Aman’s New Dolomites Hotel Sets a High Bar for Design—as Service Works to Catch Up

The Afar take

I’m neck deep in the 96-degree infinity pool at Aman Rosa Alpina, watching the mist evaporate from a ridge in the Italian Dolomites. It’s morning, and I have the entire spa to myself. To my luck, the sun breaks through the clouds, gilding the landscape in gold and green—larch trees light up, the summits begin to sparkle, and weathered barns around me seem so supercharged with light that a clutch of hens at the neighboring farm start to cluck. Note to Aman junkies: This may be the only Aman property where you can see chickens from the infinity pool.

Though I haven’t previously been to this corner of Val Badia, where the rarely heard ancient Ladino language is still spoken, I’m no stranger to the Dolomites. Having lived next door in Switzerland for more than a decade, I’ve visited these mountains to ski, eat, and hike many times.

Nor am I new to Aman. I’ve visited 25 of its properties across 12 countries, including icons like Amangiri in Utah, Amanzoe in Greece, and Amanjiwo in Java, Indonesia—each minimalist retreat known for its sublime surroundings, architecture, and service. I was eager to see the celebrated global luxury brand’s latest debut—Aman Rosa Alpina, formerly the Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa, one of the most storied hotels in the Dolomites—in the heart of the small village of San Cassiano.

The Rosa Alpina first opened in the 1930s under the Pizzinini family and became a beloved landmark over three generations. Aman CEO Vladislav Doronin, once a frequent guest, eventually partnered with current owners Hugo and Ursula Pizzinini to transform it into an Aman. Their two-year, $69 million rebuild, completed in July 2025 with architect Jean-Michel Gathy, reimagined the hotel from the ground up. The results are striking—my architect husband noted the developers didn’t skimp on materials, using the best possible wood and stone at the property with aesthetic precision. Yet despite the extraordinary setting and impressive structural and design elements, some of the service fell short of Aman’s reputation, surprising at a rate of $2,100 a night.

Still, the human touch at this classic hotel endures: Hugo and Ursula remain an everyday presence, greeting guests in the lobby, a reminder that the soul of the old Rosa Alpina lives on in the new Aman.

Courtesy of Aman

Who’s Aman Rosa Alpina for?

Skiers, hikers, mountaineers, families, Aman junkies, and food lovers will all find something to love at this compact mountain retreat. Although not ski in/ski out, it’s an easy 11-minute walk to the Piz Sorega gondola, which whisks guests to 6,565 feet for a vast network of pistes and hiking trails. The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle to the gondola base for those schlepping ski gear, and it can arrange paid car or helicopter transfers to the closest airports for guests wary of driving the corkscrew Alpine roads—a reasonable fear after our own white-knuckle arrival.

Yet Aman is not a traditional ski lodge. It’s a rare blend of a sleek minimalism and convivial warmth, centered around a sprawling spa and wellness area with numerous pools, saunas, and separate areas for adults and families. The airy, sun-flooded lobby bar and excellent restaurant are the resort’s social heart, while the kids club is filled with video games and table tennis. Il Salotto, the all-day bar and lounge, is filled with sunlight, crackling fireplaces, and forest views. Its longtime piano player, a beloved local fixture, still performs rousing covers of Italian and American pop classics while guests sip francicorta and Negronis. It’s an old-fashioned notion of après-ski glamour that feels entirely at home at this hotel.

Courtesy of Aman

The location: San Cassiano, Alto Adige

Located in Alto Adige (South Tyrol), about 2.5 hours from both Innsbruck and Venice, Aman Rosa Alpina is in the charming village of San Cassiano, named for the 4th-century martyr Saint Cassian of Imola. There’s a high concentration of contemporary wood slat architecture, including Aman itself, in the village, which is in the heart of Ladino-speaking Val Badia, although many of its residents appeared to be from Milan and Venice and likely know as little Ladino as the rest of us.

Unlike most Amans, the property sits within an active village rather than in a secluded landscape, so it may not offer the extra privacy or discretion some guests seek. But we loved being able to stroll into town, bar-hop at the outdoor taverns lining the main drag, pop into bakeries and nose around a leibeschmittel (grocery shop), and admire the Parrocchia di San Cassiano chapel, its curvy pastel facade visible from some rooms. After wandering the village, we walked to the Piz Sorega gondola and rode to the summits for a two-hour hike and lunch at Rifugio Ütia Bioch—recommended by Aman’s young but capable concierge, who insisted, rightly, that it was a local highlight.

Note: This part of the eastern Dolomites is about one hour by car from Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of the co-hosts of the February 2026 Winter Olympics, just across the border in the Veneto region. Skiers can enlist Aman’s dedicated ski butler to help navigate the region’s extraordinary terrain: 745 miles of piste and 450 lifts in the 12 interconnected ski areas of Dolomiti Superski, including the famed half-day Sellaronda loop accessible from the local gondola.

Courtesy of Aman

The rooms at Aman Rosa Alpina

There are 51 guest rooms on either the building’s forest-facing side, where a road and hiking and bike path run underneath, or the Dolomite-facing side, which overlooks the village toward the peaks beyond. The forest rooms are more popular, while the village and mountain-facing rooms are sunnier. Yet compared to other Dolomite hotels, the views are lackluster from both sides. In my forest-facing room, the views were mostly of the forest itself, with some mountains visible in the far distance once on the balcony. The other side’s mountains are closer and more striking but partially distorted by other buildings in town and probably noisier.

The rooms themselves are generous in size, but the low ceilings slightly temper their sense of grandeur. Hardwood floors are topped with heather gray scatter rugs, while huge closets have multiple compartments and hanging racks. Terraces are spacious enough for two people to stretch out with a glass of wine.

All rooms have glass-enclosed fireplaces operated by digital wall controls that, for the most part, work intuitively. Beds were comfortable, with fluffy mattresses, quality pillows, and soft bedding. Our bathroom, with its tub and separate private shower, was stocked with Aman’s own soaps and shampoos in ceramic pumps.

Courtesy of Aman

The food and drink

In a region where culinary standards run high, Aman has created dining experiences that are delicious and not out of reach for locals. The former Michelin three-starred restaurant, Hubertus, in the former Rosa Alpina hotel, was intentionally not brought back for the reopening. “We didn’t want to do that style of fine dining again,” said owner Ursula over an aperitivo of bubbly and pizza in the lobby (which, incidentally, should not be missed).

Instead, the new village-facing restaurant, Grill, embraces a more relaxed pan-Italian menu and executes it with precision: saucy veal meatballs, crispy cotaletta alla Milanese, al dente spaghetti bottarga, and perfectly pink Piemonte rib-eye steaks. Prices are fair, even generous for Aman. Ditto for the wine selection, with many great bottles starting at 40 euros. This winter, the resort is slated to open a shabu-shabu restaurant, the first of its kind in Europe, according to owner Hugo.

Staff and service

The staff are kind and eager, though few are local, and most are not Italian and don’t have a deep understanding of local culture yet. When I visited in September 2025, barely two months after the hotel’s July opening, a few growing pains were to be expected: a breakfast order gone wrong two days in a row, a stack of “clean” plates arriving with food residue, a timid server unable to describe a dish, a used washcloth from the previous guest hanging in my shower. While these flaws are minor, in the Aman universe, service is meant to be as integral an experience as architecture or design—hopefully a temporary symptom of a young operation finding its rhythm.

Accessibility

Aman Rosa Alpina can accommodate guests with limited mobility, including wheelchair users. The main areas have wide corridors and modern elevators, and guest rooms are accessible without major barriers. Some parts of the spa, however, include short staircases and raised platforms that may pose challenges. Guests with specific mobility needs should confirm details directly with the resort before arrival to communicate any mobility support needs.

Courtesy of Aman

Spa and wellness

The spa was my favorite place in the resort, notably the two outdoor infinity pools, one a warm thermal bath with jets, the other a slightly cooler lap pool—both offering the property’s best views. From the water, the surrounding Dolomites unfold in every direction, best seen at dawn or dusk when you can catch the alpenglühen, the reddish-pink Alpenglow, igniting the summits. The forest view also overlooks a footpath and a cascading brook, along with a few weathered wood barns and the occasional wandering chicken, close enough to admire but far enough to not disturb guests.

Inside, the wellness facilities are a series of small interconnected spaces rather than one grand area—some adults only, some for kids. The segmentation felt fragmented rather than intimate, but the design is handsome, with whimsical wicker chairs and knotty wood walls, a motif that runs throughout the property and reached its zenith in the spa.

My 60-minute facial was superb. The therapist understood my questions about sensitive skin and offered me tips without any product upsell. She also worked around my facial hair and had the intuition a therapist needs for a property of this caliber.

Afar was a guest of Aman Rosa Alpina. Our coverage is independent; the hotel did not review or approve this story.