Where to Stay in Sestriere Ski Resort
Sestriere ski resort has lodging options that include a ski-in ski-out hotel high up on Mt Motta, oodles of hotels and apartments next to the ski lifts and a multitude of selections down in the valleys. Sestriere is close enough and lift connected to many other villages in the broader Via Lattea area so that the choices are close to endless.
Sestriere consists of three villages along the SP23 road that are lift connected directly into the resort: Sestriere, Sestriere Borgata, Pragelato*. Note that Pragelato comes with an asterisk - more on that later. Three smaller hamlets down the road are reckoned to be part of the resort by virtue of the ability to ‘ski-in’ via the off-piste from Monte Fraiteve: Champlas du Col, Champlas Janvier & Champlas Seguin. Away from the lifts & slopes numerous smaller clusters of lodgings & villages dot the landscape including Grangesises, Sauze di Cesana & Allevè.
Search & book a place to stay via the Sestriere Ski Accommodation Listings.
When skiing or boarding at Sestriere, if seeking the full-on ski resort experience with all its garishness, then Sestriere village is recommended. If wanting a more authentic, traditional Italian mountain village snow holiday, places like Allevè, Champlas Seguin & Sauze di Cesana are the juice. For something in between, try Pragelato (if you have a car) or the more distant Cesana.
Sestriere Ski-in Ski-out Mountain Lodgings
High up on the flanks of Motta at 2,600m elevation, the resort is lorded over by the prominent Hotel Tana Della Volpe. Accessible only by ski lift or snowmobile in winter, and gaudy exterior colour aside, the hotel has the best panoramic views & ultimate first tracks.
Sestriere Village
It is unfortunate the main ski village at Sestriere lacks the charm & romance of a classic European ski resort. But while its architecture is certainly not to everyone's taste, Sestriere village does have one massive advantage - location, location, location. It has a pleasingly sunny & snow-laden location, plus is far and away the best positioned for access to the majority of shops, services, lifts, ski slopes and the rest of the Via Lattea via the gondola direct to the summit of Fraiteve.
In Sestriere, the accommodation standards of many apartments, and to a lesser degree the hotels, are commonly embellished. Many apartments in particular can be of variable quality. The plethora of apartment accommodation built for the 2006 Olympics provide reasonably modern, well out-fitted, good value lodgings without being anything close to luxurious. The most obvious are the wonderfully located (ski-in ski-out no less!) Olimpic Village Th Sestriere Apartments. They may not be the best apartments in the village, but affordable & as we said, location, location, location!
A few hundred metres away, some of Sestriere's best-value apartments, Resort Palace Sestriere, are at the top of the village under the gondola, and with spanking views in one of its two buildings. The studios in a second building are for emergency use only!!
For hotels, the best of them is Il Fraitevino Hotel located in the heart of the village on the square. Also near the pedestrian square is the spacious Hotel Lago Losetta another good 3-star & only a short stroll down to the ski lifts. For decent 4-stars look at the outlandishly named Grand Hotel Sestriere & further out, aloof & all alone, Hotel Principi di Piemonte Sestriere. For a hotel with 'location, location, location', Hotel Uappala Sestriere is hard to beat. Designed by a lunatic, it has affordable functional rooms, glorious food, crappy WiFi and a seriously good location near the gondola base.
Up under the gondola, two other hotel options are good alternatives – the bizarrely named Hotiday Sestriere Ski Run and more conventional Hotel Gran Roc.
See the full availability via our Sestriere Ski Accommodation Listings page.
Borgata Village
Borgata is located below the main Sestriere village but has excellent direct access to the Motta ski slopes & lifts. It is essentially still part of the main resort village, albeit separated by distance & elevation in a valley 150m vertical below (hah -sounds like we are having a lend!). Most of the accommodation options are effectively 'ski in' and the Sestriere resort village is just a short lift ride away or stumble back bow after hours. The best of the lodgings is Residenza L'Teit, about 200m stroll from the nearest quad chair. Another very good option is the Hotel Hermitage - very nearly, but not quite, ski-in ski-out. Numerous apartments & chalets are available for holiday rental as well via the Sestriere accommodation listings above.
Pragelato Village*
Pragelato is the lowest lift connected point of the ski resort, but it comes with a huge asterisk (hope you noticed it!). To look at a ski trail map one would think that the Pragelato village is interlinked via cable car to the rest of the resort. It’s not! The main centre of Pragelato is 3½km from the cable car base which is actually at a locality called Pattemouche. The village extends along the narrow valley for quite some distance & is the home of the local (& Olympic) ski-jump & once had its own ski area extending further into the mountains behind it. The cable car essentially exists these days for the exclusive-use of Club Med Resort Sestriere guests, but despite appearances, anyone with a lift pass can use it. Club Med is super pricey but offers fully all-inclusive deals that remove all forms of conscious thought except those relating to pleasurable experiences!
A wonderful farm stay with stylish, rustic apartments in a renovated mountain home built in the year 1640 is Agriturismo Rivet d'Or. It is a 5-10min walk from the Pragelato cable car. Just up the road is the superb Casa Martin. In the opposite direction a little further down the valley, but still in the village, the Villaggio GoFree Holiday Park is the next best option. Holiday Park you say? Well yes. It has numerous simple but perfectly functional self-contained cabins (or as they put it - chalet bungalows!) providing affordable lodgings all winter long.
Closest to the Pragelato cable car is the cosy Baita del Plan.
Above Pragelato, off the main road to Sestriere (and actually closer to Borgata than Pragelato) in the tiny hamlet of Chezal, a fantastic Italian alpine experience is available at Chez'Alma. Requires a car to get to there, but it is worth it.
Search & book a place to stay via the Pragelato Ski Accommodation Listings.
Champlas Hamlets
The three hamlets of Champlas du Col, Champlas Janvier & Champlas Seguin are all gorgeous. Oozing authenticity, they couldn't possibly be more different to nearby Sestriere. Janvier & Seguin are off the main road, ensuring splendid isolation. Each of the hamlets is best accessed with a car, although bus stops are in Champlas du Col, and near the main road intersections of the other two. If you have never done it before, staying in true Italian Agriturismo, or farm stay, is fantastic. There are several in the region, but one of the best is in Champlas Seguin, Agriturismo il Fiocco.
Other Lodging Options
Sauze di Cesana
Along the alternate road access between Cesana & Sestriere, the SP215, several lovely villages line the shaded valley. In Sauze di Cesana, the exceptional Granuit is the region's best B&B. The drive to Sestriere is only 10 to 15min, but your own car is necessary.
Grangesises
Further along toward Sestriere, the strangely located Grange-Sises has a collection of apartments, chalets & restaurants below the road in a neither-here-nor-there position. If someone knows the reason for its existence, please let us know! Regardless, many of the apartments & chalets for rent look quite good, are reasonably handy for skiing Sestriere if one has a car, AND you can ski down to here (well to above the road anyway) via the off-piste from Sises. Try the Sestriere-Sises Lodges or Luxury Lodges.
Cesana
The best alternative ‘small town’ accommodations to Sestriere are in the Via Lattea’s centrally located town of Cesana Torinese. Only 15 minutes by road from Sestriere, Cesana is a lovely valley town and close to the gondola to Sansicario & hence Sestriere via Monte Fraiteve. The chairlifts to Claviere & France are also nearby. The best options are in the centre of town at the superb Hotel La Ginestra or near the ski lift base at Olympic Mountains.
Alternatives to the valley town include the nearby original mountain village of San Sicario Torinese or further up the hill near the ski lifts, utilitarian, but ski-in ski-out Sansicario Alto. The village has loads of apartments for rent, but in a location where convenience may be king, but atmosphere & quality may be lacking. The main hotel near the ski lifts is the Hotel Sansicario Majestic.
Search & book a place to stay via the Cesana Torinese Ski Accommodation Listings.
Oulx & Sauze d’Oulx
For a flying visit to Sestriere, or if sampling the entire region, the traditional village of Oulx and the ski resort village of Sauze d’Oulx offer some easy alternatives. With a car, Sestriere can be reached in 30min via Cesana or on the public bus from Oulx. From Sauze d’Oulx by ski lifts, Sestriere can be reached easily in under an hour via various lifts & trails to Monte Fraiteve. In Oulx, hotels and apartments near the central train and bus station offer a contrasting experience to those in or the original old town.
Search & book a place to stay via the Sauze d’Oulx Ski Accommodation Listings.