Hotel Aquila, June 28-June 30, 2010, 3 nights
http://www.aquilacortina.com/index_ing.php
Piazza Pittori Fratelli Ghedina, 1
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
After leaving Arabba, and riding Fedaia, we planned to head to Cortina d'Ampezzo, about a half hour drive from Caprile. We had not booked a room prior to our arrival in Cortina. We planned to stop by the tourist office for some guidance. I felt goofy walking around in my cycling gear--but it turned out to be a pretty easy experience. When we arrived in Cortina, the office was still closed for their afternoon break. At 3:30 p.m., they reopened to a group of about 7-8 people looking for various tips on what to do, where to stay, etc. After a quick consultation, we headed over to Hotel Aquila to inquire about a room. They had plenty of space, we booked right away. We needed a shower!
Location: Hotel Aquila is at one end of a pedestrian only shopping zone. It was close to the road, had free parking (though not much of it), and was close to everything we needed. The traffic noise was not noticeable from the road about 100 yards away. There was a pasticceria close by! In the evenings, the locals tended to stay out late so the most noise was from the people down in the plaza talking into the later evening. No complaints about the location.
Rate: 70 euros/person/night half board. This was about what we'd been seeing most everywhere else, or within 10 euros of what we'd been seeing. Other Cortina locations were slightly more expensive and I don't know that they offered anything better.
Rooms: Hotel Aquila's rooms were some of the largest we experienced during our trip. They were not completely modern, but were certainly very comfortable and clean. Our room was on the 3rd floor, on the corner with a broad balcony on two sides of the building. The view out the bedroom's french doors were straight out to the mountains. While not as beautiful as Lake Como, the view was, nonetheless, superb.
36) 867315: info
Food: It was okay. Hotel Aquila followed the same process as the other hotels we visited. We'd have three choices for a first course, three for an appetizer, and three for a main course. Desserts were weakest here. Breakfasts were the same basic stuff we'd seen elsewhere, just wasn't as eagerly anticipated as in other places. Of course this may have had as much to do with the growing familiarity with Euro breakfasts as with the actual quality. We didn't get sick, so it must have been fine.
Staff: The owner kept a pretty visible profile. He, his wife and a kid. Kind of an odd dude, shaved head. Nice enough, I guess. And patient with us as we worked through dinner menus. They had visitors over regularly, with their kids, and they would eat in the same dining room as we did. No problem with that, other than the kids would get to running around with cardboard or plastic swords carrying on. The guy must have changed clothes 5 times a day. Every time we'd see him he'd be wearing something different. The staff he'd hired were very nice--young folks mostly. Very friendly and seemingly eager to assist. One older gentleman ran the bar. At first I thought he was an elitist--kind of seemed to stick his nose up at everything we did. I think I just misunderstood him. Once engaged in conversation he came across as a good guy.
Expensive on the internet usage, and phone calls. I don't know how they figured how much time we'd used the computer. All the other places we'd been sold blocks of time and you knew exactly how much time you had (even as you were wasting most of it waiting for the computer to function).
Recommend? Eh--3 out 5 stars. The building was in good shape. There were pictures of it around the place in its earlier appearances. It's been kept up nicely. I have no idea how profitable it is to run a hotel like this in Italy. The family seemed okay--they usually live on premises, as this family did. I never learned this fellows name, and the conversation was never familiar enough for me to ask him. There were many, many other locations to choose from. Once recommended that we did not check into was Hotel Olimpia. They quoted a higher price, with no half board option. It had some construction going on in front of it during our stay, which certainly will cease at some point and then will make Olimpia a more likely candidate next time.
http://www.hotelolimpiacortina.com/lang1/index.html
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