Ciasa Salares

The Verdict

Worth it for your honeymoon?

Ciasa Salares is the most loved family-run luxury hotel in Alta Badia — a 43-room 5★ in the tiny hamlet of Armentarola above San Cassiano, run by the third-generation Wieser family with a level of personal hospitality that the larger Belmond-and-Marriott properties cannot match. The hotel is anchored by Restaurant La Siriola — Matteo Metullio's 1-Michelin-starred kitchen — and by the Wieser family's celebrated wine and chocolate cellar (one of the great hotel cellars in the Alps, with vertical Lagrein, Sassicaia, and the family's own chocolate-making lab). The architecture is contemporary alpine — larch wood, dark stone, beautifully restored shieling-style buildings linked by glass corridors — and the property has been quietly extended over the past 15 years from its original 1960s farmhouse roots into one of the most sophisticated small hotels in the Dolomites. For honeymooners, the appeal is the antithesis of Rosa Alpina's grandeur: Ciasa Salares is intimate, warm, family-led, and intensely personalised — Stefano Wieser and his sister Jan run the property day-to-day, you'll meet them by Day 2, they remember every guest. The 43 rooms split: the historic Salares wing (the original farmhouse rooms, smaller and more rustic), the Lifestyle wing (larger contemporary rooms with mountain views, the honeymoon move), and a handful of standalone Mountain Lodges (the splurge — chalet-style accommodations with private terraces and panoramic views). The dining proposition is exceptional and is a major part of the property's identity: half-board is included in the rate (and is itself one of the best half-boards in the Alps), with La Siriola operating as a separate à la carte 1-Michelin restaurant. The cellar dinners (€280pp, hosted by Stefano in the cellar itself) are a Dolomites honeymoon highlight. The spa is 800 sq m with an indoor pool, Finnish sauna, biosauna, herbal steam, and three treatment rooms — modest in scale but excellent in execution. Ski-in/ski-out access to the Armentarola valley (Lagazuoi side of the Sella Ronda) is a winter advantage. For honeymoons in the Dolomites, the Ciasa Salares move is best for couples who prioritise warmth and family-hospitality character over architectural statement (Forestis) or Belmond-scale grandeur (Rosa Alpina). Caveats: the rooms are not the architectural statement of Forestis or the Belmond-scale Rosa Alpina; the spa is on the smaller side; and Armentarola is a tiny hamlet (no village to walk through). But the Wieser family's hospitality, the cellar, and the half-board cuisine make this a strongly honeymoon-fit choice and one of the very best €/sq-ft luxury values in the Dolomites.

Score Breakdown

87/100