Vivi Suites & Spa - Boutique Guest House Molveno

Vivi Suites & Spa is at Via Nazionale 59, in the upper part of Molveno, some fifty metres from the car park of the Molveno-Pradel cable car and twenty metres from the town bus stop, at around 900 metres above sea level. This is the stretch of the village that climbs towards the lifts, with the lake a little below and the Brenta Dolomites opposite: from the balconies you look over the roofs of the centre and the sheet of water. The house is small by choice, seven suites, and presents itself as a boutique guest house, not as a hotel.

The seven suites range from 30 to 80 square metres. The Vivi Suite is on the ground floor with a private terrace; the Libera Suite, also on the ground floor, has a freestanding bath and a large walk in wardrobe; the Ama and the Sogna, on the first and second floors, have a kitchenette and a balcony and work as mini apartments for two; the Respira, on the first floor, adds to its 42 square metres a terrace of 20 covered by a motorised pergola; the Osa, on the second floor, is in spruce wood, natural fabrics and stone, with a kitchen corner. At the top is the Essenza Deluxe Suite, a penthouse of 80 square metres reached by lift, the only one with a full view of the lake. Breakfast is not taken in a dining room: it is brought to the suite every morning, and in the lounge, open twenty four hours a day, there are the drinks cabinet, the coffee and the snacks.

The wellness area deserves to be understood before booking, because it is not a shared spa. It is 60 square metres reserved for whoever books it: Finnish sauna, Turkish bath, whirlpool tub, sensory shower and a relaxation corner with herbal teas. It is booked by the hour, from 12 to 22, for a minimum of one hour and a maximum of three, and it is designed for two people, on request up to four adults. Access is included in the Benessere rate, otherwise it is added as an extra. The massages, from the thirty minute deep tissue one to the hour long ayurvedic abhyangam, are given in the same wellness area; there is only one therapist, so a simultaneous couples massage is not possible. There is no pool.

On the rules of access, the booking portal states that children are not allowed. The official site does not publish a threshold in years, so this page does not give one, but it points in the same direction explicitly: the page headed Viaggi in Famiglia does not describe rooms for children, it refers readers to another property, the La Slitta apartment in the hamlet of Berghi at San Lorenzo in Banale. Anyone travelling with a teenager close to the age of majority should ask for written confirmation before booking.

The dog, on the other hand, is welcome, with written rules: a surcharge of 20 euros a night that can rise according to weight, maximum size 20 kilos, only in some suites, never left alone in the suite and no access to the shared areas. The rest of the services are designed for people on the move: the Vivi Garage is a covered private car park, always open, with code entry, electric car charging as an extra service, a heated Skyroom for skis and snowboards and a bike room with a personal lock and a washing area. There is wifi in every space, the Trentino Guest Card, a tracked stairlift, check-in from 14 to 18 and check-out between 9 and 10.

It suits a couple who want quiet, a spa all to themselves and the freedom of a mini apartment, while staying within walking distance of the lifts and the lake. It suits less anyone looking for the full service of a hotel, half board or a pool.