My Musings: Hotel Tyrol and the Dolomites

This is the magnificent view that greeted me when I opened my bedroom curtains on our first day in Tyrol. I was blown away by it's beauty. When we had arrived late the night before, it was completely dark, so I had no idea what our hotel, or it's surroundings looked like. I also hadn't ever heard of Tyrol before this trip, and I didn't think to look it up before we came. Thus, Tyrol was the best surprise ever.

One of the best parts of our stay in Tyrol, was our hotel. We stayed at the lovely Hotel Tyrol, which is a family owned, small hotel. During our short stay, we got to meet all the members of the family, they were so hospital, generous, and delightful people. Hotel Tyrol creates an entire experience of relaxation and beauty, not just a place to stay, I absolutely loved our time here.

"Our hotel is located in a sunny location in S. Maddalena/St. Magdalena, set in the peaceful Villnösstal Valley, one of the truly unspoilt valleys in the Trentino-South Tyrol Dolomites. The hotel grounds, balcony and restaurant all face the magnificent Geislergruppe Mountains, a striking landmark of international renown. Our location in the Dolomites provides the ideal setting, where hiking and skiing enhance the individual’s wellbeing in an idyllic environment. After a day out in the mountains of Villnösstal Valley, you can cool off at the Spa in our panoramic relaxation room. We will delight you at the dinner table with our cuisine where local ingredients, Fair Trade produce and “Slow Food” specialities hold sway."

There was a pasture next to our hotel, I'm not sure if it was owned by the same family or not, but we made sure to visit the cows everyday. They were some of the cutest cows we had seen and they were pretty friendly and would come up to us every time we visited.

Those curls!

"At the Hotel Tyrol, creativity is not just limited to the kitchen. The love and appreciation of art has always played a prominent role in our family and various artworks such as drawings, paintings and sculptures lend our rooms a special atmosphere. Many of these are the work of the senior owner, Oswald Senoner, who in over 40 years created paintings and sculptures in wood as well as in bronze.

Works by other artists embellish the foyer, the rooms and the hotel tavern. Among these, is the famous sculptor, Wilhelm Senoner, brother of Oswald. The works on display are based on a variety of themes and subjects, providing an insight into the Ladin culture of the Dolomites. The legends, history and its age-old craft tradition still live on, such as the woodcarving tradition in Val Gardena Valley. The paintings and sculptures gracing the Tyrol Hotel provide guests with an interesting window into the history of contemporary art in this region."

We were thrilled when we woke up on our first day in the Dolomites to see the sun was shining and the mountains weren't hiding behind the clouds, like they very often do. So, after a delicious breakfast, which I will discuss in another post because meals at Hotel Tyrol are amazing, we set out to document those magical mountains.

We drove a few minutes away from our hotel to an old, historic church that had perfect views of the valley and the mountains.

We were also excited to have happened upon more adorable cows.

After fully documenting the Dolomites, we spent some time wandering the grounds of the church and appreciating it's simple elegance.

We decided to take a small dirt road to see if we could get a different view of the Dolomites, it was a little treacherous since the road was incredibly narrow, but it was worth it, we got some of my favorite photos of the area from that small, dirt road.

This is what fairytale towns are made of.