Sitting at an elevation of 1,800m in the Italian Dolomites, the COMO Alpina Dolomites is a 59-key gem with ski-in, ski-out access to a vast interconnected ski area – all set against a stunning mountain landscape offering what locals describe as ‘cinema skiing’.
Location
The hotel is in the Alpe di Siusi – Europe’s highest Alpine meadow which rises to 2,300m – a protected UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, which in the winter is a snowy wonderland for skiers and boarders.
The hotel itself was conceived to offer views of the towering massifs of the western end of the Dolomites in the South Tyrol region of Italy. You’re about 70 miles south of Innsbruck in Austria – an ideal hub for those flying in – though the closest is in airport at Bolzano just 22 miles where carrier Sky Alps flies in from destinations like London Gatwick, Copenhagen and Hamburg.
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Design & feel
If the Daniel Craig-era James Bond were to go skiing in the Dolomites this is where he would come.
With its floor-to-ceiling windows, timbered walls and ceilings, stonework and leather Chesterfields lain with blankets paired with cosy sofas, the COMO Alpina Dolomites is a mid-century modern masterpiece that feels right up to date. Everything you touch feels impeccably solid and high-quality – because it is, it’s stone, metal, wood and there is very little plastic. It’s the sort of place where the glasses in the bar make the drinks taste better and the articulate, good-looking staff know your name.
At the same time the vibe is relaxed and family friendly and there’s the right amount of attention from the staff.
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History & ownership
The hotel was built by a local hotelier and opened in 2010 before being acquired by the Singapore-based wellness-focused COMO Hotels and Resorts group. It then underwent a major renovation with an emphasis on the use of eco-friendly, sustainable materials – led by a local architect – which explains the cool, futuristic, angular timber exterior.
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COMO Hotels has 17 properties worldwide and was founded by Christina Ong in 1991 – the name drawn from the first two letters of her daughter’s name and the last two of her husband’s surname. Its flagship hotel is its COMO Shambala Estate in Bali. Shambala – an approach to wellness originating from Bhutan – runs like a vein throughout the chain with an impact most obviously in the spa treatments but also flavouring the restaurant’s menus.
Who comes here?
Until recently the guests used to mainly German and Italians but increasingly they reflect world’s wealth today and come from everywhere: as well as the UK, the Gulf and Asia, China. When I visited I had a lively conversation at the bar with a couple of holidaying car park magnates from the United States. They were a blast.
Rooms & suites
Finished to a luxurious standard with furnishings from the region, the rooms look out over the sort of improbably gorgeous view of the Dolomites – with the Alps in the distance just in case they weren’t stunning enough – that Apple would use as a screensaver.
The hotel offers standard and superior luxury double rooms which come with spacious terraces. For guests wanting more space or privacy, it offers a suite – the Chalet, which combines three rooms.
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Food & drink
At the heart of the hotel is its bar and long lounge where fires roar and you can relax with afternoon pastries and cake or enjoy a cocktail – or indeed the dizzying array of whiskies (including several from South Tyrol) and Tequila. At its furthest end there is a smoking room with veranda – and a games room with a pool table.
The hotel has three restaurants – dovetailed to the needs of guests who typically dine in: the Alpina Chalet which is a haven for lovers of the grill: the medium-rare chateaubriand has the sort of buttery, tender lightness that raises a smile long after the occasion, while the tuna pizza elevated the format to level of fine-dining, which is a tough challenge for pizza. The scallops there were perhaps the finest I’ve eaten.
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There are then two other restaurants – the hotel’s Sassolungo Restaurant, named after the nearby prominent mountain in the Dolomites, with food infused by the COMO brand’s health vibe – so with an accent on seasonal produce, vegetarian and superfoods – and served an array of haute pasta dishes, and then it’s Tattoria Dell’Alpe, which majors on fish and serves some of the most joyous and beautiful-looking plates of food I have seen.
Breakfast, of course, is important in any hotel and the speck omelette is just the thing to begin a day on the slopes as is the juice bar, where they can do things with cucumber and celery to make you feel ten years younger. Crucially, the service is of a very high standard and if you can’t find what you want the staff the sense you are left with is that the staff will make it happen.
Spa, wellness & fitness
It is without doubt the best indoor-outdoor pool I have ever used.
Inside, the pool is heated to around 31 degrees Celsius, and surrounded by lounging recliners under a stunning timber ceiling and relaxing low lighting. Press the button, and hey-presto, the doors open and like a Bond villain shark you can swim outside where the water temperature is ramped a degree or two and the surface shimmers with steam in the mountain air. It is delightful and there is no better place to be as the sun sets behind the enormous wedges of the Dolomites – with the France Alps beyond.
There is, however, at least one better place to be – and that’s in one of the treatment rooms experiencing the signature COMO Shambhala Massage, an hour of refined joy where each part of you – your stomach and head, included if you wish – are presaged to relaxed perfection. It’s the closest to a very happy near-death experience you can come to.
It’s also one of many treatments that they offer, alongside the sauna and steam rooms, and cold water plunge baths, if you’re brave enough.
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As well as a gym with a variety of machines and free-weights, they also have yoga and other wellbeing and stretching sessions for guests during the day. There is nothing bolt-on about the spa here; it’s wellness that feels highly integrated with the rest of the hotel offering – which for those of us who regard the idea of visiting the spa with as much as relish as doing a half-marathon, is so beneficial – because, frankly, it helps you get the best of it.
And if you’ve spent a day on the slopes your gratitude for it will be all the greater. The spa is a beautifully designed, welcoming slice of calm.
Family friendly?
Yes. As a parent I’m all too aware of venues which claim to be child friendly but you can see the irritated glances of the staff or other guests.
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Here, infants and children were able to enjoy the pool without disturbing the calm, partly no doubt because there is the luxury of space. Plus of course when it comes to winter sports, once your children have spent the day skiing or boarding and breathing mountain air, they go off to sleep – just like that! There is also an elegantly furnished games room with pool table by the lounge, again with stunning views.
Other things to note
They have heaters to dry out and warm your ski-boots and when you go to the carpeted boot room to prepare for your day on the slopes, the friendly team will lay your skis out for you – with poles standing either side waiting – like a Victorian valet laying out his master’s clothes.
In addition, the hotel offers individual and group ski-guiding of the Alpe di Siusi and adjacent Val Gardena ski area of an exceptional standard. The guides are charming, knowledgeable and – of course – first-rate skiers who can talk intelligently about region as well as the skiing (so can offer a few tips if you are rusty) but can also help you make every day on the slopes count all the more. They’ll also impress guests with their skiing prowess if you ask nicely enough, too.
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What else? After you’ve skied and spa-ed and eaten, at the far end of the broad floor of glass, wood and polished concrete which houses the main lobby and bar, the hotel has a sumptuously appointed cigar room, complete with balcony for those who want to smoke in sub-zero temperatures or get closer to the mountains outside.
Verdict
It’s quite possible that having experienced skiing from the COMO Alpina Dolomites that you may never want to go to another ski hotel in your life. The views and the quality of the hotel speak for themselves. More than this, it’s actually reassuring to see hospitality done so well, but pulling that off with this landscape is rather a feat.
Details
- Starting rate: Prices for a double room including breakfast from €1,100 per night in the winter; from €800 in the summer
- Nearest airport: Bolzano
- Address: COMO Alpina Dolomites, Via Compatsch, 62/3, Alpe di Siusi, Seiser Alm, 39040 Castelrotto, Kastelruth, BZ, Italy
- Contact: alpinadolomites@comohotels.com, +39 0471 796 004 or WhatsApp at +39 3371 118 103
- Website: www.comohotels.com/italy/como-alpina-dolomites
