+ Wood-burning sauna at 2,845 m
+ Pasta, Knödel, apple strudel
+ Excellent wine list
+ Red-checked bed linen
+ Occasional DJ sessions
+ Customs House: off-grid hideaway
+ 72 sleeping places
Bella Vista
Perched at 2,845 metres, this mountain refuge looks out onto untouched peaks and endless white. Sauna, hot tub and great food – the essentials, elevated.
can wait
+ Wood-burning sauna at 2,845 m
+ Pasta, Knödel, apple strudel
+ Excellent wine list
+ Red-checked bed linen
+ Occasional DJ sessions
+ Customs House: off-grid hideaway
+ 72 sleeping places
On the old smuggler’s route, at the border between North and South Tyrol, lies the Bella Vista Mountain Refuge. The mountain world here remains untouched, and the view of snow-capped 3,000-metre peaks is unobstructed.
Bella Vista
Mountain sauna with a bella vista
It’s the ultimate experience to sweat in the wood-burning sauna at 2,845 metres or to sit back and relax in the wooden hot tub steaming in the fresh glacier air beneath the starry sky.
As is only fitting, down-to-earth, regional specialities are served here: pasta dishes and the very best Knödel bread dumplings and apple strudel, of course. The red chequered bed linen in the rustic rooms, together with modern comforts, provide authentic mountain refuge charm.
Kurzras
South Tyrol
It’s the ultimate experience to sweat in the wood-fired sauna at 2,845 metres or to sit back and relax in the wooden tub steaming in the fresh glacier air beneath the starry sky.
Bella Vista
High altitude, good instincts
You can feel owner Paul Grüner’s touch here – the effortlessly good sense of style from the Goldene Rose, the South Tyrolean wines, the books. And you can feel Josef’s hand as well: a younger pulse, the occasional DJ session when the weather and the mountains agree.
If you want to get properly off the grid, you can stay in the Customs House 800 metres away. Two beds, a traditional Stube, a wood-burning stove and the basics you need. A cosy place for two to step out of the world for a night.
Your luggage comes up with the material cable car, while the sporty arrive on foot or with touring skis in winter. For an easier ascent, the refuge can also be reached by cable car from Kurzras – the accessible way to those endless views.
The location
Reaching Bella Vista is part of the charm. You start in Kurzras, the last village in the Schnalstal, and take the gondola up to the glacier station. From there, it’s a short walk along the old smuggler’s route.
