Hotel Cristallo

We stayed here in January and were delighted by the Hotel and staff. Good accommodation, excellent food and very friendly staff. Second time in Canazei and first time at this Hotel. Would go back again without hesitation. Ski bus to the lift from just outside but we had a ski locker at the lift station and walked to the lift every morning in our normal shoes which was no problem.

Nice hotel with nice restaurant and bar staff who work very hard but always try to stay cheerful and friendly. However, the welcome and reception in general is very cold and you may be greeted with slight surprise bordering on annoyance. Hospitality is about being hospitable, but the front desk man is cold and unwelcoming and just swopping him out for one of the lovely restaurant staff or the Albanian bar man would make such a nice change and would make the customer feel welcome. Other than that the hotel is perfectly adequate. The rooms at the back have stunning views to the mountains and have been refurbished with pretty good sound proofing. The bathrooms are dated but have good running hot water and there is a pretty good spa. What we didn’t like was the additional charges for robes (!?) and swimming hats (?!). The food was nice but portions were large and sometimes we wondered if the starters could be made more into starters both lighter and smaller in size. The restaurant area isn’t very inspiring but perfectly adequate. Breakfast is fine but sometimes items do run out (both dinner and breakfast) and dinner times are limited (7.30-8.30). The restaurant, bar and cleaning staff are wonderful but other areas need improvement!

Booked as a ski holiday through Ingham's. Half board package. Had a spacious room alpine in style slightly dated but very comfortable. Bathroom had a good shower and the towels were changed everyday despite us not leaving them in the floor to be changed. The food was good. Self service breakfast was a bit intense as almost all guests for down for 7.30 so the queue for the 2 coffee machines was significant. Good spread of scrambled egg/bacon and continental options plus pastries fruit yogurt etc. Dinner was selected in the morning from 4 choices per course. Dinner then comprised of a self service salad bar (excellent) plus 3 courses ! Pasta starter was always on point. Good value house wine was on offer alongwith more expensive bottles wines. We never went hungry! The staff (a lot of Romanian) were always very friendly and helpful. Couldn't fault them. Hotel was a 10 minute walk from the main bubble 101. We bought the weekly bus pass from the hotel for €6 pp which made it bearable. The bus stop is right outside the hotel so very convenient in the morning. Since our week was in low season the frequency of the buses was poor. Either every half hour or once an hour - so timing was important. As a result we elected to walk back a couple of times at the end of the day when timing didn't work out. A bit of a pain but doable. As to the skiing, the Dolomites is a fun area. Pistes kept in good nick and well maintained despite lack of snow. Mainly reds with the odd black and blue. Mountain restaurants serve good food and wine at reasonable prices. Sella Ronda is easy to follow either way round and there are interesting spurs to go on from it i.e. Hidden Valley, Marmolada glacier, Ortisei etc. Italy and the Dolomites offer a nice change from the usual Austrian/French resorts which we have skied extensively.

I’m compelled to post a review in defence of the hotel as I couldn’t recognise an earlier review criticising the bland food. Breakfast was good (apart from the orange juice) and the restaurant offered a really good range of regional Italian fayre in the evenings - a varied salad bar, soups (with a Tyrolean twist), the loveliest range of pasta starter dishes and a high quality choice of meat and fish dishes. There was barely room left for the puddings, which were also pretty good. The local wines were a perfect paring and reasonably priced. The option of “eating out” never once occurred to us. Our bedroom and en-suite looked recently refurbished and spacious. Two flaws, however, (1) the rock hard pillows, which sadly contributed to many uncomfortable nights and poor sleep quality; (2) no English-speaking TV channels. The staff were all polite and helpful, but it was a great shame that more wasn’t done to make the bar and lounge a more attractive and sociable area for guests to congregate for -pre/-post dinner drinks and banter. We hired skis from the Ski School Marmolada (free storage too) which was a pleasant walk through the park at the rear of the hotel and the swimming/wellness centre. From here, a short walk to the Belvedere gondola meant that we never needed to buy the €9 per person weekly ski bus pass. Overall, Hotel Cristallo is a lovely hotel in a stunning ski area which I would happily re-visit.

This is the second visit to The Cristallo, my friends and I have taken a weeks skiing in both 2022 (9 of us) and 2023 (12 of us), and it is fabulous. The staff are great, friendly, and accommodating. The management team speak excellent English and understood the individual needs of the group. Just a few minutes walk from the Belvedere lift, the Hotel Cristallo is ideally situated for all your needs in Canazei. The food is great too! A good breakfast and evening menu option is available…and the wine! Great selection there also. Rooms are spacious, clean and very functional, and for that aprés relaxation the sauna/steam/pool area is excellent. We are already planning a third trip!

Great rooms, nice wellness/spa area and overall a great hotel. However, the dinner was terrible. Full menu with nice choices but it didn't taste anything and looked like the most bland dish I've ever seen. We ended up eating at the hotel two days but for the rest of the week we ate at the local restaurants in the town. So shortly, great hotel but avoid the dinner (even if it's included).

Our room was very spacious and comfortable with a balcony facing out at the back of the hotel. Everything was spotlessly clean and all Covid rules were meticulously observed. The spa area was a real treat after a day’s skiing. Each evening there was a choice of menus and the food was extremely delicious. I am not vegetarian but could understand that vegetarians might welcome a greater choice. The daily salad buffet was superb. The waiting staff were efficient and friendly. The location was very convenient for ski busses in both directions of the valley. The ski room was well designed and easily accessible. If returning to the area for any kind of holiday I would certainly return to the Cristallo.

In a word 'Superb'. From the point we arrived to the point we left the Hotel and staff were superb. The Cristallo is a lovely, warm and welcoming Hotel, the staff are amazing, in particular Antonio - who is a wealth of knowledge on all matters local, in particular the amazing wine from the Trento region. The staff were excellent throughout our stay, polite, attentive and very professional. The Hotel itself, including its fabulous location, is situated a few minutes walk from the centre of Canezei, the walk to the main gondola takes no more than 10 minutes max at a slow steady pace - it's close and is within easy reach. Our room in the Hotel was exceptional, modern, plenty of room, a great shower with unlimited supply of hot water to ease the muscles after a great day on the slopes. The food was very nice, breakfast is of the continental type - but very nice. The evening meals are good, the buffet is exceptional. All-in-All the Cristallo is an excellent choice, you won't be disappointed and we will return. Go for it, you won't be disappointed.

Booked here for a special ski weekend for my husband's 40th. From start to finish the experience was faultless. The private transfers were smooth, the hotel made a fuss when we got there and provided lots of Birthday 'treats' including an upgraded room and every single member of staff was wonderful; nothing is too much trouble (and we could see that there were some demanding guests). The breakfast buffet is out of this world - proper orange juice, prosecco, cake stands of homemade pastries; the list is endless. We loved that although this is a super luxury hotel, it is not snobby in any way and has a very relaxed but chic atmosphere. Whatever your heart desires the hotel makes happen. The spa is absolutely divine as was my full body massage. We didn't take our daughter but there were families with babies and children and the hotel really catered for them - even Ipads for use at the table! The kids club looked really lovely too. Do ask the concierge for restaurant recommendations and to book for you. Both restaurants we went to were excellent and we received special service as the hotel had booked for us. The hotel is not in the centre of town, but the free shuttle minivans are extremely regular. If you're out late then it's very easy to get a taxi back and the hotel can arrange this for you (taxis are expensive though). Wish we could have stayed for longer as it was magical. We will definitely be back for a longer family holiday next year. If you are struggling on which hotel to book in Cortina and you want luxury - book here.