A place of power, a hidden retreat for globetrotters, cosmopolitans, and urban travellers: ICARO Hotel
In the middle of the UNESCO World Heritage Site stands the ICARO, a retreat and energy oasis. Since 1936 ICARO has overlooked and lovingly guarded the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi at 1,900m above sea level. From the Cir peaks over the Langkofel/Sasso Lungo to the Kesselkogel/Catinaccio d’Antermoia and on to the Schlern/Sciliar, the view is always fascinating in a different way.
The ICARO is a place of power, embedded in the charming natural and cultural landscape of the Dolomites. Sculptural peaks rise up around the exciting new architecture, gifting the ICARO with a new design. Renewed yet respectful of its original structure, the new ICARO will welcome open-minded globetrotters from 1 July 2021, providing wondrous time-travelling experiences through art, nature, relaxation and architecture to satisfy longings of all kind.
Angelika Sattler and her family are the third generation to run the house. Raised on the alpine pasture, all family members live and love the mountain throughout the seasons and confirm that the ICARO is worth the trip. When Angelika adjusts her glasses with her radiant calm and her sense of hospitality, it is clear: you have arrived at the ICARO and you want to stay. Angelika takes care of every little detail, but she never loses sight of the big picture either, for it is her desire that every guest finds a haven of peace and a source of strength at once. The ICARO is not just a hotel, but a total work of art that touches you and that you want to visit again and again.
Curious and cosmopolitan travellers in search of the joie de vivre and inspirational journeys will love the ICARO. This place stimulates visitors to think differently. Where walls shift, rooms shape themselves into telescopes with a distant view. Where the unexpectedly creative embeds itself in walls and overlays itself, a wealth of ideas flourishes: the sophisticated, refined and sublime spirit of the house does not leave you untouched.
At the ICARO, one encounters the mountains and nature, but also pleasure, art, architecture, leisure and ultimately oneself. Here, the visitor enters chambers of wonder and rooms of change, where to discover the entertaining and the amusing: colours, shapes, patterns, and large, shimmering filigree that enraptures the observers for its details and makes them fall in love: amplitude is the source of new ideas, variety births diversity. The creative interventions of contemporary artist and Angelika’s husband, Hubert Kostner, further the inspiration across the building. Just like the architecture, the art is located in unexpected corners, where it inspires time and again.
The house reflects the concentrated tension of a flapping wing, yet it welcomes with dignified and open arms – just as if it were ready for an embrace.
“You fly, like Icarus”, guests called out to the former landlord of the ICARO when he jumped over a self-built ski trampoline in winter. The name inspired him, and he promptly decided to christen his alpine inn “Ikarus” or “Icaro”. This archetypal construction – a hut made of wooden trunks – is the inspiration behind the new architecture conceived and realized by Modus, the renowned architecture studio from Brixen/Bressanone. The use of sustainable materials and the fruitful collaboration with local craftsmen transformed ICARO into what it is now. Spacious rooms and rituals are distributed over three levels and become part of the alpine pasture through intelligently conceived insights and views. The hotel offers every visitor a suitable, private place where to rest, retreat and recharge at its own pace.
The ICARO is a vibrant and lively place to enjoy and dream, to meet and discuss, to move around, to ponder, do all or nothing … From 1 July 2021, this refuge on the Alpe di Siusi will inspire discerning guests and write stories together with them after a careful renovation.
More information: https://new.hotelicaro.com/en/home.html
The picture credit is: ©Icaro Hotel; photography: Luciano Paselli & Matteo Scarpelli