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Stylish Accommodation Where Austrian Efficiency Meets Italian Gelato
Italy's Südtirol, also known as Alto Adige, is one of the most beautiful regions of a country with no shortage of scenic landscapes. Here, snow-covered mountains serve as a backdrop for the tidy little city of Bolzano where palm trees and tropical flowers thrive in a special microclimate.
The historic Hotel Greif has reigned over Bolzano's main square, Piazza Walther Waltherplatz, for more than 500 years, but a recent makeover has facelifted the hotel from old and typical to hip and happening. Still enjoying its privileged location just a few hundred metres from the Bolzano train station, which is a stop on the mainline route linking Venice and Munich, Hotel Greif's mod makeover has transformed the property into a member of Design Hotels offering chic accommodation as well as the city's most eclectic bar, Grifoncino, where Bar Manager Christian Gruber puts his London-honed talent to work overseeing the operations of this glam watering hole. The hotel's renovation saw a drastic reduction from 130 rooms to only 33, which now range in size from large to extra-large. Every room has been designed by a different artist; some rooms include special features like 211's baby grand piano and 302's two levels of space illuminated by skylights.
Located in a scenic valley in far north Italy, Bolzano is a bilingual town that enjoys the best of two worlds: Germanic organisation and Italian gelato. Without direct flights to major cities, not many travellers venture to this region of Italy—which means Bolzano is one part of the country devoid of summer crowds. While Italy's principal destinations heave with tourists, Bolzano enjoys its balmy climate and beautiful mountain scenery unhindered by mass tourism. At the same time, the city offers a number of interesting and unique attractions, among them Ötzi, the 5300-year-old body of a Copper Age gentleman found in 1991 on a nearby glacier and now making his home at the South Tyrol Museum Of Archaeology. until 13 January 2013. The entire museum is dedicated to Ötzi and the many belongings found frozen with him in the glacial ice. More information can be found at the Museum's website, cleverly named iceman.it. Among Bolzano's other attractions are several castles, including the evocative Castel Roncolo, also known as Runkelstein, which offers a free shuttle bus service to the castle from Waltherplatz just in front of Hotel Greif.
Hotel Greif (Greif means griffin in German) and its sister property, Parkhotel Laurin, are only a block away from each other, and Greif guests can make use of Laurin's swimming pool, which set in a 200-year-old garden with huge trees and lovely rose gardens, as well as its much lauded Restaurant Laurin, where locally sourced ingredients are transformed into beautiful meals served by a professional team that elevates service to a top level.
Hotel Greif
Piazza Walther Waltherplatz
39100 Bolzano
Italy
tel: +39 0471 318 148
info@greif.it
greif.it/en
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