Wine Hotel Retici Balzi

We are now enjoying the 10th stay at this wonderful hotel! The owners Armando & Elena and their professional English speaking staff give you a feeling of warm welcome, care and an exquisit service. This modern hotel of several floors is placed in the middle of the wineyard terrasses, above the town of Sondrio. The spectacular view of the Valtellina valley from your balcony is breathtaking. The breakfast is to die for, consisting of omelette, local berries, eggs from hens nesting i the wood, yoghurt and home made bread and pastries. We will continue coming back to this fantastic place by car, hopefully once a year.

On a 5 week touring holiday through france, Italy and Austria, hubby noticed this place whilst planning a route to lake Garda, slightly off track but the combination of hotel and restaurant next door made us feel it was worth a little diversion. So glad we did. A beautifully appointed hotel with a wonderful restaurant next door (see separate review). We had a standard room (if anything here is standard) but it was lovely, spacious with a wonderful comfy bed, air conditioning, great shower etc, etc!! The staff were extremely professional and friendly and made you feel very welcome. We decided on a shared wine tasting on arrival followed by a glass of the wine we liked the most. Spectacular views of the surrounding countryside and a lovely outdoor patio to sit and relax on along with a nice lounge area. Not many rooms, I think maybe 6-9 with spacious parking for your car, elevator to help with luggage. Breakfast was very relaxed and besides offering lots on the buffet they also made your eggs to order, we had ham and cheese omelettes which were light and delicious (thanks to those free roaming hens)!!!. They have a spa apparently which we did not see but would imagine it to be small, lovely hot tub outside if you get chance to use, slippers and dressing gowns in the room. Will definitely be back if passing (or not)!! And would 100% recommend

We arrived in the evening with 5 pieces of luggage and our cats after a long trip taking the Bernina express from Switzerland. No one helped us bring the luggage to our room. We booked this hotel for the wellness aspect it advertised and also because it was pet friendly and had a nearby restaurant with wine tasting options so we didn’t have to go anywhere. Since we only had one night we wanted to just relax and enjoy the amenities without extra stress. Upon check-in the hotel reception asked if we wanted to upgrade our room for an extra €50. We agreed and upgraded to the suite. Thankfully we did because soon afterwards we were told that the outdoor free spa we had planed to enjoy with a glass of wine in the evening was closed because it had been raining (although it had stopped at this point). We were also informed the nearby restaurant was closed because of holidays. We were immediately disappointed as we didn’t have a car or any way to go anywhere else. The staff offered us the opportunity to use the private spa for an extra €50 euros and also offered to cook us some eggs or a sandwich and make us a salad since there was nowhere nearby to eat. We asked if we could just order some pizzas and maybe just have a salad and a bottle of wine. The staff arranged to have the owner bring some local pizza in from the local town. It was fine. We did the wine tasting which was also fine. Unfortunately they forgot the salad but we were too tired to complain. Afterwards we went back to the suite and had a bath in our room as our “wellness experience” which was also fine. The water was hot which was good. One thing to note is the room was very hot during the night and the air conditioning only came on if the window was closed. If the window was open you could hear the traffic on the road. There was no handle on the outside balcony door so the door would not shut and you could not enjoy the balcony without the door being open. The pillows were thin and bed was not so comfortable. At check out we were charged €32 for the local pizzas €60 euros for the suite upgrade but I only paid €50 after complaining. Hours after we checked-out and left we received an email from the hotel with an additional €40 euro charge for our pets which was not disclosed to us beforehand. In the end, we were disappointed that we weren’t able to enjoy any free wellness aspects from the hotel which was the main purpose. The hotel itself was clean and cute but the lack of amenities, communication and even friendliness made the experience not as enjoyable. We also asked if we could check out at 11:30am instead of the standard 10:30am check-out (which for a Sunday is early) which they denied because they had another guest who was checking into our room early. Overall you could definitely find better ways to spend your money especially if you’re looking for wellness but the breakfast was nice and was the highlight but unfortunately for us not worth €350 for only one night stay.

I can honestly say this place is the BEST. From the warm, professional and very caring staff to the great rooms and wonderful breakfast. If you are visiting the area - this Hotel is a real must!! You will not find a better place to stay. From the moment you walk in you feel the warmth of the staff and the most spotless rooms, lounge, terrace and the hot-tub on the terrace with a wonderful view is also worth the stay!! If I had to use one word that represents the Retici Balzi it would have to be....Fantastic!!

This was the perfect place for our short visit to Valtellina. The view from our balcony and from the beautiful breakfast patio was breathtaking. We also did a wine tasting with Armando featuring 4 different types of nebbiolo delle alpi along with some delicious bitto cheese. I only wish we had spent more than one night!

Very cosy atmosphere, great design, wonderful view, very friendly staff and owners. Also good to come with electric car since they have a charger…the whirlpool is very relaxing and the room is great, also for our daughter. The food / wine quality is outstanding, especially in combination with the restaurant in walking distance.

What a location and views from the terrace and your own room. Extremely clean. I have never seen such a clean, tidy and well labelled breakfast. Cant wait to go back in the summer. One minor point, I was woken up during the night by the ceiling heating which makes a noise.

Great hospitality, We felt very welcome from our arrival till our checkout. Top enthusiast team. Home made breakfast with local products. We had the opportunity to have a wine tasting with Armando, the owner of the hotel. During this session, we learned a lot about the region and tasted very nice wines. Very clean rooms and accomodation. Fantastic view over the region. I realy can recommend this hotel.

Nice small hotel in the middle of the vineyards. Fantasatic view. Quiet. Friendly staff. Nice bar with terrasse. Restaurant nearby is also very nice. Jacuzzi in the vineyards. There is also enough parking places. Very convenient.