At Kals am Großglockner in East Tyrol, the piste runs beneath the window; at Sillian, in Austria’s Upper Puster Valley, the gondola is across the road; in Val di Peio, Trentino, the world’s first plastic-free ski area is just 300 metres away.
With the ski season beginning in the first week of December, Gradonna Mountain Resort, Dolomiten Residenz Sporthotel Sillian and Hotel Vioz offer the luxury of starting the day on skis without having to use a car. Alongside the nearby slopes, each offers food rooted in its surroundings, restorative wellness facilities and the quiet of mountains away from the busiest resorts.
A day’s skiing can be shaped by a handful of minutes: the time between the warmth of breakfast and the first edge cutting into the snow. Elsewhere, those minutes disappear into parking, shuttle buses, carrying boots and queuing at the ticket office. Leaving the hotel with skis already on, or catching the first lifts, removes the wait and offers the ultimate privilege for mountain lovers: skiing down in the last light and leaving the car keys in the room. For skiers, true luxury means removing whatever stands between the bedroom and the piste. For winter 2026-2027, the journey starts here, measuring the distance from the room door to the groomed snow at three properties in Trentino and East Tyrol. The distances vary from one address to another, as do the mountains beyond the threshold, but the idea of a holiday remains the same: peace, sport and relaxation. And plenty of convenience.
Gradonna Mountain Resort, the piste beside the chalets
At Gradonna, the piste is part of the resort. The Blauspitz run towards Kals passes right beside the hotel and chalets: guests clip into their skis outside their own front door and head for the lift. Set below the Großglockner, Austria’s highest mountain, on the edge of Hohe Tauern National Park, the resort is car-free. A ski school and equipment hire are available on site, together with a beginners’ area with a magic carpet where first-timers can try the snow before venturing into the wider ski area.
Beyond the threshold lies Großglockner Resort Kals-Matrei, East Tyrol’s largest ski area, open continuously from 5 December 2026 to 4 April 2027. It has 16 lifts and around 47 kilometres of pistes, plus a beginners’ area at Großdorf and another at the upper station of the Goldried gondola in Matrei. Those looking for long descents can ski from the Adler Lounge, whose terrace looks towards some sixty peaks over 3,000 metres, down towards Matrei. The area is included in three ski pass networks: Snow Card Tirol, Osttirol Card Ski-Hit and Top-Skipass Kärnten Osttirol.
Back at the resort, boots stay in the ski room while the day continues in the Mountain Spa, covering more than 3,000 square metres. The 21-metre infinity pool is for adults only, while families have a pool with a slide. Treatments use Magdalena’s, the vegan, organic cosmetics range made in Tyrol with local arnica, mountain pine and honey. In the evening, chef Michael Karl serves a five-course dinner featuring locally sourced ingredients, accompanied by a cellar of more than 300 labels. Chalet guests receive a Pflandl breakfast basket at their door each morning. Before bed, a sleep sommelier can help them choose a pillow and small evening rituals.
Rates: Klassik double rooms from €192 per person per night with gourmet board; Klassik chalets from €515 for the entire unit, accommodating up to four people.
Gradonna Mountain Resort Châlets & Hotel
Burg 24 - 9981 Kals am Großglockner
+43 4876 82000
info@gradonna.at
Dolomiten Residenz Sporthotel Sillian, lifts across the road
Five kilometres from the South Tyrol border, the Thurntaler lift starts opposite Dolomiten Residenz Sporthotel Sillian. A few minutes on foot with skis over the shoulder brings guests to the ascent. It is a convenient arrangement for families: no transfers to organise and the option of returning to the room halfway through the day. Like Gradonna, the hotel belongs to the Schultz family, led by Martha Schultz.
Skizentrum Sillian Hochpustertal opens from 5 December 2026 to 29 March 2027. Its south-east-facing slopes extend across the Thurntaler between 1,103 and 2,407 metres, with a clear predominance of red runs, including two long descents towards Sillian and Außervillgraten. Eight lifts serve an area suited to regular skiers who are not seeking extreme gradients, as well as families. The Bobo Kinderclub and its teaching area are close to the upper gondola station. Older children practise in the snowpark at 2,200 metres. Children under six ski free, while those aged six to eighteen receive a 50 per cent discount on ski passes.
Parents with young children can use the Häppi Päpi Kinderclub, open from Sunday to Friday for children aged three and over, with qualified Italian-speaking staff. Afternoons are well suited to the wellness area of more than 3,000 square metres, with heated indoor and outdoor pools and an adults-only zone. Younger guests have a large pool with a big slide. Dinner includes locally made cheeses, cured meats and bread, with children’s menus, vegetarian and vegan options, and wines selected by the house sommelier. Winter around Sillian offers other activities too: horse-drawn sleigh rides leave from the hotel, while tobogganing on the Leckfeldalm and around 200 kilometres of cross-country trails and snowshoe routes are nearby. From 22 to 24 January 2027, neighbouring Obertilliach hosts the Internationaler Dolomitenlauf, Austria’s largest popular cross-country skiing event, also open to beginners on a five-kilometre course.
Rates: from €132 per person per night in a Residenz double room, including gourmet half board, spa and Kinderclub.
Dolomiten Residenz Sporthotel Sillian
A-9920 Sillian 49d - Austria
+43 4842 6011 0
info@sporthotel-sillian.at
Hotel Vioz, three hundred metres from Pejo 3000
In Val di Peio, a side valley of Val di Sole within Stelvio National Park in Trentino, the distance is measured in metres. Around three hundred separate Hotel Vioz from the Pejo 3000 lifts: a short walk leads to the Peio Fonti-Tarlenta gondola. For children enrolled in group lessons at Scoiattolo, the hotel provides an escort and collection service. The Fava family, which has run the property for a century, has built its hospitality around this proximity, with special arrangements for ski passes, ski school and equipment hire, a Mini Club for children aged three and over, and the new 700-square-metre Family Wellness area with its heated indoor-outdoor pool. The Aphrodite Spa remains adults-only. Afternoons bring snacks and aperitifs in the bar-bistro overlooking Peio Fonti. The hotel offers a tasting of local products, and the kitchen also prepares gluten-free menus for guests with coeliac disease.
Pejo 3000 opens on 4 December 2026 and has 20 kilometres of pistes and seven lifts reaching almost 3,000 metres. Since the 2019-2020 season, mountain huts, lifts and ski school have eliminated single-use plastics and PET bottles: Pejo 3000 has since presented itself as the world’s first plastic-free ski area.
Beginners start at Pejo Kinderland, at the upper gondola station, with conveyor lifts and a tubing run. Experienced skiers head for the long descent from the slopes of Vioz back to Peio Fonti, one of the longest in the Alps. For a change of scenery, the Superskirama pass also gives access to the pistes of Madonna di Campiglio, Folgarida-Marilleva and Pontedilegno-Tonale.
The beginning of the season offers further reasons to arrive early. On Saturday 12 December 2026, Trentino’s ski instructors bring back Free Ski Day in its Inclusivity Edition: guests booking a weekend receive a two-day ski pass for the price of a one-day pass. From 27 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, Ossana, a few kilometres from Peio, celebrates the 27th edition of Borgo dei Presepi, with more than 1,600 nativity scenes spread through the lanes and up to San Michele Castle.
Rates: €90 to €195 per person per night with half board in a Classic room, or €117 to €253 in an Apart-suite. For the festive season, Hotel Vioz offers seven nights with half board from 19 to 26 December 2026, from €854 per person, including Christmas Eve dinner and a visit from Father Christmas at the hotel.
From 26 December 2026 to 2 January 2027, a seven-night half-board stay starts at €1,365 per person and includes New Year’s Eve dinner and a special children’s menu.
Hotel Vioz - Family Hotel & Apartments
Via dei Cavai, 10 - 38024 Peio Fonti (TN) - Val di Sole
+39 0463 753146
info@hotelvioz.it
Sources and images: Photo credits: Gert Perauer (Gradonna and Sporthotel Sillian); Camilla Pizzini (skiing at Pejo); Stefano Pinci (Hotel Vioz pool); Dolomiten Residenz Sporthotel Sillian (opening image). Press materials supplied by Raffaelli Monicelli Public Relations. All image rights are reserved to their respective rights holders.
