Das Wanda Suite & Breakfast

Das Wanda is at Garnellenweg 18, on the hills above Caldaro sulla Strada del Vino, in the Pianizza di Sopra area. It is a position that the house itself calls out of the way, and that should be taken literally: you are among the vineyards, with your gaze running down over the hills and stopping on the peaks of the Dolomites on the horizon, and a car is needed to reach the village or Lake Caldaro. This is not a village hotel, it is a secluded place. The house gathers twelve suites, six studios and one penthouse, with a small team of seven people; service is reduced to the essentials, but what there is works.

The two pools are the main reason for coming here and they are very different from each other. Inside there is an infinity pool in concrete, heated and usable all year, open from seven in the morning to ten at night: you swim looking at the vine rows and the mountains. Outside, in the two thousand square metre park with palms, olive trees and magnolias, there is a pool of retro design with day beds around it, and that one too has tempered water. The sauna is panoramic and looks onto the same stretch of water as the indoor pool. It is worth saying what is not there: the site lists no Turkish bath, no water and steam circuit and there is no treatment department with massages, nor a gym. The Wanda spa is avowedly pared to the bone, and the house claims this as a choice. In the room there are spa bags with the bathrobe, while the towels for pool and sauna are in the wellness area, and the toiletries are by the natural brand Vitalis.

There is an important point about the rules of access. The Wanda is adults only and there are no children, but the threshold stated on the site is 14 years, not 18: the house writes that young people from fourteen years upwards are welcome. The booking portals report 18 years instead, so anyone travelling with a teenager should ask for confirmation beforehand. Dogs are allowed, but only by prior agreement and by declaring the animal's weight, at a cost of 35 euros a day without food and bringing the bed or blanket from home. Only some rooms in the main house and a single studio are available, so the request has to be made at the time of booking. The dog does not come into the breakfast room or the wellness area; it is allowed on the terrace and has a reserved area on the lawn, always on the lead. The house is entirely non smoking, and smoking is allowed only outside.

Breakfast is served from 8:00 to 11:00 on the terrace or in the panoramic rooms, in a format that mixes buffet and service à la carte. From 13:00 to 19:00 the Wanda bar serves drinks, local wine, hand roasted coffee and homemade cakes; after that it becomes an honesty bar. The car park is enclosed and reserved for guests, there is a bicycle room with a charging socket and a 22 kW charging point for electric cars, at a charge. From the first day guests receive the Südtirol Guest Pass, which covers all public transport in South Tyrol. Check in runs from 14:00 to 18:00, with self check-in for anyone arriving later, and check out is at 10:30.

It suits two adults who want to stay put for a few days between vineyards and pool, with the occasional outing on the Mendola or a day at Lake Caldaro. It suits less anyone expecting the full spa of a South Tyrolean wellness hotel, or anyone who wants to step out of the hotel and find themselves in the centre on foot.