a splurge but the hotel is beautiful, has great views, is expertly run, very welcoming and has amazing multiple-course dinners and excellent breakfasts included in the price. It has a traditional atmosphere. It was a memorable place to stay and my family kept exclaiming about how nice it was. In the initial picture shown on their website the town is Ortesei. There is a bus route near the hotel that takes you into Ortesei which drops you very near the Val Gardena lift. Uhrerhof-Deur has a huge rose garden which may be in bloom while you're there; it was not blooming in mid-June due to the altitude, etc. Made for a nice after dinner stroll.
http://www.uhrerhof.com/en.html
BTW I think it took 30-40 minutes from there to Bolzano. The roads are good but twisty as soon as you leave either from Bolzano to the south or from the major north/south highway through the area from the west. If the weather is truly awful you can curl up with a good book on their enclosed porch, hang out in Ortesei or drive into Bolzano to see Otzi the Ice Man. In mid-June it was good weather during the day for light long sleeves or even short sleeves sitting in the sun. We rode another nearby ski gondola (enclosed!) through a brief hail storm, which was a bit of an adventure.

Bolzano and Cortina are two great towns. Bolzano will offer more to do (restaurants, museums, shopping) but Cortina will offer more outdoor activities (it's a ski resort town).

We stayed in Castelrotto in September because of its easy access to the Alpe di Siusi. We spent the day hiking in the park. The views were spectacular and there were hikes of varying degrees of difficulty. We absolutely loved it.