Hotel Gran Roc in Sestriere

The skiing experience in the Vialattea ski area was fantastic, with such a wide range of pistes across different towns and great snow conditions for late March. The hotel however was rather average. 1. Rooms - The rooms were spacious in size and felt modern with great views from the windows. However the walls were paper thin and you could practically hear people breathing out on the corridor. The beds were very firm and most notably they were only made up by the cleaners in the day rather than having fresh sheets put on. 2. Breakfast & Dinner - On the whole breakfast was very good, there was a wide range of food available hot and cold to fuel you for a days skiing. Dinner on the other hand was hit and miss. Some nights the food was very tasty such as the prawn cannelloni, other nights the main attraction was poorly fried fish and chips. The food was also only lukewarm some nights. The waiting staff were very attentive and helpful however. 3. Bar - The bar only opened at 4pm, without even the option to have somewhere to sit during the day if you weren’t out on the slopes as the lights were turned off and the doors closed. A coffee machine was only provided for après ski hot drinks until 5pm when it was wheeled back into the restaurant. The barman also served me (an Irishman) Guinness with the largest head known to man and tried to tell me this is how they serve it in Ireland after I asked for it to be topped up. 4. Other general services - the hotel ran a shuttle bus between 9-10am and 3-5pm to the gondola and the main ski area in Sestriere to save you walking with all your gear. The boot room was also well heated so all equipment was warm and dry in the morning. Overall the stay was pleasant but probably flattered by the skiing experience rather than what the hotel offered its guests.

We had a good stay at this hotel, the staff are very friendly and the rooms were comfortable. The bar was good and had nice drinks but the food we felt wasn’t great. The quality isn’t there but I also didn’t expect it to be fine dining so it didn’t bother us much. We were kept up with a lot of noise above our room for 2 nights which was frustrating and you can hear quite a bit from the corridors or balcony’s. The hotel offers a free shuttle service but if you want to stay out later on for apres you will have to walk up the hill, which is about 7-10 mins (in skis) and is up hill. The hotel is also quite far from the main town bit and it’s about a 15 min walk, we didn’t mind this and it was easy to walk but good to know if you don’t want to walk much. Overall I think the hotel is good, we won’t be booking food next time (we booked half board) as we didn’t really enjoy the food, especially the dinners. In the evening the hotel offer a buffet and it was always the same. A lot of food but all a bit odd, cold vegetables and heated meatballs etc. This is available as well as your starter and mains.