Why book?
Located in the heart of the Dolomites on the Alpe di Siusi—the highest Alpine plateau in Europe—in winter, its ski-in, ski-out location offers direct access to the pistes and in summer, South Tyrol’s flower-flecked network of hiking and biking trails. As you’d expect from the brand, wellness and spa is at its core with a health-forward COMO Shambala menu on offer, plus hearty Tyrolean and Italian fare—as well as excellent Alto Adige wines—for those who don’t want to hold back.
Set the scene
Arrive at night during ski season, and there is a wintry calm, broken only by the whir of snow machines creating cord-groomed pistes for morning fall and the splash of muscle-weary bathers in the outdoor pool, obscured in dreamscapes of steam. Two hours from Verona in the heart of the Dolomites, the hotel is a contemporary totem among the otherwise wooden-clad settlements in the Camputsch village. Fashioned from pale quartzite, the modernist building is softened with wooden arches which mimic the surrounding mountains. Inside, discover a stratified curved ceiling cast in wood, and tartan blue armchairs designed to reflect the big Alpine skies beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, although they feel a bit more bothy than stube.
The distinctive COMO Shambala signature scent of eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender, and geranium greets you on arrival. Intricate Tyrolean motifs decorate the ceilings, and carved chairs are nods to those found in mountain huts—neon lighting and sheepskin-clad mid-century chairs keep it current. An underground walkway connects the main building with a wood-clad rotunda, which overlooks the ski school, bubble lift, housing suites, and their Alpina Chalet grill and bar restaurant. Everything overlooks the towering Sassolungo and Sassa Piatto peaks. In winter, there is a panorama of skiers snaking down the gentle slopes, and the blue bubble lift passes within waving distance of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Backstory
Built in 2010, the Bernardi family took over the building mid-construction and ran it until 2023, when Singapore-based company COMO acquired a 90 percent share in the hotel. In December 2023, they bought the remaining 10 percent. Originally in taupes and caramels, they have recast the hotel’s public areas in hues of teal and blue and created an Italian restaurant modeled on a Tyrolean stube. Further changes to interiors, including rooms and spa area, followed the next year.
Rooms
The halls have a slightly basic air with practical carpets and fire doors, but that improves once you step through the bedroom doors. All rooms face the slopes and have a balcony or terrace. While they may change the décor this spring, they are now wood-clad cozy refuges after a day embracing the local terrain (sometimes too cozy—at night, I opened the terrace door to cool the temperature down). Leather headboards and navy fluffy rugs soften wood-paneled and duck egg blue walls. Valley-plucked apples and filtered bottles of still and sparkling water are left daily. It is reassuringly old school—a regular telephone with a windy cord gives you quick access to reception, and switches dim the lights (no pesky iPad here). They could do with a few USBs beside the bed and plugs in more convenient locations in their update. Bathrooms come with large bottles of their signature chamomile, mint, and calendula toiletries. There are only 60 rooms, the entry-level of which can accommodate families on a sofa bed. The COMO suites offer two bedrooms, and the chalet has four suites that lie directly over the restaurant and ski room.
Food and drink
Three restaurants mean a decent variety for those staying more than a few days. The main Sassolungo serves up a buffet for breakfast with six types of local honey, including acacia, pillowy rounds of pretzel bread, the biggest Nutella dispenser you have ever seen, and a tea caddy offering everything from Darjeeling First Flush to Orange Rooibos. The team makes juices to order (carrot, ginger, and celery provide a vegetal punch to the morning) with à la carte options including Tyrolean grosti with speck and dried flowers.
An afternoon tea spread of custard-topped strudel and ham sandwiches provides a delicious late lunch. A private wine and cheese tasting is a must, pairing berry-rich Girlan pinot noir reserva with mountain flower-laced goat’s cheese and a Comte-style mountain cheese with a cherry-forward Taber Riserva Alto Adige.
The new fish-focused restaurant Trattoria del'Alpe focuses on northern Italian cuisine, such as the langoustine spaghetti, slick with olive oil from COMO’s Tuscan property Castello del Nero, and sea bass tartare. More informal is the chalet restaurant, where 28-hour proved sourdough pizzas come topped with aged parmesan and buffalo mozzarella. Chateaubriand from a valley farmer cuts like butter and is meltingly soft inside. It is a fun, lively space with wooden shields displaying old ski society emblems and industrial-style aluminium lights (although these need to find a dimmer). By day, it buzzes with skiers seeking out steaming hot chocolate and sharing truffle pizzas.
Spa
For many, COMO is, first and foremost, a spa brand, and this is big here. On arrival, a glass-topped tree root table greets spa-goers, adorned with flickering candles warming cups of addictive ginger, lemon, and honey tea. There are a few of their signature therapies, some from the Ubud wellness-focused property. Treatments on offer include Deep Tissue, Indian head, Balinese, and drainage massage alongside Tyrolean-skewed treatments. The hay bath is an acquired taste—being sandwiched between two lots of hay is meant to improve circulation. One half expects to start neighing, and a few stray bits of Edelweiss can find their way onto your bottom, but it’s a gently warming experience.
Sauna is a serious operation here, with herbal and Finnish saunas and salt and aroma steams (get the etiquette right—there are no swimsuits allowed, towels are optional, and most go naked) with a convivial outdoor seating area in the snow where half-clad spa-goers chatter. At the same time, their pores dilate in subzero temperatures. A futuristic-looking Space Curl 3D machine designed by NASA helps to stretch out the back. The wedge-shaped pool is glorious with an outside section, particularly meditative in falling snow. Although most people head outdoors to exercise, the gym is well equipped and zen with Technogym, orchid plants, and shiny apples. There are good complimentary daily classes, such as stretching and wake-up flow yoga.
Neighborhood
Nature’s playground awaits here. From the ski room, you are straight onto miles of groomed blue and red slopes. You can ski or bus it to the fairy tale-perfect town of Ortisei, with its blush pink and chamomile yellow turret-topped inns and restaurants. Take a mid-ski cappuccino at the Hotel Adler and watch passers-by. The hotel offers daily guided ski tours for $160 per person, where you can discover the skiing trails with a guide, or snow-shoeing for $47 per person. Golfers can navigate the 18 holes of St Vigil Seis, a 15-minute drive away. The exquisite hay soup at Gostner Schwaige—a secret blend of mountain herbs and vegetables served in a bowl fashioned from homemade bread—is a must.
Service
Fusing the warmth of the Italian and the efficiency of the German side, it is attentive without being overbearing. Everybody offers a warm smile, and it feels very well-staffed. Rooms are cleaned with the planet in mind—the chocolates left at night are replaced in the existing paper holders, and towels are kept until you place them in the bath (a good thing, often ignored).
Families
The Dolomites are awash with dedicated family hotels, and while this is not one of those, there is a kids club and plenty of youngsters around without it feeling like a kindergarten. The compact kids club has a craft trestle, a BRIO table, and a mini castle with a slide. The yoga room next door becomes a cinema by night, allowing parents to enjoy a child-free dinner. Children are allowed into the pool from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is a kids menu and babysitting available.
Eco effort
Where possible, they try to avoid using single-use plastic (for example, water bottles placed in guest rooms and offered in the restaurants are glass). The hotel also makes a concerted effort to use local products within a 60-mile radius. This also applies to some of the local restaurants/huts where they use local wildflowers in some of their dishes and make cheese using milk from their cows. Many COMO hotels have already signed up to Earthcheck, and COMO Alpina Dolomites is currently looking at this scheme.
Accessibility
Much of the hotel and all the guest rooms have step-free access from the hotel's front door. The hotel corridors are also wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. There are a couple of rooms with large bathrooms accommodating a wheelchair user.
Anything left to mention?
The hotel will soon introduce twin hotel trips in partnership with COMO Castello del Nero in Tuscany, easily accessible by direct trains between Chiusa and Florence stations. The hotel offers multiple activities in the summer, including biking, hiking, climbing, trail running, paragliding, zip lining, lake/wild swimming, picnicking, and helicopter rides.
Compatsch, 62/3, Alpe di Siusi, 39040
Italy
https://www.comohotels.com/italy/como-alpina-dolomites
+39 0471 796004