At a glance
- Vegetarian (mostly vegan) European-style mountain hotel
- Open between June and late September for the summer season – hiking, MTB, eMTB, summer vibes
- Open for the winter from December to March for skiing, snowshoeing, cozy and winter wonderland vibes
- Closed between seasons – check the website for exact dates as it changes each year.
- Operates at half-board – your stay includes breakfast and dinner. This is similar to most hotels in the area.
- Open for lunch also (a-la-carte menu)
- Best / only (?) place for good vegan food in Seiser Alm and surrounding areas.
We visited the Paradiso Pure.Living hotel twice during the summer season of 2022. Once in June with a group of 22 people on one of our tours (two nights) and secondly in September for a vacation to explore the region (five nights). Full disclosure: we do have a business and a personal relationship with the owners and managers of Paradiso Pure-Living and their sister hotels: La Vimea and Agrivilla I Pini. They provide accommodation for luxury vegan group tours.
We loved our visit in June especially due to the abundance of wildflowers and because the meadows had not yet been cut. At the time of writing, we have not visited during the winter season.
Location and setting
Paradiso Pure.Living is set away from the crowds of Compatsch amongst the UNESCO World Heritage Alpine Meadows of Alpe di Siusi. It is set apart from other hotels – the nearest other hotels or refuges are at least a ten-minute walk away. There are incredible 360-degree views of the Dolomites mountains and the sunrises and sunsets from your room are reasons enough to stay there. You are not far from the chairlift and if you are staying here in winter, you can ski in and ski out. Staying here feels like you are going back in time. Small old wooden houses or huts pepper the landscape. The alpine meadows (1000 meters up from Siusi village on the valley floor) are high enough to be covered in snow and to be a ski resort. Above the meadows, you are surrounded by dramatic and jagged limestone karsts which make the landscape striking. One of the most interesting things to non-Europeans is that the area doesn’t feel especially Italian. The mother tongue of most people who live here is German and there are Germanic influences everywhere from the architecture to the cuisine.
Getting there and away
Paradiso Pure.Living is located in the middle of a UNESCO alpine meadow (Alpe Di Siusi / Seiser Alm) but that does not mean that it is difficult to get there even with luggage by public transportation.
Driving
Driving around Alpe Di Siusi / Seiser Alm is strictly controlled. If you have a reservation at a hotel in the meadow itself, you can go right to the hotel on check-in day and drive out on your departure day so that is enter and leave the protected area. Otherwise, roads are closed to the public between 9 am and 5 pm. Contact the hotel about this, as there are certain procedures you must follow to avoid fines.
If you are visiting just for a meal you have a couple of options. If you arrive in Compatsch before 9 am and depart after 5 pm and the Seiser Alm Bahn / Cabinovia Alpe di Siusi is working, then there is a paid car park in Compatsch you can use. If you plan to arrive or depart outside of these hours or you don’t want to drive up the winding road to the top, then you can park at the bottom next to the Seiser Alm Bahn / Cabinovia Alpe di Siusi / Seiser Alm Aerial Cableway gondola station and use the gondola to get to Compatsch.
From Compatsch you have a few ways of getting to the hotel.
Walk five minutes downhill from the Seiser Alm Bahn / Cabinovia Alpe di Siusi / Seiser Alm Aerial Cableway gondola upper station in Compatsch to the Panorama Chairlift and take the chairlift to the Hotel Panorama (17 minutes). From there it is just a (stunning!) 20-minute leisurely walk to Hotel Paradiso Pure.Living.
If you want to save some money you can walk the whole way there from the Seiser Alm Bahn / Cabinovia Alpe di Siusi Gondola station at Compatsch for 60 minutes, mostly uphill (not too steep). This would be hard with large bags. You can also integrate a lunch or meal at Paradiso Pure-Living as part of your explorations of Alpe di Siusi.
If you have a reservation you can call reception and they will send a marked shuttle to pick you up from the gondola in Compatsch. There is no extra charge for this unless it is out of their designated hours (15 Euros in summer and 25 Euros in Winter)
Public transport
Getting to the Seiser Alm Bahn / Cabinovia Alpe di Siusi Gondola by public transportation is quite easy, even with heavy bags. We took the #170 bus from Bolzano’s central train station and it dropped us off at ‘Siusi, Bivio Cabinovia / Seis, Abzweiugung Umlaufbahn’, a stop just before the small town of Siusi. From there it was just a 5-minute walk (albeit uphill) to get to the Seiser Alm Bahn / Cabinovia Alpe di Siusi gondola station and then a seventeen-minute ride to get to Compatsch.
There is a bus service that takes people around Seiser Alm / Alpe Di Siusi, but it doesn’t help you get very close to Paradiso Pure.Living.
In winter, the guests at Paradiso Pure.Living can park for free in Compatsch and a snow vehicle will bring you to the hotel.
For more information
- Seiser Alm Bahn / Cabinovia Alpe di Siusi click here
- Getting to Seiser Alm and away Click here
- Local buses Click here
IMPORTANT NOTE: Timetables and access to and around Seiser Alm depend on the season. Check for the most up-to-date information at the Seiser Alm / Alpe Di Siusi website.
Best Time to Visit
Paradiso Pure.Living is not open during the shoulder seasons of fall and spring so anytime when it is open is a good time. School holidays and weekends are very busy at Alpe Di Siusi so it’s beneficial if you can avoid these times. Come during winter for numerous winter sports and just feel very cozy. Come during summer for epic hiking, MTB, or eMTB. The area is famous for its 300 + sunny days a year so while views cannot be guaranteed, there is a strong likelihood of experiencing them. As we mentioned above, we love June because of the wildflowers.
Rooms
There are 41 rooms of different sizes. If the word ‘pure’ prefixes the name of the room, then these are the newer and more modern rooms that we personally prefer. There is a huge walk-in space for luggage in each room for gear and clothes. Some rooms have a sofa bed to allow more people to stay in the room and all rooms have a balcony with a view. ‘Pure’ rooms are decorated with very cool natural colors and are understated but elegant. Our room’s bathroom had a separate toilet and there was a sliding door above the sink next to the shower which you could close for privacy or open for more natural light or enjoy the view. We stayed in room 212 during our September stay and had the Pure Studio L room.
Dining
Paradiso Pure.Living served its last meals containing meat in 2018 and at the time of writing, most of the food served at the hotel is vegan and it is marked with the ‘VG’ or a leaf next to the name of the dish, the rest of vegetarian. The food served is very seasonal and the dinner menu changes every day. Most foods served are organic and locally grown, emphasizing healthy cuisine. Processed vegan meats and cheeses are not used in the kitchen. Gluten-free options are clearly marked.
Breakfast
Breakfast is included in the price of your stay and is an enormous self-serve buffet including tofu scramble, roasted potatoes, mango pudding, tofu ricotta, a selection of cakes, and patisserie (including croissants!). Coffee drinks can be made with four different non-dairy milks.
Lunch
Lunch is available and there is an a-la-carte menu available which is quickly prepared from bowls, to pasta to vegan burgers to apple strudel with saffron cream and can be served outside depending on the weather.
Dinner
The menu changes each day and is available to see from mid morning outside the restaurant in the lobby or from the QR code. The dinner menu has five courses. Guests are sat at the same table each night (this is very much hut-style) and follow a similar pattern each evening. Instead of courses being numbered, they are named.
- Prepare: A salad with a dressing and a small serving of kombucha
- Start: A small course vegetable focussed
- Enjoy: Soup
- Surprise: Pasta/gnocchi
- Pamper: Dessert
Facilities and events
As well as the wonderful views and access to the incredible surrounding countryside, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy the hotel. It’s an art hotel with an abundance of contemporary art decorating the walls of the common areas. Artists will often come to the hotel for a residency and will share their work with those interested.
Indoor swimming pool and outdoor hot tub
From 4 pm, the outdoor hot tub is operational and you can enjoy incredible views and soothe those aching legs. The indoor pool is heated and can be enjoyed in winter and summer.
Spa
Similar to many European hotels, the spa consists of steam rooms and saunas, and quiet relaxation areas. There is also a flotation tank (a small extra cost) and some infrared treatments.
Fitness
There is a small gym with weights and cardio machines. Yoga is available two or three times a day for no extra cost depending on the season
Pros – Things we love
- The only place on Seiser Alm that has thoughtful vegetarian / mainly vegan cuisine in an otherwise region with a very meat-heavy cuisine
- So great to have a mostly vegan hotel in such a big travel destination
- Excellent service and friendly staff
- Great communication when booking
Beautifully renovated rooms with an abundance of space and storage
Cons – Things to be aware of
- No laundry facilities
- No tea / coffee-making facilities in the room (although you can ask for a kettle)
- No refrigerator – you can ask for a mini fridge to be brought to your room
- No electricity outlet next to the bed in ‘pure’ rooms
- WIFI is turned off at night and generally low internet speed. This is normal in this area but makes staying on top of work a challenge if you are juggling work and play
Overall verdict
As vegan travelers, we are so thrilled that Paradiso Pure.Living exists. It’s not often that you can find a mostly very comfortable vegan hotel that is also in such an amazing location that’s so popular, especially in what is really a desert for vegans foodwise – mountain German-style cuisine is standard around here. We think the price is reasonable for what you get, and if you happen to be into yoga you can take advantage of three yoga classes a day. The food served is very healthy compared with the food served in other hotels, so staying here is a great way to sample amazing vegan food (if you have never had it before). We love that the room is large especially compared to many ski hotels.
We are not alone in liking this place. We have brought our groups here and they absolutely loved it and we loved it so much that we decided to come back for a longer stay. We rarely spend five days in a hotel, but this was so worth it.
If you do happen to stay at Paradiso Pure.Living make sure you let them know that you learned about them from this blog post!
Photos of Paradiso Pure.Living
For more photos click here
