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The best luxury hotel to access the snow-sure glacier ski area of Rettenbach and Tiefenbachferner is Das Central. You can ski here from late September right through to April because the peaks are over 3,000 meters high, so the ski conditions here remain excellent throughout the season. An extensive snowmaking system also keeps the snow going as the slopes warm in the spring.
Sölden village is a long, thin village strung out along the river that runs down the center of the valley and the road to Obergurgl. Buildings are in traditional Tirolean style or are modern. You can find a range of hotels here from luxury ski apartments to the most luxurious place to stay in Solden, Das Central hotel.
Near Far Collection Special Offer: Get this Free
Das Central In Sölden is a member of our Near Far Collection which means that when you can book a room via our luxury travel concierge you get brilliant extra benefits at no extra cost.
Our exclusive benefits at Das Central In Sölden are free parking (in the underground car park), room upgrade (if available), €35 EUR SPA voucher per room, early check-in & late check-out (if available). Breakfast, dinner, Wi-Fi, and a welcome drink are already included in the Das Central room rates!
Best Time To Visit
The best time to visit Sölden is always in the prime of winter, the end of January to early March, but prices are much lower at the start and end of the season, so we feel there is better value to be had in the lower season. Stay anytime from October to December, some of January, and then April through to May and you can grab a bargain at this luxury hotel and throughout the hotels in this region.
Our latest visit to this hidden gem was in April. Although the meadows in the village were blooming with mountain flowers, including a carpet of pretty yellow crocuses, which I loved, the conditions up the hill remained excellent.
How To Get There
Solden is located in the Tyrol ski region of Austria. It’s around a 1-hour drive from Innsbruck airport, which you can easily reach from London via British Airways and other carriers.
Location
This luxury hotel nestles up a side road, away from the main street. It overlooks Heidi-style alpine meadows, which have a backdrop of the spectacular snow-capped mountains. Das Central is just a short walk or complimentary minibus ride from the gondolas, which takes you up to the snow-sure alpine slopes. It is also just a few steps from the lively village center, which offer loads of bars, restaurants, ski shops, fashion shops, and usefully, a pharmacy and a supermarket, ideal for topping up with snacks and chocolate if the almost endless array of food in the hotel doesn’t fill you up.
Slopes
You can access two glaciers from Solden, the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers. The skiing region on the glaciers covers an area of about 20 m² This is the largest skiable glacial area of Austria.
What enables Solden’s skiing season to be so long is that the three skiable peaks are more than 3,000 meters high; Gaislachkogl (3,058 m asl), the Tiefenbachkogl (3,250 m asl), and the Schwarze Schneid (3,367 m asl). They are known as the BIG3.
What Else?
Solden was one of the locations chosen for the James Bond 007 movie, Spectre. If you would like to follow in the footsteps, or should I say ski indentations of Daniel Craig, or if you are looking for a dramatic place to be chased down slopes by villains, you must try Sölden.
Even better, for 007 fans, ELEMENTS is now open, which is a world-first, cinematic installation dedicated to the world of James Bond. The installation focuses on Spectre, which was shot in Sölden but also showcases the other titles in the 24-film series.
007 ELEMENTS guides visitors on a journey through a series of high-tech, interactive galleries, each distilling the craft of the signature elements that define a James Bond film, from the beautiful title sequences and dramatic scores to the jaw-dropping action sequences, the cars, gadgets, and technology, and the breath-taking locations.
The collaboration between the project’s creative director, Neal Callow (Art Director on Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre), and the creative team at Optimist Inc. led by Tino Schaedler has produced an immersive, interactive, and informative experience that reveals how the world of 007 is made. The aim of 007 ELEMENTS is to tell the story of the making of 007 films through an ultra-modern, emotive, and engaging experience while using the incredible location to place guests in Bond’s environment and bring the stories to life in a unique and unforgettable way. Remember: The installation is not heated, so warm clothes are recommended.
Style & Character
Das Central has a modern alpine feel. The lobby has some stunning icy light installations in the ceiling, and the entire area is immaculate. Beyond the lobby is a bar and lounge area to your left with seating that spills out onto the patio, as the front of the hotel is a real suntrap and the perfect place to grab a tea in the afternoon. While we stayed, this area was decked out with hundreds of mini daffodils.
Towards the back of the lounge is a stylish bar area with friendly bar staff and funky dark lighting. For a ski hotel, this area is super modern and stylish, but it retains the friendliness of the rest of the hotel. There is also a further lounge with a roaring fire, where you can enjoy an extravagant afternoon food buffet.
To the right of the lobby, you find the main hotel restaurant where you take lunch and dinner, along with the pine-clad À-la-carte-Restaurant Ötztaler Stube.
Rooms
Rooms are immaculate, large, and recently refurbished, with pine-clad floors and walls and generous bathrooms. Our room was on floor 4 at the top of the building. It had a high ceiling crisscrossed with wooden beams, a large sofa to one side, a double seating area, a Nespresso coffee machine, a desk area, and a flat-screen TV. The bathroom had an enormous tub and a huge walk-in shower as well as a double basin unit and a separate toilet area. The highlight, of course, is the views, and all rooms have a beautiful large balcony with a table and chairs where you can either sit out and look at the vista or if that’s too cold, you can sit on the bed and absorb the views through the floor to ceiling windows.
Service & Facilities
Off the slopes, there is a large spa and swim area with a pool full of bubble jets and designed to look like it’s actually in Venice with murals depicting the canals and buildings of Venice over the two floors of this relaxation area. When you swim, it’s almost as if you are swimming beside the Grand Canal!
There is also a kids club, a gym with daily training activities, and a spa, where you can have your aches massaged away.
Food
Food is a real highlight at Das Central. You start the day with a substantial gourmet breakfast featuring vats of cereals and including about 5 yogurt-based dishes as well as the alpine essential, Bircher Muesli. You can select egg dishes made by an egg chef any way you like. There is a large dish of fruit and fruit salads as well as savory trays of cheeses, meats, smoked salmon, and salads. A colorful juice bar and a wide variety of bread and muffins finish the offering, so you will never be left hungry.
In the evening, you are spoilt with an excellent 5-course gourmet menu from cuisine awarded an ‘eternal toque’ by Gault Millau. It is utterly delicious with meat and vegetarian mains as well as a selection of additional alternative mains, so you have a choice between about 5 different options at each meal. The salmon and cod mains were particularly noteworthy and delicious, as were the mouthwatering soups. For dessert, there were cheese trays to choose from, followed by sweet mouses, icecreams, creamy chocolate cake type dishes, and loads of accompaniments to decorate your dessert. I loved the indulgent mini toffee balls that could be sprinkled over your ice cream (and everything else if you so wished).
Gala dinner is once a week and offers a special atmosphere with an impressive 6-course tasting menu and entertainment.
For something a bit different, try the À-la-carte-Restaurant Ötztaler Stube and Das Central-Weinkeller, which combine culinary finesse with a special flair. At between €16-24 EUR surcharge, this food is delicious and also the best fine dining deal in Solden. Of course, if you are not a resident, the bill comes to €100+ EUR per person, hence the meal being such a steal for residents. That said, the food is so good in the main restaurant that you may not feel the need to treat yourself.
Final Thoughts
It’s not only us who think Das Central is a brilliant snow-sure ski hotel. The hotel gets special distinctions from Harper’s Bazaar Travel Guide 2019, which lists Das Central as one of “The 100 greatest experiences in the world”. Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award 2018 put it in the category “Top 25 Luxury Hotels – Austria”. Gault Millau 2018 gives it 2 toques / À la carte Guide: 93 points. World Luxury Hotel Awards highlight the hotel as the best “Luxury Mountain Hotel 2017” in Europe and the best “Luxury Wellness Hotel 2017” in Austria. Trivago.at ranks Das Central as one of the “Top Ten 5-star Hotels in Austria”. Plus, it has the VINEUS Wine Culture Award: “Best Wine Hotel 2016”.
We think Das Central is not only the best luxury hotel in Solden, but it is also one of the top luxury high altitude ski hotels in the Alps. The food is delicious, the rooms are spacious and stylish, and the glacier is snow sure. This was our second stay, and I’m sure that we’ll be back. Is there any higher accolade than that?
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