When the high-altitude hotel becomes an atmospheric destination

It is called Essential and arrived in Cortina on 26 January, on the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Games. Designed by the Carlo Ratti Associati architecture studio, the torch of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Games focuses on essential, sustainable and technological design, with the aim of making the flame the focus and undisputed protagonist while minimising superfluous technology. But at high altitude, the spotlight has long been on hospitality, which this year, as never before, is full of new openings signed by the most interesting architecture and interior design studios of the moment. The projects? Not necessarily as essential as Ratti's, but of great personality and charisma, so much so that they themselves become the reason for the journey, destination hotels, in fact, that accompany guests to discover the identities and the territory in which they are rooted, with an increasingly local and less global outlook, in the sign, when possible, of sustainability.

This is the case of Castel Badia, the new five-star hotel in San Lorenzo di Sebato, a few minutes from Brunico, at the foot of the Kronplatz/Plan de Corones ski area, which opened its doors last December. If the architectural design by Studio Null17 makes some concessions to the contemporary, the approach of Droulers Architecture, who were entrusted with the interior design and layout of the hotel's 29 rooms, was always respectful of the context. "Castel Badia has its own important history, first as a Benedictine monastery and then as a castle, which we have always taken into account," explains Virginie Droulers. "With my sister Nathalie, we went in with white gloves, intervening discreetly after delving into the history of every corner of the hotel." The decision, she says, was to let the walls, the frescoes and the nature of the place speak for itself. "We only used local stone and also all the materials we chose came from the adjacent mountains, from nearby trees, as well as, where we could, we used the talented craftsmen of Brunico. In the end, we gave it a warm and feminine touch without ever overdoing it, respecting the silence of the place, for a discreet five-star welcome".

A personal vision, that of Renzo Rosso, the eclectic founder of Diesel and the OTB fashion group, led to the reopening last summer of one of Cortina's historic hotels, the Ancora, which has been a symbol of local hospitality since 1826. For his Ampezzo 'home', Rosso entrusted the interior design to the Charles & Co studio, led by Vicky Charles, who was design director of Soho House for twenty years. "What made the whole process fascinating was that Renzo wanted to treat it just like a restoration project," says Charles. "The hotel had so much to work with: the woodwork, the painted ceilings, the Alpine decorative motifs, the colours. It had a strong aesthetic language and a lot of originality. Each room had to be a refuge, as Renzo wished," the designer continues. This is how the 38 rooms, all different from each other, of the Ancora were reborn, in the sign of an Alpine, yet bold design. Each one has a precise identity, made up of painstaking details, refined objects (often vintage), colours and materials that recall the surrounding environment. Bold is also Club Brave, the hotel's night club accessible by invitation only or for special occasions, where the use of mobile phones is strictly prohibited.

The Hotel Saint-Georges in Megève, which reopened in December after passing through the hands and head of the most eclectic and poetic of British designers and draughtsmen, Luke Edward Hall, also has a few rooms and personality to spare. The young creative has been entrusted with both interior design and art direction, to make the Saint-Georges a living stage setting that harks back to an almost Tyrolean fairytale aesthetic. "My vision for the hotel was that of a romantic, colourful and eccentric place. Inside, a mix of velvet sofas with jewel-toned fringes, custom-made floral carpets, antiques and old paintings,' the designer explains. A total vision, which in addition to the 29 rooms and common rooms includes the staff uniforms, all designed by Château Orlando, Luke's own fashion brand, the French restaurant Le Trappeur, which alternates wooden walls with murals by artist Pauline Leyravaud, and even the custom-designed room fragrance.

Finally, it is yet another small establishment that stands out in the panorama of new openings at altitude. It is Chesa Marchetta, just 13 rooms and a restaurant in the heart of Sils Maria, an enchanted corner of the Engadine that over time has inspired world-famous intellectuals, from Nietzsche to Proust, Giacometti to Chagall. Chesa Marchetta itself has over the years hosted artists such as Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat, a destiny linked to art that is now renewed with new management by Artfarm, the international hospitality group founded by Swiss gallery owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth. The redevelopment project was spearheaded by Luis Laplace, an Argentinean architect based in Paris and creator, among other things, of the restoration project of the Isla del Rey in Menorca, which houses the Hauser & Wirth art centre. The end result is an intimate dialogue between art, modern and contemporary, and Engadin craft traditions.