A Stay at Hotel Al Larin in the Dolomites – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

August 2024

A Stay at Hotel Al Larin in the Dolomites – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Cortina d’Ampezzo is a premier destination in the Dolomites and attracts people from all over for the world class summer and winter activities. As you can imagine, accommodations are very popular in this town since it is central to many popular areas that are iconic to the Dolomites. It was a challenge even booking five months out finding something that was reasonably priced with availability. It is certainly easy to live it up here and splurge on some incredible accommodations with luxury amenities.

Since our time in this town was short, it helped to keep our expectations for amenities reasonable. I was happy to find Hotel Al Larin and felt that it would do the trick. This well rated, three star hotel offered a twenty minute walk to downtown with free onsite parking and breakfast included with the stay. 

The Property

Hotel Al Larin is located on the outskirts of Cortina d’Ampezzo a mile away from downtown. There is a walking path that takes about 20 minutes to get from the hotel to downtown which is quite scenic and relaxing. There is also a bus system that can be utilized or if you are renting a car, you can drive. There is free onsite parking right at the hotel as well.

The hotel itself is styled as a mountain lodge, full of wood accents and plaid fabrics. The front desk is not staffed 24/7 so the check in window may be shorter than you are used to at a placed that is staffed all evening. This was no issue for us but keep that in mind as you will be asked to arrive between 2PM and 8PM. Check out is a reasonable 10AM.

There are a few common spaces that you can relax in such as a living room and an outdoor terrace.

Rooms

The property has a decent number of rooms available but during peak seasons, it does fill up. We found our room to be a nice size for two people to comfortably enjoy, including multiple spots to unpack belongings. Our room had a view from the front of the hotel which meant the mountain view was quite lovely so that was very exciting. The bathroom is dated but very functional. And if you require a hair dryer, best to not rely on the one in the room. Rooms are also equipped with a refrigerator which we did not use but it also did not appear to work very well. Like most European hotels, there is no air conditioning here. It is often cool enough at night to be comfortable with the windows open. However, since the hotel is located on the SS51 road which is the lifeline up and down this part of the Dolomites, the noise from the street was very loud at night. So while we needed to have the windows open to keep ourselves cool, the noise kept us up anyway. This is not a problem if you are in a room at the back of the hotel so I would honestly suggest giving up the view of the mountains for a good night of sleep. Overall, we thought the rooms were clean and comfortable and while some upgrades could be made, it did not impact the quality of our stay with the exception of the noise at night.

Amenities

Hotel Al Larin is simple when it comes to amenities. The free parking is definitely a great feature if you are renting a car. Other than that, the amenities are geared a bit towards the winter season with on site ski. If you are looking for a spot with a pool, sauna, or spa, Hotel Al Larin will not be your first choice. For us, since our stay was only two nights and our days here were jam-packed, we were not looking for these amenities in our stay. The price per night also reflects that as well and kept us withing the budget we were looking for.

Dining Options

Hotel Al Larin offers a continental breakfast each morning with your stay which starts at 730AM.

Since many of the summertime activities require an early departure, this is a bit late to accomplish the goals of finding parking at popular trails and enjoying the included breakfast. When speaking with the front desk, they were able to prepare a to-go breakfast bag the night before for us on the day we left at 6AM which was so helpful to accomplish our goals for the day. The bag included fruit, various spreads of Nutella, jams, honey, breads and biscuits, water, and more – we were all very impressed and pleased with the offering.

Our second morning, we opted to enjoy the onsite breakfast and we were so pleased with the spread. From a coffee and juice machine that prepares all your favorites, to breads and jams, to cereal and muesli, to pastries and hot items like eggs, pancakes, breakfast meats, and more. We were all very glad to have experienced the breakfast here so just make sure you plan accordingly cause you do not want to miss it.

For dinner, you will have to venture into Cortina d’Ampezzo. Spots Google had marked as open or times of service were a bit off in this town so keep that in mind. I also found that overall, the town’s restaurants overall rating was lower than I would have expected and in comparison to other places. I guess I expected there to be some fierce competition of well rated spots vying for tourist dollars. The one recommendation I would absolutely send you is Restaurant Ariston Bar.

Things To Do 

While there is little to do at the hotel, the point of this destination is to get out and explore. All year round there is so much going on and here are a few suggestions:

• Visit downtown Cortina d’Ampezzo
• Hike the famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo
• Take the Funivia Tofana – Freccia nel Cielo gondola to the mountain top
• Hike up to Lake Sorapis
• Relax at Lake Misurina and Lake Dürrensee
• Rent a wooden boat at Lago di Braies

Final Thoughts

Overall, we found Hotel Al Larin to work for our two night stay in Cortina d’Ampezzo. While there were minor discomforts like the noise overnight, it was a good stay. For a double room at the end of August over a weekend, it was less than 200 euro a night which for this area was a great deal.

If you are looking for an economic option for your stay, I think Hotel Al Larin does the trick. While it is always better to stay downtown, the prices were more than double the price here and for our short stay, it was not worth upgrading to something with more amenities. This simple stay with a delicious breakfast made Hotel Al Larin a great option for our time in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Continue reading about our week in Dolomites here!

Read all blog posts for the Dolomites here!

Packing in a carry on? Read the full packing list here!

See our complete itinerary here!

Planning your trip? Check out the Perfect One Week Itinerary to the Dolomites here!