Grand Hotel Duchi D'Aosta

For a group, the hotel is manageable, with a good space in the living room for activities and a handy spot by the resort and ski station. I wouldn’t recommend it to families, though. The service was understanding and nice, and we had enough room for our clothes, but the four-person rooms were much smaller than the three-person ones, especially around the two bunk beds. The furniture looked old and close to breaking, and there was no light in the shower. The lift was unreliable, and little kids kept running around, shouting, pressing buttons, and making it stop at every floor. They also knocked on our doors, especially in the evenings. Food was the same throughout the week, pasta every day, usually undercooked and barely warm. The pool we’d been looking forward to wasn’t available to use.

The location is about the only redeeming thing, with the chairlifts and slopes just a five-minute walk away. The hotel itself was an absolute nightmare. We arrived in the early hours and got carrier bags with bland sandwiches, wafer-thin ham, tasteless plastic cheese, a hard-boiled egg, and a yellow and brown apple. The rooms were a disaster in both hygiene and style, with materials and patterns that looked about five decades out of date. Two of the four beds had no springs, and the other two were too short for someone who’s 5 foot 9 inches. One person had to put a mattress from the top bunk on the floor, taking up more room and making the stay less comfortable. The bathroom was underwhelming, especially the shower, which had pathetic, weak pressure and only about six streams of water. The cleaning service was decent and consistent, though on the last day they piled all our clothes on one bed and left us arguing over whose were whose. Breakfast was average at best. Croissants with chocolate spread or jam were the highlight, while the cheap ham and cheese and unappealing yoghurts made for slim pickings. Lunch and dinner meant undercooked pasta every day, plus assorted unidentifiable slop. It was a poor showing for a country with Italy’s food reputation. Other guests were arrogant and feral, making racist and inappropriate remarks to younger students. HORRIBLE HOTEL, WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.

The price and location are just right. The hotel seems full of noisy kids, but that didn’t bother us since we’re noisy too :) The main headache was the busy lift. Most people don’t seem to realize that taking the stairs down is healthier and the smarter option!

Apart from breakfast, every meal has been undercooked pasta. I’m starting to consider a serious crime, because at least on death row I’d get a decent meal.