Hotel Greif

When a classic European hotel undergoes a boutique renovation, there’s always a danger it’ll lose touch with its roots, that it’ll throw out the old-world baby with the faded-wallpaper bathwater. It’s something that clearly concerned Franz Staffler, the owner of Bolzano’s Hotel Greif, but judging by the results — accomplished with the help of the noted Viennese architect Boris Podrecca — the Greif has kept its heritage, even as it’s modernized its aspect.

And it does have historical bona fides: in the middle ages (that’s some years before wi-fi) the hotel was called the Black Griffin. It changed hands over the centuries, but has been in the Staffler family since 1816. Parts of the building are official historical monuments, which had to be integrated into the renovation by Podrecca, whose reputation as a thoroughly modern architectural luminary is, if this is any guide, quite deserved.

And while it’s not as if each room has a privy-hole (far from it — the bathrooms are marble masterpieces with walk-in showers, and some have saunas and whirlpools), the owner and designer acknowledged the historical weight of the place by commissioning modern artists to create unique pieces for each room, and then paired each one with a complementary piece from the 18th, 19th, or early 20th century. As for the furniture, the gorgeous maple wood comes from the Staffler family carpenter’s shop. The rest is authentic Biedermeier.

Hotel Greif serves breakfast on the terrace. Beyond that, guests are invited to dine at Greif’s sister hotel, Laurin, just across the street. Same goes for the pool and meeting rooms, and Bolzano itself offers a multitude of diversions. It’s not called the Capital of the Alps for nothing.