Hotel Belvedere: a piece of history of Folgarida
The History of Folgarida
Initially called the "Shack", the current Belvedere Hotel was established in the early 1900's, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a place of shelter for the workers building the road between Dimaro and Madonna di Campiglio.
Within a few years the "Shack" underwent several transformations: from shelter to restaurant and to inn.
From "The Shack" to Belvedere
Things began to change in 1965 with the birth of Folgarida as a ski resort.
Our father, Giancarlo Sartori transformed the inn to what is now the Hotel Belvedere.
We, the siblings, Walter and Claudia with help from our mother Mercedes, gladly continue the family tradition and we expect you as guests and friends, and we are sure you will feel at home in the historic atmosphere of the "Shack" at Folgarida!
Renamed "Genziana al Belvedere" it even became a distillery for the production of the famous brandy Gentian.
In 1928 our great-grandfather bought the inn and left it to our grandmother Pinotta who took care of the management with her husband Ettore Sartori and children in really hard times, the road remained closed in winter due to snow and made life and work very very difficult.
Reaching Spolverino mountain by lift -aptly called Spolverino ski lift- was only possible from February 1966.
Slowly but successfully the location grew and within a few years it connected with Marilleva and Madonna di Campiglio, forming a ski area that today includes Daolasa-Valmastellina and Pinzolo, thus becoming one of the most important tourist destinations in Trentino - Alto Adige.
Founded in 1965 along the road that leads from Dimaro to Madonna di Campiglio, Folgarida (from the Latin "filicaretum" place of ferns or perhaps "fulgur" place of lightning) started its first winter season on December 26 of that year.
At that time there were no large structures, and the winter tourism boom as we know it today did not exist yet.
There were a couple of hotels, (among them, the Hotel Belvedere) a bar, the "Folgarida gondola" (a three person ski lift), the "Ottavi Monti" ski lift -which remained in operation for a short period- and the "manovia", a rudimentary ski lift at the ski school.