Căsuțele de sub Șipote

HOTEL OVERVIEW

You know what? I almost drove right past Căsuțele de sub Șipote the first time I tried to find it. The name literally means “little houses under the pine trees,” and honestly, that’s exactly what you get – these charming wooden cabins tucked away along DC51, about 20 minutes from Sibiu if you’re coming from the city. The whole setup feels deliberately hidden, like someone’s well-kept secret that finally made it onto Booking.com.

The moment you pull up (and yes, there’s actually decent parking, which matters more than you’d think in this part of Romania), you’ll get why this place has a 9.7 rating despite being technically just a 3-star spot. I mean, stars don’t really capture the vibe here anyway. The cabins are scattered around this pine grove – some closer to the road, others tucked back where all you hear are birds and maybe the occasional car passing on DC51. Each little house has this rustic-but-not-trying-too-hard thing going on, with proper wooden furniture that actually feels sturdy and these small details like hand-carved decorations that suggest someone really cares about this place. The owners clearly live nearby because they show up quickly when you need something, but they’re not hovering around either.

What really got me was how quiet it gets at night – I’m talking proper mountain silence, the kind where you notice sounds you normally tune out. The air smells like pine and wood smoke, especially in the evenings when other guests fire up their little outdoor areas. Porumbacu de Sus isn’t exactly a tourist hotspot (it’s more of a “blink and you’ll miss it” village), but that works in your favor here. You’re close enough to day-trip to Sibiu or even push further into the Carpathians for hiking, but far enough out that you feel like you’ve escaped something. The whole area gets busy with Romanian families during summer weekends, so if you want that authentic local experience, that’s your window – though honestly, the shoulder seasons might be even better when you’ve got the pine grove mostly to yourself.