APARTHOTEL DES ALPES, CAVALESE, ITALY – REVIEW

APARTHOTEL DES ALPES

Italy has become a firm favourite of ours in the last couple of years.  Whether we are lazing on the soft golden sands of the Adriatic Coast, or meandering through the cobbled streets of Florence; we simply adore this beautiful country.  So, why did we choose Aparthotel Des Alpes in Cavalese for our first family ski holiday?  Easy!  Unable to drag ourselves away from Italy, we chose a ski resort almost unknown to the British and Irish…Alpe Cermis in Cavalese.  In Summer, Eagles soar high above the Dolomites on the rising warm thermals.  In Winter, deep snow attracts skiers and snowboarders from across Europe and beyond.

LOCATION

Located in the beautiful Val di Fiemme region of the Italian Dolomites, just one of the many properties owned by Trentino residences; Aparthotel Des Alpes is perfectly situated for exploring the outstanding natural environment of Alpe Cermis.  A brisk 20 minute walk or a 5 minute drive will take you to the heart of the picturesque town of Cavalese.  Unfortunately, the town is up a steep hill so we always took the easy option and drove.  Cavalese town began with a small settlement in the Bronze Age.  During the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Cavalese became the holiday destination for the regions bishops and aristocrats.  Many of whom greatly contributed to the development of Cavalese.

Over the years the town has grown to what it is today with traditional restaurants, bustling bars, fashionable boutiques, gift shops and a thriving tourist trade in both summer and winter.  We found an amazing little shop where Lily-Belle was able to personalise the gifts she was purchasing for Nana and Granda.  Cavalese is also very well-known for its local craftsmanship (iron, wood and marble) and a very social cheese factory.  Who knew cheese was social?  Does this social cheese have a Facebook page?

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SELF CATERING APARTMENTS

The main reasons for choosing Aparthotel Des Alpes was the price and the locality to Alpe Cermis which was just a 5 minute drive away.  Plus Aparthotel Des Alpes ticked several other boxes.  Close to Alpe Cermis for skiing, a short distance to Cavalese Town for shopping and sightseeing, indoor swimming pool for relaxing in at the end of a ski day, fantastic views of the surrounding Dolomites and a really modern fresh looking room.  Aparthotel Des Alpes houses 200 apartments ranging from studios to 2 bedroom apartments, all recently refurbished.  For our stay we booked a Superior Studio Apartment.

READ ALL ABOUT OUR HOLIDAY AT ALPE CERMIS IN CAVALESE

ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION

Check in at Aparthotel Des Alpes is from 16:00 to 20:00.  Upon arrival we were warmly greeted at the reception by Cinzia.  Cinzia was extremely helpful in telling us all about the hotel facilities, what the local area had to offer, including supermarkets for groceries, restaurants for dining and of course, the best gelateria’s for ice cream…a must for our girls when we are in Italy.  One thing to note is that the local supermarkets close very early in the evening, it was a little after 19:00 and they were already closed.  Thankfully Cinzia was able to take an order for fresh croissants to be collected from the restaurant the next morning.  

THE ROOM

Credit where credit is due, Mummy definitely excelled on the room front this time.  The Superior Studio at Aparthotel Des Alpes was spacious and modern with storage space galore.  A must if you saw how much Mummy had managed to pack!  The apartment was split into 4 areas; bedroom one with bunk beds, main lounge area/2nd bedroom with a dining table and chairs, spacious bathroom and a small equipped kitchenette.  Outside there was a balcony for watching morning sunrises and evening sunsets.  Lily-Belle and Matilda immediately fought over who was sleeping on the top bunk.  A bit of a no-brainer for Mummy and Daddy, but try telling 3 year old Matilda the dangers of falling out of a bunk bed and see where it gets you! 

BEDS, BATHROOMS AND BIDET’S

Open the apartment door, and you walk immediately into the hall/bunk beds.  Directly opposite the bunk beds was the bathroom; a large walk-in shower, toilet, wash basin with under-storage, bidet, mirror but unfortunately no bath.  Daddy loves soaking in the bath, bubbles overflowing.  A very decent sized bathroom indeed.  We’re not ‘posh’ and this was the girls very first experience of a bidet, much to their amusement and ours!

LOVING THE LOUNGE

There was a small kitchenette with a hob (no oven), microwave, kettle, cutlery, plates, cups (plus other kitchen items), perfectly adequate.  In the main lounge area, which also served as the second bedroom, there was a huge pull down bed that could have (and did on 2 occasions) accommodate all 4 of us.  Plenty of wardrobe space beside the bed.  Inside the wardrobe there was a safe for keeping your valuables, well…safe.  The lounge also had a dining table and chairs, with a flat screen TV on the wall.  The room summed up in a word…perfect!

SUPERIOR IT DEFINITELY IS

One thing we loved about the Superior Studio at Aparthotel Des Alpes was the dividing door between the bunk beds and the main lounge-come-bedroom.  The divide allowed Mummy and Daddy to sit and enjoy a glass of wine in the evenings without disturbing the girls when they were in bed.  The apartments have all the equipment required for having an excellent self catering holiday.  Superior…it certainly was.

WELLNESS CENTRE

SWIMMING POOL

The pool, just like many others, had a deep end and a shallow end with the addition of a shallow children’s splash pool at one end.  Around the poolside a few loungers for those simply wishing to sit and relax.  As is the standard in most European swimming pools, a swim hat must be worn.  Having a head like a billiard ball, Daddy did manage to negotiate not wearing one!  The pool is ample for a few lengths, or in our case, a splash about with the girls. The kiddies pool was perfect for Matilda to enjoy. 

JACUZZI

The Jacuzzi was by far the biggest we had ever seen and even better that there wasn’t the typical ‘No Children Allowed’ sign, so we were all able to enjoy the bubbles.  Definitely a bonus to be able to soak aching muscles after skiing….and that was just Lily-Belle and Matilda.  Has someone been eating beans, there’s an awful lot of bubbles!  We are normally ‘all systems go’ throughout our holidays and this one was no different, especially with so many things to see and do within our short period of one week, so the pool and Jacuzzi were very welcome.

SPA

Beside the pool is a stylish modern spa which offers adults the chance to unwind childfree.  Seriously luxurious and free tea, great if you’re a tea drinker but I (Daddy) much prefer coffee.  The spa has outstanding facilities; Finnish saunas, Turkish steam room, sinks full of ice for cooling off, showers and a large relaxation area with loungers.  Do expect full frontal nudity if you visit the Spa.

READ ALL ABOUT MY NUDITY EXPERIENCE IN OUR ALPE CERMIS POST

PLAY ROOM

There is a very colourful Play Room at Aparthotel Des Alpes.  Although we didn’t avail of this facility we did pop our head through the door.  From what we saw the large play room is aimed at younger children and toddlers.

WI-FI

Very important.  On holiday we take lots of photos and videos.  Rather than clog phones and cameras we tend to upload everything to the cloud each evening.  Wi-Fi is free in the main reception area, and also free if you book your stay at Aparthotel Des Alpes direct with Trentino Residencies.  Otherwise Wi-Fi costs €15.00 per week for a password (available at the reception).  We use Sky Go to watch movies when we travel and not once did we experience any poor signal or dropouts in our apartment.  Excellent Wi-Fi which we utilised to the full during our stay at Aparthotel Des Alpes.  Just a note to say that reception is open from 08:00 – 22:00 (close for lunch).

RESTAURANT

Right next door to Aparthotel Des Alpes is Restaurant Des Alpes.  Although the restaurant isn’t very modern with its decor or styling, it was clean and the food was always exceptional.  One evening Lily-Belle and Matilda ordered a pizza and they were ecstatic when the pizza arrived at the table in the shape of a bunny.  The menu is typical of Italy; pasta, pizzas, select meat dishes and my favourite Italian dish, risotto.  We ate in the restaurant on a few occasions and always had a wonderful meal, plus the odd glass (or two) of Aperol Spritz.  On the odd occasion we also took advantage of the available take-away service.  Fresh croissants and breakfast can be ordered from reception the night before.

SKI STORAGE

There is ski storage available at Aparthotel Des Alpes but no drying facility for boots and clothes, best to take these to your room.  We didn’t need to use the ski storage at Aparthotel Des Alpes as we hired the girls skis, boots and helmets from Sport Cermis at Alpe Cermis.  Thankfully we could leave the hired equipment at Sports Cermis each evening, then collect them again the following morning.  Very handy!

SKI SHUTTLE BUS

There is a free Ski Shuttle Bus to the regions main ski resorts such as Obereggen and Latemar.  Pick up-drop off is directly outside Aparthotel Des Alpes.  For our Alpe Cermis holiday we hired a car therefore we didn’t use the bus.

LOVELY CINZIA

We have to give a special mention to our new friend Cinzia.  Cinzia worked on the reception at Aparthotel Des Alpes and was always polite, courteous and smiling.  Always at reception with a warm smile when we left each morning and the same friendly smile when we returned each day.  Chatting with this lovely young lady we found out that Cavalese doesn’t get many visitors from the UK and Ireland.  Cinzia was interested to hear all about us, where we were from and all about our travels.  Equally we loved chatting with Cinzia each day and we were keen to find out more about her and life in this region of Italy.  Lily-Belle and Matilda enjoyed picking up a few Italian phrases from Cinzia each day.  Cinzia was a wealth of information and we were truly thankful to her for making our stay very memorable.

WOULD WE GO BACK

Without hesitation.  Aparthotel Des Alpes is a fantastic hotel with self-contained apartments.  Perfect as a base camp for exploring the Italian Dolomites, and in particular, Alpe Cermis, which is right on the doorstep.  The local town of Cavalese is not too far away and is a lovely town for exploring and looking at the local heritage. Aparthotel Des Alpes gets our seal of approval.

LILY-BELLE (age 9) SAYS
I loved that I was allowed to go in the jacuzzi.  Our room was really comfy and I enjoyed sitting out on the balcony.  Do people really wash their bums in the bidet…eurgh, that’s gross!

MATILDA (age 3) SAYS
Mummy wouldn’t let me sleep on the top bunk, she’s so mean, it’s not fair!  I liked going into the swimming pool and the bubble bath.  Daddy: the bubble bath is the jacuzzi.

Aparthotel Des Alps

Date of stay:  21st – 27th March 2018
Flights (2 A + 2 C):  Ryanair – Belfast to Milan Bergamo – £152.00 (plus £30.00 for 1 x 20kg checked bag)
Car Hire:  Firefly – €59.22 for 7 days (plus €350.00 refundable security deposit)
Price:  Aparthotel des Alpes – €668.29 (plus €150.00 refundable security deposit)

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