A Little Escape for Parents: Hotel Gfell in South Tyrol

text Enrico Fragale Esposito

There are holidays designed for the whole family, and then there are those little escapes that parents secretly dream about. A few days with no alarm clocks, no packed schedules, no “what are we doing today?” questions. Just mountains, good food, silence and the luxury of having nowhere to be.
For this kind of break, Hotel Gfell, in Fiè allo Sciliar, South Tyrol, feels like the right kind of place.

Perched above the landscape, overlooking the mountains and the Sciliar massif, Gfell is a small design hotel immersed in nature. With just 17 rooms and suites, it has the intimate feeling of a retreat rather than a traditional mountain hotel. The architecture follows the slope of the land, partly disappearing into it, while wood, glass and natural materials create a seamless dialogue between the interiors and the landscape.

To wake up with a view of the mountains, spend a few hours walking through the South Tyrolean landscape and then return to the hotel for a sauna overlooking the peaks.
The panoramic wellness area is one of those places where doing absolutely nothing suddenly feels like a very good plan.

The surroundings do most of the work. Fiè allo Sciliar sits among forests, meadows and mountain paths, with around 400 kilometres of hiking trails connecting alpine huts, streams and panoramic viewpoints. You don’t necessarily need a packed itinerary. A walk, a long lunch, a book, a sauna and an early evening drink might already be enough.
And perhaps that is the real luxury of a place like this: having time without having to fill it. For parents, especially, this can feel surprisingly exotic.

There is another reason to make the trip: food. At Hotel Gfell, the Schönblick restaurant is one of the property’s highlights. Chef Andreas Mair focuses on South Tyrolean and Alpine cuisine, working with ingredients from the hotel’s own garden and local producers. The philosophy is distinctly local, seasonal and rooted in the surrounding territory, complemented by a carefully selected wine and spirits cellar.

Let’s be clear: Gfell isn’t a family hotel, and that’s exactly the point of this recommendation.
Scimparello is usually all about discovering places to go with children, but sometimes the best thing parents can do for their family is to take a little time for themselves. A weekend away, a birthday escape, a few days between seasons, or simply a spontaneous decision to leave everything behind for a moment.

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