A small but very chic hotel in the center of San Candido. A hotel with a long and rich history, where the building has always functioned as accommodation since the early beginning. A hotel with a prime location for an amazing holiday in the Dolomites. Of course we're talking about Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio in San Candido.
Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio is a boutique luxury hotel with a prime location in San Candido. The hotel offers only 28 rooms in various styles and sizes. The rooms include a modern design. Charm and intimacy are key elements in all of their 28 rooms.
This blog was written by travel writer and Traveltomtom team member Ashley. She stayed at Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio, on behalf of Traveltomtom, and wrote this blog about her stay and experiences.
Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio is a family-run hotel. The family is visibly present in the hotel and pays a lot of attention to the guests. As a guest you immediately feel welcome here.
The family organizes weekly activities for their guests. Wine tastings in their wine cellar, hikes in the surrounding Dolomites. Make sure to check the itinerary upon arrival in the hotel.
During our stay we were looking for a nice hike with views of the famous Drei Zinnen / Tre Cime. So we talked to Franz, the owner. He took his time for us and gave us his number one recommendation. A hike he frequently offers to his guests.
More about it later.
Location
The hotel is located on the far east side of the Dolomites, just 8 kilometers (5 Miles) from the Austrian border in the province of South Tyrol. It's located very close to the famous Drei Zinnen / Tre Cime Nature Park, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In Winter a multiple award-winning ski area, but in Summer a top destination for hikers, outdoor lovers and families. Nowhere else will you find so many natural wonders so close together.
The hotel is located in the center of San Candido, right on the main square. A very central and perfect location. From the hotel you walk straight into the hustling and bustling little center of San Candido. The main street with some shops, restaurants and souvenir shops is right at your doorstep.
From the front of the hotel you have fantastic views of the mountains of the Drei Zinnen / Tre Cime.
San Candido is located in South Tyrol and has always been an important place historically. Did you know that Boutique and Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio is the oldest hotel of South Tyrol? If that isn't special, I don't know what is.
In fact, the hotel and building as we know it now dates back to 1303. Back then wagoners and merchants would arrive in town and find room and board 'At the Orso Grigio' guest house. Yes, even in 1303 it was already a building with accommodation purpose, how cool is that?!
The hotel has been in the current family since 1745, wow! Nowadays Franz and his daughter Verena do a fantastic job in running Boutique and Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio.
Rooms
Their rooms offer everything you would need during a stay in the beautiful Dolomites. A large and comfortable bed and an en-suite bathroom with large shower. Every room offers a view. This can be either overlooking historic monuments, the Baranci mountain range and Mt Elmo.
The rooms have a modern design. Charm and intimacy are key elements in all rooms.
Check here the Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio rates on Booking.
Gourmet
Dinner at Hotel Orso Grigio means exquisite cuisine and excellent wines. They call dinner the star attraction of the day, and at this hotel it truly is! Every evening their chef plans a menu with an overall theme. The menu includes dishes from local tradition but also tradition from their neighbours. Regional and seasonal ingredients are the key stars to these menus.
Must try is the Drei Zinnen Desert.
For the best choice of matching wines, let the host advice you. They store about 300 labels in their own wine cellar.
The restaurant is not just the place for dinner, you also welcomed here in the mornings for breakfast. You couldn't get a better start to the day than with the breakfast at Hotel Orso Grigio.
The range and choice is enormous and everything is so fresh. You can request eggs any style to be made for you as well.
Wellness
Looking for the wellness? Make your way up to the top floor, because the wellness is located on the top floor and roof of this hotel. They have created an amazing panoramic terrace with multiple saunas and lounge beds as well.
You can use the facilities for free every day between 4.00 PM and 8.00 PM.
If you want to use the facilities outside of these hours, you may, but only upon request. So make sure to check in with the front desk if you want to. I can tell you from experience that it is truly the best place to come back to after spending a full day outdoors.
Nothing better than a rooftop wellness with mountain views.
Shop
Not that long ago the owner of the hotel opened a cute little shop in the center of San Candido. The shop is called Flora Gourmet and is a delicatessen store. What to expect here? Well, the best from the best to be honest.
It is the only shop for specialties and high-quality food in the Alta Pusteria region. They offer excellent products for every occasion. Fresh and homemade pasta straight from their chef, sweet and savory specialties and the finest wines. Make sure to visit this store when staying here. I’m sure you won't leave empty-handed.
Traveltomtom's must do in San Candido
There is so much to do in the Dolomites and in the immediate vicinity of the hotel. No matter which season you visit, it's always all about the outdoor and nature life. Which we love, luckily.
Boutique and Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio really has the best location when it comes to experience the outdoor life and some of the best highlights in the Dolomites.
Traveltomtom likes to highlight our absolute favorite things to do when staying at Hotel Orso Grigio and likes to inspire you to visit them when you're in the area as well.
Lago di Braies
This one may be questionable. Popular with some, way too busy and overhyped by others. We were lucky to visit this beautiful place in the middle of the corona period in 2020. You can imagine that back then there were only a fraction of the tourists and visitors of what it is today. For us it was somewhat luck and perfect timing. Because it is truly a beautiful place full of natural beauty.
But nowadays tourists are completely taking over Lago di Braies. In fact, if you ask locals on the best things to see and do, they won't even mention visiting Lago di Braies anymore. They've pretty much grown to hate it and that only has to do with the large numbers of tourists who come here every day. So we are in doubt about this one. It is definitely recommended a recommended place to visit, but be prepared for intense crowds and far too many people in a relatively small place.
Riesenreich & Fun Bob
On our first day in San Candido we went for a stroll through town and just 5 minutes away from the hotel we ended up at the Haunold Cable Car. A quick search on the internet learned that there was a nice restaurant up there with some lovely mountain views. We decided to go up!
Once we got up it was a lot of fun. There are two restaurants where you can for a nice drink or some food, which we did as well. But there is more to do. Haunold turned out to be a family mountain full of fun. Maybe this is even our favorite thing to do in San Candido.
Because at the mountain you can find the kingdom of Gigante Baranci, named after the local giant.Those who enter Gigante Baranci's realm can follow in his footsteps by visiting various interactive stations. This way you can learn more about this legend and get to know him better.
The walk is roughly 2.5km long and goes up and down. We highly recommend doing this, going up the Haunold cable car and just be in for a fun afternoon.
Perhaps even the best part, in Summer they have the FunBob toboggan run. Striking yellow carts go down an aluminum rail over a length of about 1,739 meters. The height difference is approximately 314 meters.
You can easily spend a full day at the Haunold mountain, make sure to experience at least a bit of it! It's worth it!
Strudelkopf walk
Another favorite I must admit. During our stay we talked to the owner and told him we wanted to do a nice walk and preferred to see the famous Drei Zinnen / Tre Cime if possible. He sat down with us, even grabbed a map, and showed us exactly where to go. We immediately took his advice and went out on an adventure.
He advised to walk up the Strudelkopf, a smooth and easy going walk to a mountain top, from where you have 360 degrees Dolomites mountains views. Even including the famous Drei Zinnen!
It's best accessible by car and bus. Take your car to Platzweise / Prato Piazza, where you can park your car for €10 EUR a day. From here onwards you take the bus, which goes multiple times per hour. The bus takes you up to another parking lot from where your hiking journey begins.
Allow half a day for the climb to the top. We recommend having a nice drink and apple strudel afterwards at Prato Piazza.
Of course this is just a small selection of the many activities you can do in this area.
Schlosshotels & Herrenhäuser
Schlosshotels & Herrenhäuser is a very well-known hotel group and association which unites historic hotels in Austria and enighbouring countries. Affiliated hotels are a selection of hand-selected romantic hotels, castles, historic country homes, city palais and wine estates in Austria, Germany, Italy, Slowakia and Hungary.
They offer a collection of over 50 luxurious hotels and manor houses. Each and every single property offers a unique blend of history, elegance and modern comfort. The best thing about these properties is that they have a deep sense of history. Most of them have been built many centuries ago.
Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio is part of Schlosshotels & Herrenhäuser. In fact, the owner of Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio, Franz, is the president of Schlosshotels & Herrenhäuser.
Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio review
We had the most personal stay here at Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio in a long, long time. From the moment we stepped into this hotel we felt truly welcome and at home.
Every single employee did everything they could to give us the best stay possible. Even the owner welcomes you and has time and attention for every guest.
We stayed for 2 nights and had dinner at the hotel on both nights. On both nights the owner, Franz, came to meet the guests, have a small talk and made you feel welcome. You rarely see such a personal approach, very special.
I hope our review blog inspired you to travel to the magical Dolomites in Italy and book your stay at Boutique & Gourmet Hotel Orso Grigio.