I liked this little hotel very much. The desk clerks were very helpful. It's close to the tram, the train station, and downtown. The breakfast was good, with lots of fresh fruit and plenty of coffee. There is a pool in the rear for use during the summer, and a nice restaurant with plenty of outdoor seating under umbrellas. (The waiter told me that the umbrellas are just in case one of the many large, beautiful chestnut trees happens to drop one of its nuts, which might be painful!) My room was small and spartan, but I have no use for anything other than a good, clean bed, a shower and a TV, so it met my needs perfectly. I would certainly stay there again.

Walk every where in Balzano. . Wonderful staff, all the comforts of home. At the base of one of the cable cars to take to Sopra Bolzano.
Cool off in the pool after a warm day.

I found out about Bolzano from the design hotel website. It is somewhat of a hidden jewel of a city, tucked away in the Domomites with relatively few UK visitors. Needless to say I did not choose their Hotel Greif as I wanted a hotel with an outdoor pool and as the weather for the third week in August was consistantly 34 degrees this was a wise choice!

First impressions of the Scala Stiegl are underwheming - reception is small and dominated by a lift to take the disabled to its restaurant. Reception staff are very helpful, hard working and are keen to please. I booked a superior room - probably not worth the extra money, the promise of a marble bathroom turned out to be marble plastic tiles. The king size bed was 2 singles pushed together - the balcony had no furniture, and the furnishing did not seem to match!

Breakfast has a good range of fresh fruit, cheese, hams, yogert and breads - freshly brewed coffee and juices. Service is efficient. Breakfast can be taken outside in the garden.

The hotel's best asset is the outdoor pool and garden - a pleasure to sit in and lots of sun beds.

Bolzano can be reached via a flight to Verona - short bus ride (5 euros) to the station and then a 2 hour / 1 1/2 hour train ride depending on whether a regional or intercity train is taken. (Cost is 9.30 or 14.50 euros). The hotel is afew minutes walk from the station. So this is 'do-able' for a long weekend. In this area of Italy they speak Italian and German - the city is very clean. Its worth exploring with a good range of up market shops, and lots of opportunities to take cable car trips to mountain villages. There is one cable car station just round the corner from the hotel which takes you to Sopra Bolzano or Ober Bozen - Above Bolzano - the views are great and it costs just 3.90 return. (Next to the cable car station is a strange Aldi/Lidl type supermarket called Euro Spin - its the nearest supermarket to the hotel and sells cheap drinks including water.) BEWARE - ALL SHOPS CLOSE ON SUNDAY!

If you visit the, city - vist a bar called Fischbanke - a phantasy bar (Dr Steiter Strasse) is a must - try the Veneziano cocktail - a mixture of Aperol (orange liquor and prosecco). Best atmosphere is Bolzano!

One of the very best hotels. Very nice and helpul staff, spatious, clean rooms, huge garage cross the hotel, fine internet connection, excellent service. A very good breakfast buffet. On reccommendations we had very good food with very ggod wine. Superb hospitality. If you wonder how a hotel should be run, this is it.
It was a dream to be a guest here, and the hotel staff made it easy for us all to just forget about all worries.