Badia Hill: Best Boutique Hotel in Badia, Alta Badia, Italy (original) (raw)
Badia Hill is a sparkling new design hotel in Badia, Alta Badia, in the heart of the Italian Dolomites.
It’s an alpine-modern masterpiece with elegant and roomy communal spaces, harmonious lighting and color schemes, and nature-inspired accents.
This luxury boutique hotel stands on a hill overlooking the Fanes Group as well as the Puez Group. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow guests to enjoy the Dolomites mountains from every single space in the hotel.
With its sumptuous lounge, wine bar, fine dining restaurant, rooftop wellness area, and infinity pool, guests may find it difficult to leave the hotel premises.
Venture outside and you’ll set foot in a mythical world of craggy mountains and rolling meadows. Hotel Badia Hill is walking distance to the Santa Croce chairlift valley station, Lech da Sompunt, and La Villa.
This Alta Badia hotel delivers a first-rate holiday experience for couples and adult families who value fine wines and whiskeys, courteous staff, heavenly views, and panoramic infinity pools.
English speakers will have no problem communicating here.
- The Location
- Check-In
- The Rooms
- Wellness & Spa
- Dining at Badia Hill
- Bar and Lounge
- Service and Staff
- Other Considerations
- Final Thoughts
- Booking
- Dolomites Trip Planning Essentials
- More Excellent Hotels in the Dolomites
- Where: Badia, Alta Badia, South Tyrol, Italy
- Number of Rooms: 33 rooms
- Dining: Wine Bar and Fine Dining Restaurant
- Hotel Facilities and Services: Free underground parking, complimentary wellness area (Finnish sauna, steam sauna, infinity pool), sunny terrace, and cigar room.
- Winter Perks: Free ski bus service to Santa Croce/La Crusc cable car. Free snowshoes and toboggan rental. Fireplace in lounge and wellness area.
- Summer Perks: E-bike Rental (45 EUR/day), hiking guide (Wednesdays)
- Closest Airports: Bolzano Airport (South Tyrol, Italy), Innsbruck Airport (Austria), and Venice International Airport (Italy)
- Where to Book: Booking.com
The Location
Balcony View
Badia Hill is located in Badia (Abtei in German), between Puez-Odle Nature Park and Fanes-Sennes-Braies Nature Park.
With its hillside perch, Hotel Badia Hill boasts sweeping views of Val Badia and Sasso di Santa Croce (Sas dla Crusc in Ladin, Heiligkreuzkofel in German).
In summer and fall, guests can walk from the hotel grounds to the Santa Croce chairlift valley station, which connects Badia with the Santa Croce pilgrimage church. This is where the spellbinding Armentara Meadows trailbegins.
During our stay in Badia Hill, we hiked the Ütia Ciampcios and Kreuzjoch circuit trail, the Kaiserjägersteig, and Badia to Santa Croce circuit trail.
Read our Alta Badia summer guide to learn about our favorite hiking routes in the region.
In winter, the hotel shuttles guests to the ski lifts in Badia and La Villa.
Check availability at Badia Hill.
Check-In
Arriving at Badia Hill is a stress-free and informal experience.
You can drive directly into the hotel’s sizable parking garage and take the elevator up to the reception and lounge area.
Expect a delicious welcome drink upon arrival.
Google Maps doesn’t know there’s a road leading up to Badia Hill. The hotel is accessible from the main road in Val Badia (SS244). If heading north, turn left here to Residence Badia and drive up to Badia Hill.
One thing that’s a bit peculiar is that there’s no staffed reception.
The idea is that guests will feel more comfortable and at ease in the lounge and bar, when they aren’t sharing the same space with a receptionist (e.g. no phone ringing, no one overlooking the space, etc…).
The hotel owners and various staff members are around the hotel. If you need to contact the hotel staff at any point, you can do so via the Badia Hill app.
Though this model works in theory, we couldn’t always locate someone to help us. Call me traditional, but I believe there’s value in a staffed reception in a luxury hotel.
The Rooms
Dressed in a soothing color palette, the 33 rooms and suites of Badia Hill combine minimalist aesthetics with elegant accents. All rooms have balconies, walk-in showers, safety deposit boxes, and mini fridges stocked with water and prosecco.
There are six room categories, ranging from 25m2 to 50m2 rooms. Suites boast private saunas and more.
We stayed in the 25m2 room, which was snug, but nonetheless comfortable. Beds face the mountains and forests, as opposed to the wall. It’s a divine way to start and end the day.
Badia Hill branded soap and lotion along with nail kits and cotton pads are provided.
Rooms are serviced daily.
As is common in this region, there are no kettles, or coffee-machines in the rooms. Though, I believe kettles are available upon request.
Check current rates at Badia Hill.
Wellness & Spa
The wellness area sprawls across the hotel rooftop.
The highlight is the gorgeous, heated infinity pool, which faces the Fanes Group.
There’s a steam sauna and panoramic Finnish sauna, showers, and multiple indoor and outdoor relaxing areas.
Tea and water is readily available. Alcoholic beverages are available on the honor system. Additionally, guests can order food and drinks using the QR code.
Towels are readily available in the sauna area. And, a cozy Badia Hill designed bathrobe and spa bag are at your disposal during your stay.
The pool is open between 8 am and 8 pm and the saunas are open between 3 pm and 8 pm.
Check current rates at Badia Hill.
Dining at Badia Hill
Badia Hill is all about wining and dining. Food is available in various forms throughout the day.
Guests can choose to dine in the Wine Bar, Porcino Restaurant, or outside the hotel. There’s no half board option.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served between 7:30 am and 11 am in the light-filled dining area of Restaurant Porcino.
This spacious dining area impresses with its organic shapes and lines, melange of seating arrangements, floor-to-ceiling windows, and ethereal drapes.
The restaurant’s neutral cream-and-brown color palette is offset by green potted plants. Mushroom figures and moss wallpaper adorn the ceiling.
Tables are widely dispersed across the space, allowing for privacy and maximum breathing room.
There’s no assigned seating.
Additionally, tables spill outside, allowing guests to dine al fresco whilst savoring views of the Dolomites.
Breakfast is a chaste, albeit high-quality spread of cold cuts, cheeses, fruit, yogurts, muesli, juices (try the blueberry juice!), breads, croissants, and cakes.
In addition to the buffet, there’s an á la carte menu with included made-to-order dishes (fried eggs, scrambled eggs, omelets, and crepes) as well as extra charge dishes (porridge, poached eggs, waffles, and eggs benedict).
Coffee is served to the table.
Badia Hill Wine Bar
The hotel’s buzzing wine bar is located between the lounge and the Ristorante Porcino. It’s the passion project of hotel co-owner Michaela, who is also a sommelier.
It’s a casual dining space open daily from 5:45 pm until 9:30 pm, which serves gourmet tapas including beef tartare, burrata, oysters, beef carpaccio, mussels, cheese dumplings, marinated vegetables, pastas, beef-tagliata, desserts, and more.
We loved the burrata, turrets, and homemade gnocchetti sardi.
Guests can choose from a wide selection of wines by the glass as well as by the bottle.
On Wednesdays, there’s a special fish menu and on Sundays, there’s live music.
The atmosphere is pleasantly relaxed and unfussy.
Ristorante Porcino
The Badia Hill restaurant is the passion project of the hotel co-owner Marco, who is also the chef.
This fine dining restaurant is inspired by the essence of the porcini mushroom.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have an opportunity to dine here, as it was closed during our stay.
Bar and Lounge
The stylish bar and lounge is an inviting space for aperitifs, cocktails, card games, and conversation.
Plush sofas, armchairs, and tables are scattered about the room, all in view of the fireplace.
The bar menu features alcoholic and nonalcoholic cocktails as well as numerous whiskeys.
Don’t miss the Badia Hill Summer Spritz, an all-too-addicting concoction of passion fruit syrup, mint, lime, prosecco, elderflower foam, and licorice powder. I drank three of these during our stay.
Service and Staff
The dining and bar staff are very professional, kind, and attentive.
Our room was serviced daily.
All communal areas are spotless and cleaned regularly.
We were very impressed by how dedicated the whole team was at Badia Hill.
Other Considerations
Kids
Badia Hill is not a kid-friendly hotel. We don’t recommend staying here with young children. The hotel concept is intended for adults.
That being said, the owners do have children, which is why it’s not an adults-only hotel.
Dogs
Dogs are allowed in Badia Hill (1 room per dog), but there are many restrictions in place.
Dogs are not allowed in many hotel spaces including the restaurant and wine bar.
There’s a surcharge of 28 EUR per day.
Final Thoughts
The hotel design is flawless.
There are numerous indoor and outdoor spaces to relax and enjoy the surroundings. There’s space for everyone.
The owners have intentionally created a hotel for people who crave flexibility during their holiday. The wellness opening hours and dining timeframes are longer than comparable hotels in the area.
Guests aren’t locked into assigned seating and rigid eating times.
We loved our stay at Badia Hill.
Personally, we wish that there was a half board option, because we find the half board model relaxing. It’s one less decision to make.
Booking
For the best rates, we recommend checking out Booking.com.
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Dolomites Trip Planning Essentials
Use our Dolomites Travel Guide and Dolomites blog archive to plan an unforgettable trip to northeastern Italy.
When to Visit the Dolomites
Winter Season. For skiing and winter activities, the best time to visit is between mid/late December and March.
Summer and Fall Seasons. The best time to road trip and hike in the Dolomites is between mid-June and mid-September. If the weather is stable, the hiking season can easily continue until late October.
How to Get to the Dolomites
Read How to Get to the Dolomites to find out how to travel to the Dolomites from the closest airports, train stations, and bus terminals.
If you’re traveling without a car, also check out How to Visit the Dolomites Without a Car.
Car Rental
The easiest way to travel between hiking destinations in the Italian Dolomites is with your own car. Check out our itineraries for trip inspiration:
We recommend using the Discovercars.com car rental reservation platform to search for and book car rentals. This easy-to-use booking platform compares car rental deals from 500+ trusted providers, so that you can choose the best option for your trip.
Tip: If you can only drive automatic transmission cars, as opposed to manual transmission cars (stick shift), book your car rental as early as possible.
Best Places to Stay
Figuring out where to stay in the Dolomites is probably the biggest hurdle to planning a trip to the Dolomites. We’ve created three guides to help you decide where to stay:
- Where to Stay in the Dolomites in Summer: best villages and towns in South Tyrol, Trentino and Belluno
- Best Hotels in the Dolomites: best boutique and luxury hotels in the Dolomites
- Dolomites Accommodation Guide: farm stays, mountain huts, wellness hotels, aparthotels
- Best Val Gardena Hotels: best accommodations in Ortisei, Santa Cristina, and Selva di Val Gardena
We suggest choosing 2-4 bases for your Dolomites trip and spending 2-4 nights in each base.
- Base 1: Val Gardena
- Base 2: Val di Funes
- Base 3: Alta Badia
- Base 4: Cortina d’Ampezzo
- Base 5: Alta Pusteria
- Base 6: San Martino di Castrozza
What to See & Do
During your trip to the Dolomites, you can go via ferrata climbing, culinary hiking, hut to hut hiking, cycling, paragliding, and so much more. We’ve highlighted our favorite experiences in Best Things to Do in the Dolomites.
Wherever you decide to stay, you’ll be surrounded by glorious mountain scenery and incredible natural landmarks.
In Best Places to Visit in the Dolomites, we’ve outlined the most iconic attractions as well as lesser-known destinations across the Dolomites, including Alpe di Siusi, Val di Funes, Lago di Braies, Lago di Sorapis, Lago Federa, Cadini di Misurina, and Baita Segantini.
Dolomites Hiking Guides
Hiking in the Dolomites is our passion. Year after year, we love discovering new trails and expanding our knowledge of the area. For day hiking, check out 25+ Best Day Hikes in the Dolomites. For trekking, take a look at our guide to Hut to Hut Hiking in the Dolomites and Alta Via 1.
For region-specific hiking trails, check out:
- Best Hikes in Val Gardena
- Best Hikes in Cortina d’Ampezzo
- Best Hikes in Alta Badia
- Sexten Dolomites Hiking Guide
Recommended Hiking Guidebook: Cicerone Guide: Shorter Walks in the Dolomites
More Excellent Hotels in the Dolomites
- Hotel de Len in Cortina d’Ampezzo
- Camina Suite & Spa in Cortina d’Ampezzo
- Locanda degli Artisti Art Hotel in Canazei, Val di Fassa
- Dorfhotel Beludei in Santa Cristina, Val Gardena
- Naturhotel Leitlhof in San Candido, Alta Pusteria
- Excelsior Dolomites Life Resort in San Vigilio di Marebbe, Kronplatz
- My Arbor – Plose Wellness Hotel near Brixen, South Tyrol
- Les Dolomites Mountain Lodges in Lungiarü, Kronplatz
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