Waldrast - Forestside Living

The Waldrast Hotel was the perfect base for us to start our Honeymoon in the Dolomites, a small and intimate hotel which feels intertwined with the adjacent forest with beautiful patio views down the valley. The staff were friendly and attentive. The rooms were spacious and comfortable and whilst the spa facilities were quite small it was enough to enjoy a relaxing soak after a day of hiking. The breakfast was delicious whilst there isn't a wide variety of options, the items on offer were delicious and enough to fuel you for the day. The town itself doesn't have many options for eating out but we enjoyed a dinner at the hotel one evening, whilst the menu didn't give much options the food itself was good.

As we were in Room 101 which is opposite the Lift and Stairs, in the evenings and early mornings we could hear the staff downstairs in the bar and glasses and bottles being moved around. Restaurant menu, it would have been nice to have some variety on the evening menu.

It was perfect. So peaceful and in the perfect location for everything we wanted to do. The breakfast was phenomenal and the facilities were great. Super family friendly which made life with a toddler much smoother - she loved the kids room, swing and slide.

Our only issue was that it’s exceptionally hot at the moment and there is no air conditioning (to be expected as it’s probably designed more for ski holidays). The fan was helpful but it was still warm during the night. Not unbearable though.

Beautiful hotel in a stunning location. Exceptionally clean and superior facilities. The staff were wonderful, friendly, welcoming and smart. Cannot find fault.

Everything about the hotel looks and feel premium. The interior design is beautiful, as is the spa, and swimming pool. The view from the swimming pool in particular is incredible. We spent an entire day at the hotel and basically had the pool area to ourselves for a couple of hours - when I imagine a lot of other guests were out exploring the area. The location is great - a short walk to shops in the village centre.

Two aspects of our stay were disappointing, particularly given the price we paid: 1) Lack of air conditioning It appears that only some of the rooms have air conditioning, and unfortunately ours wasn’t one of them. While this may not be an issue for much of the year, during our stay temperatures were above 30°C. Because the rooms retain heat so well, ours became extremely hot at night, making it difficult to sleep and significantly affecting our comfort. I do want to acknowledge that the staff were as helpful as they could be and provided us with a fan, which certainly helped. However, at this price point, we don’t think air conditioning should be limited to only some rooms, especially during the summer months. 2) Spa availability We stayed for three nights. After arriving late on our first evening, we wanted to book a massage for the following day. A member of staff told us this shouldn’t be a problem but advised us to book first thing the next morning, as reservations couldn’t be made the evening before. When we enquired the next morning, we were told there was no availability for the rest of our stay, with the first available appointments being after we had already checked out. For a hotel that markets itself as a spa destination, not being able to book one of its core services during a three-night stay was extremely disappointing. Only after I expressed my frustration did the receptionist look for an alternative solution, eventually arranging for another therapist to come to the hotel the following day so we could both have treatments. We appreciated the effort the staff made to resolve the situation, but this shouldn’t have required us to push for a solution in the first place. At the very least, Waldrast should make it much clearer before guests arrive that spa treatments often need to be booked well in advance. That would help avoid unnecessary disappointment for guests who reasonably expect to be able to enjoy the facilities during their stay.