Rododendro Hotel, Campitello, Italy
Hotel Information
Hotel Description:
The Hotel Rododendro offers homely accommodation in a convenient location near the centre of Campitello. Recently renovated, the hotel is comfortable and, with its great leisure facilities, offers the perfect aprés ski ambience.The Hotel is 3 minutes walk from the resort centre, 5 minutes walk from the Col Rodella cable car taking you to the Sella Ronda and seconds from the ski bus stop to Canazei.
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Rododendro Hotel Reviews
" This hotel is listed as a 3*, but we... "
Submitted By: Not SpecifiedThe public areas: all pleasant enough and reasonably clean. There is a boot room with keypad entry and heated boot racks. The hotel was full when we were there and there seemed to be enough racks for everyone.
Our room:
It was warm and again reasonably clean. It was on the first floor at the front, so there was some traffic noise, and the balcony was shared with all other rooms across the front on that floor. The main light and fan in the en-suite shower room did not work. The shower was mouldy in places and paint was peeling off the walls above it. The toilet brush was so filthy that all the (originally white) bristles had turned black. We were provided with an assortment of very old towels, only one of which was (very hard) towelling and the rest were more like tea towels! Only the hand towel was changed once during the week, the rest of the towels weren't changed at all.
The food:
Buffet breakfast is served from 07:30-09:00. We went down for breakfast at 08:10 on the first morning and there was only cereal and jam etc left. We asked if they were going to provide more croissants or brioche etc. but were told by our waiter that they were all gone because "the Italians eat them all"!! The situation did improve as the week went on. The evening meal is served at 19:30. Everyone queues up to get some of the buffet on the way into the dining room and this can take up to half an hour if you're at the back of the queue. Again, many items ran out very quickly and were not replenished.
The meals were very mediocre, often luke warm. It also appeared that all the British guests were always served each course after the other guests and we had what we believed to be tap water in our open mineral water bottles on our tables, whilst the other guests had mineral water bottles with lids. The vegetarian choice was limited and unimaginative (even though I was told they cater for vegetarians every week) - insalata caprese (mozzarella and sliced tomato) was served 4 times - once as a starter and 3 times as a main course- and omelettes 3 times as a main course. Meals usually took 2 hours. The restaurant is very brightly lit and very noisy.
The reps were excellent, but we felt that there wasn't much they would be able to do to improve the situation for any guests throughout the season. Many guests seemed to be raising the same complaints and we had the feeling that they weren't the first and wouldn't be the last!
Overall, we felt that the hotel was run on an extremely tight budget with costs and corners cut to the limits where ever possible. We feel that this hotel should have been rated as a 2* club hotel. We have just checked on the Thomson site for the same week next year and this hotel would cost £540 per person for a double room with a balcony; we paid less than half that amount and felt that we did not get good value for money! We recommend that you do not book unless you pay <£200 pp.
- Date of Holiday:Jan 2006
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Thomson
" First, the flights (Thomsonfly).
These were delayed slightly in both directions, with the homeward flight having completed boarding about 20 minutes before baggage loading completed. The "meals" on board were the worst I have ever had on an airline, in over 20 years. Otherwise, pretty standard.
Second, the Hotel.
It was located about two minutes away from the (very small) shopping area of Campitello, and about five minutes walk from the Col Rodella Cable car. The ski bus stops right outside if you want to go further, or didn't want to walk even that far in ski boots.
The room (a single) was a good size, with a TV (only one English language channel - CNN news) and an en suite shower and WC. It was clean, and reasonably well lit for those wanting to read in the evening.
The bar area was welcoming, with a friendly ambience, and many people spent most of the evenings there. Bar prices were a little high compared with other bars locally and on the mountains.
There is a gym and (small) sauna in the basement. The sauna is available (free) from 15:30 to 18:30, bathing costume required. The gym appeared to be always available, but I didn't see anyone using it.
The restaurant is quite crowded when all guests are eating together, and normally all guests did eat at pretty well the same time in the evening. The breakfast was a fairly standard continental buffet type. The evening meals were really the thing that let this hotel down a little. The salad buffet, which was supposed to provide an accompaniment to the main course was rather short on quantity most evenings, although they did improve on refilling it towards the end of the week. The starters and main courses had a choice (of three) each night, we were given the following day's menu at dinner, and had to select then what we wanted. These were almost all served lukewarm, with very limited vegetables. We also normally took around two hours to get through the meal.
Breakfast was served from 7:30 in the morning (earlier on departure day), dinner from 7:30PM.
Next, the resort.
Camitello is a small town (village), with probably more hotels than private houses, and very limited shopping outside the ski hire places. Nightlife is just a few bars. Canazei is a bit bigger and livelier, and is about 15-20 minutes walk (there is NO public transport apart from taxis after about 6:30PM).
The reps.
Generally Thomson and Crystal combined forces, with two main reps who dealt together with customers of both. They were always pleasant and polite, and good company. On organised events, there was also cooperation between other companies, such as First Choice, Directski.com, etc. This was good, as it allowed sufficient numbers to be able to run things.
Two days of free guiding (on piste only) were provided (Sunday and Monday), the first a relatively short day, the second a full day, which varies in destination, we were guided on a trip to the Marmolada glacier. Many of the guests in our hotel (including me) also took the Thursday organised "away day" to an area which we probably could not have reached and got back in a day, even though covered by the Dolomiti superski pass. This was enjoyable and well organised, finishing with a "boot bop" in Corvara, and back to Campitello for about 8PM.
Finally (most importantly!), the skiing.
When I was there, the conditions were just about perfect, with a fair amount of snow falling in the previous week, and some on the Sunday, but then clear sunshine for the rest of the week. If there had been a shortage of snow, there is plenty of snowmaking available.
Entry to the main ski area (and Sella Ronda) from Campitello is via a single cable car to the Col Rodella area, or you can take the ski bus to Canazei where there is a gondola, or Alba or Pozza di Fassa for entry to the other side of the valley. The main cable car could be crowded between about 9:00 and 10:00AM (it started running at 8:30AM).
Once up, the Col Rodella and Belvedere areas are almost entirely red runs, above the tree line, and are fairly limited in themselves. But there is easy access on skis to the Selva/Val Gardena area in one direction, or to the Arabba area in the other, both of which have more variety (both only if you have the full Dolomiti ski pass - always advised here). Between these areas, and the area on the other side of the Val di Fassa, you will simply never manage to ski all that is available in a week.
Mountain restaurants are generally reasonably priced, with decent food (6-10 Euros for most main courses).
When I skied the Sella Ronda circuit, I found few crowds and no noticable queues, but this was low season. It took me about 4.5 hours to complete the circuit, but I only stopped for about 20 minutes for lunch.
- Date of Holiday:Jan 2006
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Thomson
Advice: Nice little place, few bars, Canezi, 1 mile away was busier with more bars
Activities: Dolomites, great views to the rear of the hotel.
Good for: Ski