Astronomer friendly Hotels for Astronuders

Our new astronomy calendar

http://www.astronomy-calendar.com/

http://www.astronomerfriendlyhotels.com/astronomer-friendly-hotels.html

Astronudes also intends to create a platform for the Astronuders community to find appropriate astronomer friendly hotels and places from where to do their art & science work

participate on the astronomer friendly hotels platform and write to the Astronuders community either as a commentary or write an email to andrew.p@astronudes.at

selection criteria for Astronuders astronomer friendly hotels and places should be:

1.quality of the night sky

2.field of view

3.low level of ight pollution

4.appealing terrestrial environment and objects

5.possibility to work with models there

6.Ease of accessability of the astronomer friendly hotel and place

7.comfort of the astronomer friendly hotel for you, partners, family, models

8.observation and photo work comfort(distances and means of transport, support for carrying equipment; storage, security,..)

Disclaimer: selection and  description of astronomer friendly hotels and places mentioned on this website are based on subjective opinions of the owners and users of this website only. Astronudes.at and the owners of this website do not take any responsibility and liability for the correctness of the information provided and quality and service of the hotels and places listed and mentioned on this website. 

Austria: astronomer friendly hotels in Austria 

Emberger Alm, Carinthia: Hotel Sattleggers Alpenhof. The yearly International Telescope Meeting ITT takes place here, there is no light pollution. The hotel is located 1800m above sea level also offering a beautiful mountain panorama, skiing and comfortable rooms. Thomas, the owner Is operating a 12inch Meade telescope in an observatory, which can be also rented by guests of the hotel. There is also another observatory with a 17inch Newton operated by Detlef Hartmann which was used by him to develop a modified POSS (Palomar Observatory Sky Survey) deep sky catalogue focused for the use of advanced amateur astronomers. See also pictures below.

http://www.alpsat.at/

http://www.planetarium-berlin.de/pages/miposso.html

Astronomical observatory Hoehenberg in Waldviertel(forest district), 140 kilometers North-West of Vienna,  Austria. The very nice owner of the observatory organizes observatory tours and  may allow on request to observe from  the plot surrounding the observatory and help with nearby lodging in this unspoiled part of Austria.
http://www.sternwarte-hoehenberg.at/

 Hadres, Weinviertel/wine quarter, 1hour north of Vienna

Gasthof Hochmayer

Ask for Siegrid to  help you to find the best observation spot on top of a hill 

http://www.hadres.at/de/pages/gastronomie-42.aspx

Hotel Pacheiner, Gerlitzen, Carinthia, Austria

http://www.pacheiner.at/sternwarte/sternenbeobachtungen.html

Costa Rica: Astronomer friendly Hotels in Costa Rica

Nicoya Peninsula: Hotel Barcelo Tamarindo(dark beach at the border to natiomal park in front if the hotel, security guard, view to the south and polar star for alignment!)

http://www.barcelo.com/BarceloHotels/es_ES/hoteles/Costa-Rica/Tamarindo/hotel-barcelo-langosta-beach/descripcion-general.aspx

Nicoya Peninsula: Hotel Punta Islita Autograph Collection 

http://www.hotelpuntaislita.com/

Croatia: Astronomer friendly hotels in Crostia

Island of Pag: Hotel Valamar(comfort close to the North-West end of the island, dark spots 5min drive away)

http://lunaislandhotel.com/wp-content/themes/hotel-luna-child/img/hotel_luna_logo.jpg

 Island of Losinj: Hotel Bellevue on Cikat Bay, close to the City of Mali Losinj. Beautiful view to the South(see photo below) and all comfort and amenities.

http://www.losinj-hotels.com/de/unterkunft/hotel-bellevue?gclid=COv9gKWWo8ACFRHLtAod-AwAlw

If you drive 10 minutes up the hill South East of the City of Mali Losinj you get splendid dark skies(see photos below)

Greece: Astronomer friendly hotels in Greece

island of Rhodos/ Rhodes: Ataviros mountain: a must for astronomers going to the Island of Rhodes

island of Crete: Frangokastello(South coast,dark open skies), Elafonisi,South-West end(Hotel Panorama has a great view, Greek rural simple, good food;Tel: country code 2822 061548)

Island of Mykonos:  hotel greco Philia(last hotel on the South coast, the friendly staff helped to carry my C8 to the best spot in the hotel and turned parts of the lights off!!, great dark beaches close, f ex Lia beach)  http://www.grecophilia.com/

Italy: Astronomer friendly hotels in Italy

Capalbio, Tuscany: Fattoria Le Guardiole, one of the darkest easy accesible spots in Italy   http://www.leguardiole.it/

Pienza, Tuscany:  Locanda Vesuna, on a hill, remote, comfortable     http://www.locandavesuna.com/images/img2.jpg

Maroc: Astronomer friendly hotels in Maroc

Sahara, Merzouga sand dunes, tents accessible only by a one hour camel ride(take smal lightl equipment, f ex Astrotrac or eq1 on your camel, you have to balance it duting the whole ride!)

Portugal: Astronomer friendly hotels in Portugal

Allentejo Monsaraz, an international  dark sky location, Hotel Monte Santa Catarina is located close to the lake with no light pollution to the North-East to the South-West,  http://www.montesantacatarina.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=53

Allentejo Selmez Herdade do Sobroso country house, remote, comfortable, dark skies  http://www.herdadedosobroso.pt/

Spain: Astronomer friendly hotels in Spain

Canary Islands, Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura is a very extensively populated island with many observation spots offering low light pollution. For example Montana Negra in the North West close to Cotillo or La Oliva; the Jable peninsula in the South.
However in May when I was there there was a tendency of clouds building up in the evening and disappearing later at night. Nevertheless having a litttle pacience, I was able to do great visual and photographical work there.

Island of Ibiza:

Maybe the best hotel to do Astronomy on the island of Ibiza is Can Lluc, located in the centre with little light pollution. It is a small family owned resort offering all comfort.

http://www.canlluc.com/en

Turkey: Astronomer friendly hotels in Turkey

South coast, close to Fethiye:
Lissiya Hotel, located high above on the beautiful coast with a splendid view, embedded in green mountains. Beautiful clear skies and free view to the South and South West. You can also catch the Polar Star with your polar scope, which I had not been sure before because of the mountains in the North. Very friendly staff and large pool, healthy and tasty food, great rooms.
see http://www.lissiya.com/    see also photo below.
ask for Mr Johnson, he is a really nice and helpful guy, and tell him you come from Dr Peter from America, maybe he gives you a special rate. Try to get the house called Orion.

Cappadocia in Uchisar near Goereme:
Cappadocia Cave Hotel and Spa, located on the highest point in Cappadocia with a great view, luxury hotel. Even from the balcony of room 613; I could take a beautiful photo of the Veil nebula(see section Sky and Nebulae) having an open view from North to East.If you drive a couple of minutes you are in the absolute dark.
see http://www.ccr-hotels.com/tr/  and photo below

USA: Astronomer friendly hotels in the USA

California, Borrego State Park: Hotel Borrego Valley Inn(direct exit to the desert from your own little yard http://www.borregovalleyinn.com/about-the-inn/impressions

California Death Valley: stovepipe wells inn(less hotel made light pollution than the other option, 300 yards away completely dark)  http://www.escapetodeathvalley.com/

Kenya:Astronomer Friendly Hotels in Kenya:

Chale Island Lodge on the Coast close to the southern border with Tanzania

http://thesandsatchaleisland.com/de/

AAlodge at Amboseli National Park

http://aalodges.com/aa-amboseli-location/

That's the author lifting up the Celestron C14 with only one hand! (:
See in this context the funny you tube video: C14 is a small portable scope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBawz69qo_A

I bought the C 14 from the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawai, where it served at the University. So it travelled more than 10.000 miles to its new observation site.

See Dr Janes Dire

http://www.astrojim.net/about%20astrojim%201.html

Star Party at the top of Ataviros mountain Rhodos , Greece
Thats a 10inch Johnsonian Telescope, fits into the hard travel case on which it is standing!!, only 10kg total weight!!  See http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbarchive/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/80499/page/378/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1182

The views of Omega Centauri, Whirlpool Galaxy, Trifid and Laguna Nebula, Ring Nebula were outstanding from this remote location using such a powerful travel scope!! See also the photo below!

I bought this scope from Andrew Bell, San Francisco, USA, a member of the so called street astronomer community who knows the famous Mr John Dobson personally.

see http://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Stargazers-party-in-the-dark-to-spread-the-word-2848444.php

Astronudes participates at the 30. Internationales Teleskoptreffen ITT International Telescope Meeting
Dr Andrew P. and Dr Peter F. participate at the ITT at Emberger Alm, Carinthia Austria with a Meade 10 inch SC and a 4inch achromatic refractor
The weather is excellent, see picture below

favorite observation and astrophotography sites close to Vienna.

The astro photo of the Fireworks Galaxy was taken close to Schrick.

see. http://starhopper.at/standorte.h

It really works !!
6 inch f4 Photo Newton on Astrotrac mount and Carbon Manfrotto tripod on the island Fuerteventura. Total weight of the setup is only 8 kg! I could do exposures up to 3 minutes each. See results in section star clusters(Omega Centauri) and galaxies(M 83 and NGC 5128).

Balance is crucial for this set up. Look how I modified the Astrotrac using a dovetail bar to  balance. In addition I turned the scope for every photo so that the focuser and camera out balance 

Astronudes founder Dr Peter Andre  is supporting Sternfreunde Steyr in financing an observatory on Hohe Dirn

http://www.sternfreunde-steyr.at