I spent eight nights at the Nido dell'Aquila over New Years and was quite pleased with my holiday. As I drove through Fonte Cerretto and saw hundreds of people and cars parked everywhere I was pleased that I reserved my stay at the Nido dell'Aquila which is about 300 meters beyond the chaos surrounding the Campo Imperatore cableway station. At the hotel I was welcomed by the lovely Valeria Bellassai, daughter of the owner, and given the key card to my room, number 103. It was on the first floor, rather small, with a window facing the pine-treed hillside (i.e., no view) but it was spotlessly clean and new looking. The bed had a nice white duvet with crisp new sheets and pillow cases and a very comfortable mattress. There was a small wardrobe and some shelving for clothes but as I was alone it was okay for me. A safe, small refrigerator, desk, chair, and a large flat screen TV on the wall. Good room lighting. The Bathroom was small but very new, with a beautiful large glass shower stall with excellent water pressure.
The free in-room wifi was appreciated. I noted that some of the other rooms were larger and had couches for added comfort. The hotel also has suites with fireplaces.
Downstairs was the reception, hall, a little library, bar, breakfast room, and the restaurant. Plenty of parking in front. For the duration of my stay I was on half pension, the cost for which came to about €110 a day and included a single supplement and the New Year's eve dinner and party (loads of fun!). While the daily breakfast was a bit spartan, everything was good and the coffee served by Mr. Fernando was excellent. The dinners were all very good (the restaurant was not open for lunch), starting with an antipasto dish, first course pasta or rice, and usually a meat entree, vegetable, and dessert. Wine and bottled water were extra. A nice wood-burning fireplace added to the atmosphere in the dining room. I did notice that many of the guests ordered off the al la carte menu but I suppose they were not on the pension plan. Some evenings we were served by a cute young girl named Caterina, other times by the director himself, Fabrizio Bellassai. Other than New Year's Eve, there were never many other guests at dinner, just three or four tables occupied besides mine. Fabrizio explained this was due to the global economic crisis and the scarcity of snow. While it snowed only one evening while I was there, the latter days of my stay brought warmer temperatures and some rain which all but eliminated what snow there was on the ground. Hopefully they will have ample snowfall in January and February.
The heavy snow was up on top, that is Campo Imperatore, one of central Italy's better ski areas. Twice I rode the cablecar up to the ski area, some 2100 meters high, and almost a thousand meters higher than the hotel. Only two of the four chairlifts were running but the days were sunny with a temperature of around -5 degrees celius which made for nice skiing on the runs that were open. Unfortunately the first day (27 Dec.), other than the chairlifts and ski rental shop, nothing else was open. The old historical Campo Imperatore Hotel was closed as was the bar/cafeteria. When I returned the second time (1 Jan.) at least this was open for coffee and something to eat.
The remainder of my holiday was spent driving through the local Abruzzo region visiting interesting towns and seeing some magnificent scenery each day. The capital city of L'Aquila is sadly semi-deserted after the horrendous earthquake two years ago.
In closing, I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday at the Hotel Nido dell'Aquila where I met some very nice people, citing also Maria Teresa who worked the reception desk each day and the kind lady who kept my room so sparkling clean. All in all a great staff working hard to make their guests' stay enjoyable. P.s., the family name "Bellassai" can be translated as "exceedingly beautiful" and both Fabrizio and Valeria were indeed good looking.