Focus: Hotels and Holiday Homes - New Hotel Architecture in South Tyrol
For decades, South Tyrol, with its fascinatingly diverse landscape and cultural richness, was the destination of choice for the typical hiking holiday. Just as cliché as the knickerbockers and plaid shirts worn by the mostly German guests was the accommodation: suites equipped with simple furniture and breakfast rooms dominated by dark wood paneling, bulky corner seats, cast iron lamps and alpine trinkets. Exceptional hotel architecture was hard to find. Guests with sophisticated architectural sensibilities preferred the mundane Grand Hotels built in the late 19th century, or such carefully restored treasures as the Parkhotel Laurin (1910) by Alois und Gustav Ludwig, the Hotel Drei Zinnen (1929) by Clemens Holzmeister, or the Seehotel Ambach (1973) by Othmar Barth. All of these are icons of hotel architecture, meticulously taken care of.
