I was intrigued then to discover that to visit Adler Mountain Lodge a special pass (provided by the hotel) is required to drive on restricted roads high in the Italian Dolomites to this Unesco World Heritage area. On passing through a checkpoint in the mountains above Bolzano we tentatively start to follow a narrow track deep into the mountains. Initially we pass through gently rolling high alpine meadow ablaze with summer flowers. Then slowly, turn after turn, the most remarkable mountain vistas start to open up. With each bend in the road the previous views are surpassed. The jagged peaks of the Dolomites start to emerge above the gentle pasture of the Alpe di Siusi, at 2,000m the highest mountain plateau in Europe. Then, just when the view can’t get any better, we realise we have arrived at the hotel. Inconspicuously set into the mountain side Adler Mountain Lodge enjoys dress circle views of the most remarkable alpine scenery. Three 1,000m high cathedrals of rock soar before you. Hotels like this don’t exist in Europe. Only the view of the Torres del Paine from the Explora hotel in deepest Patagonia bears any parallel. This incredible and ever changing vista is the backdrop to your stay. The flower laden meadows your playground. The final encore is the Dolomitic rock turning a breathtaking pink hue at sunset.

Alpine activities

Bike tours and yoga feature while during the winter the programme focuses on alpine skiing, cross country skiing and snow shoe-ing.

We rather ambitiously sign up for a ‘hard’ hike ‘somewhere over there’ as the activities coordinator points at the peaks across the meadows. The next morning we are met by a lithe looking Georg, who grew up in the nearby town of Ortisei, who is to be our guide. Perhaps our newly invested walking kit suggests we are slightly more athletic than we actually are as Georg sets off at a pace across the meadows. The sheer quantity and variety of flowers is a delight. Local farmers are starting to make hay and a chorus of cowbells serenade us to the base of the craggy peaks that had been our horizon until now. We stop to eat wild strawberries growing in abundance as we slowly climb. At this point the altitude and pace start to catch up with us and only the views and the promise of a nearby rifugio propel us on. Finally we arrive at the tiny refuge tucked away in the heart of the mountains. Georg recommends the Kaiserschmarrn (a fluffy shredded pancake) served with homemade jam and a raspberry schnapps. Strangely(!) the return trip to the hotel flies by and in no time we find ourselves back in the panoramic sauna easing our weary limbs and proudly retracing our footsteps on the horizon.

Such was our summer experience of Adler Mountain Lodge we have booked to return in the winter. The lure of skiing across those same meadows has proved irresistible.

Adler Mountain Lodge is located in the Italian Dolomites an hour and half from Innsbruck or two and half hours from Verona. For the perfect summer itinerary we recommending combining your stay with a visit to the Grand Hotel Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda and a night at the opera in Verona to enjoy the best the region has to offer.