The most extraordinary, heated outdoors infinity pool in Dolomites belongs to Alpin Panorama Hotel Hubertus in Olang/Valdaora valley, South Tyrol. Hotel Hubertus is a destination of your dreams, it’s not for passing by and stopping over.
I love to roam the world spending every night in a different place. Coming across the offer of five days minimum stay in one place made me pause and think twice. What will I do in such a remote place for five days? Will I be bored to death?
I committed to the booking after a couple of weeks of hesitation and constantly coming back to the pictures of the Sky pool. The beauty of the scenery was haunting me in my sleep. The images of the infinity pool were the deciding point and I must say the reality was breathtaking.
The most extraordinary Infinity pool in Dolomites
With its width of 5 meters, length of 25 m and the depth of 1,30 m the Skypool can be seen as completely unique in the water world. Thanks to the glass front, the glazed window on the ground and its height of 12 meters, the swimmer gets the impression to float weightless in the fairytale surroundings. The spectacular Skypool resembles a mountain lake in the middle of the unique mountain scenery of the DOLOMITES. World Heritage Site.
So happy to be wrong
Well, I thought, at the very least I might have some extra time on my hands to publish my book, if there is nothing else to do at Hotel Hubertus destination.
I was so wrong!
I was busy running from one activity to another, sometimes with a difficult choice to make between different hikes or saunas, or swimming or SPA treatments, or evening stretching classes.
I must confess that even with extending my stay to nine !!! days, I did not manage it all.
One day at a time
Here is a snapshot of just one day to give you a taste of my experience:
In the morning I woke up with the gorgeous view of the mountains and the Sky pool! Each room has a balcony with a view of the mountains.
I then had a choice of Aqua fitness in the inside pool or a leisure swim in the Sky pool before a generous breakfast to kick start the day.
The rest of the morning was dedicated to different hikes that started with a shuttle bus drive from the hotel. The competent guides were available to discuss the difficulty of the hikes and to help decide which is right for you. For a long hike, it was recommended that you take a packed lunch with you. In the bedrooms you had a very comfy backpack waiting for you with a water bottle. The shops in the nearby village had any other hiking gear/clothing supplies that you might need so you can come unprepared.
There is also a well-equipped gym onsite in case it rains heavily, or you are aching from the hike before.
There is a buffet lunch: soup, salads and cakes are served from 12 till 5. You can manage the time regardless of which activities you pick for the day. The cake buffet is amazing: filled with several home-baked cakes that leaves your mouth watering.
Wellness
In the afternoon there were stretching classes in the gym and sauna infusion rituals in the panoramic sauna. At the end of the day you can take a dip in the salt water pool or take selfies in the Sky pool. Apart from the six pools (if you can call a bubble bath a pool) there are seven saunas and four inside areas for relaxing. Of course, you have all at your disposal when the weather is nice.
It’s possible to relax in the sauna world with steam bath, herbal sauna, infrared sauna, Dolomite steam bath in grotto, alpine sauna, the barrel textile sauna and Blockhouse sauna with panoramic view to the mountains.
In the Alpenreych Spa take some time to relax and immerse yourself in a world of relaxing Alpine, Ayurvedic and traditional wellbeing treatments.
The evening highlight
The evening highlight was a dinner: salad buffet, four dishes of a la carte cuisine, cheese selection and dessert. Each evening had a theme with live music very often.
The Wine Cellar is a very special kind of delightful experience: renowned wine labels of regional, national and international classics, cult wines and rarities waiting to be discovered by you as wine lovers and connoisseurs during your holiday in South Tyrol.
The staff were incredibly friendly and competent, the true hospitality of South Tyrol.
The fine weather guarantee
You can find a good weather guarantee on the hotel website. I was kind of hoping for rain but experienced crystal clear days – perfect for taking pictures. I visited Hotel Hubertus in mid October, the last week before they close and prepare for winter season.
At our place, rain never spoils the holiday schedule. Indeed, if during a stay of at least 7 nights at the hotel it should rain for 8 hours in succession between 08:00 and 18:00 (excluding August), every rainy day will be refunded.
There are two low price periods at Hotel Hubertus, October and May. The other times are high season with different price ranges.
Amazing hikes
The hikes I took illustrated with amazing pictures are described in the blog post, click on the pictures for more. The 3 hotel guides accompany you to 15 hikes a week, the different difficulty levels suitable from beginners to experienced hikers.
The life after
I finally managed to finish my book a couple weeks after returning from Hotel Hubertus. The book is on Amazon now. It’s all about work-life balance and the art of living. Perhaps I need to write another book about the pleasures of life with the Sky pool on the book cover.
