La Pineta

The sauna, whirlpool, and other facilities were all great, and the staff were polite and friendly. We had a great week skiing, though I'll look elsewhere next time. The hotel is modern and the room was spacious, but check whether the beds can be separated. Ours couldn't, which is fine with your partner, but it was a surprise to spend a week spooning your mate. The food, a big part of an all-inclusive stay, was pretty poor all week. Portions were small and the combinations odd, not the usual Italian dishes. We ate out a few nights to avoid being disappointed. Also keep an eye on your tab, as a few stray items appeared at the end of the week.

A hidden gem in Selva. We spent a week here, and it has everything you'd expect from a much larger hotel: good food and service, a great wellness center, and a spot close to the slopes.

The kids loved the playroom downstairs, and the bus gets you to the piste in seven minutes. Staff were helpful and friendly, and our room was kept clean with care for the details. The bed was very good and the shower nice and hot. Breakfast and dinner were good too. We had a great room with seating, though a friend's family room was really small for that type of room, but still within limits.

As an American scoutmaster, I brought my troop of about 15 American boys from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, here to ski in 1971. We had an outstanding trip in this beautiful part of Italy, traveling by train. There were no organized events, just lots of skiing and good food. One unusual wrinkle was the travel paperwork. I was in the Army and used military papers, while most of the boys' parents were American diplomatic dependents traveling on diplomatic passports. That made for some interesting business at border crossings. At the time, Garmisch-Partenkirchen was home to an American academy that trained around 100 people year-round to go to Russia as replacements for American embassy staff, mainly in language and customs. It was run then by an Army officer named Colonel Dinkleburger.