Sollievo, A House in the Woods Above Cortina

A House Somebody Lives In

Sollievo was built in 1939 for a Venetian lawyer, on the wooded heights of Pocol above Cortina d'Ampezzo. Its history has been varied. During the Second World War it was requisitioned by German troops, before becoming a house of hospitality run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. Later it returned to private ownership, and in 1994 its interiors appeared in the Italian film La Ragazza di Cortina.

The name has survived all of it. When Elisabetta Dotto acquired the property in 2025, she chose to keep Sollievo rather than give the house a new identity.

Dotto is a third-generation hotelier who owns Ambra Cortina, the fashion-minded boutique hotel in the centre of town, and Excess Venice. Sollievo is her third hospitality property, but it operates on a different principle. This is not a villa bought, restored and handed over to a management company. It is Dotto's own home, and the three double bedrooms are offered together to guests, accommodating up to six people. They are not sold individually.

Most stays are hosted, with Dotto in residence, which makes the arrangement closer to staying at a privately hosted country house than renting an empty chalet. The house can also be taken in full, with the whole property given over to one party, so guests who want it entirely to themselves should raise that when booking.

When we visited, Dotto welcomed us personally, showing us a house she had known long before she bought it and explaining the decisions behind its restoration. There is something appealing about being introduced to a place by the person who chose to live there.

Some travellers will prefer the anonymity of a hotel. Sollievo offers something else: the hospitality of a private home, with the standards of someone who has spent her career running hotels.

Restoring the House

The restoration was undertaken by Perissinotto Lab, led by architect Gian Luca Perissinotto alongside architect Angela Pavan, working closely with Dotto. Their approach was to retain the character of the original building while making it comfortable for contemporary use.

The proportions, façades, balconies, flower boxes and roofline were preserved. Inside, the house still unfolds through a series of rooms across four levels, connected by three staircases. There are more than 500 square metres in all, but it does not feel as though the space has been designed simply to impress with its size.

The furnishings are a mixture of original pieces, carefully restored, and contemporary work made specifically for the house. Liberty-style cabinets, vintage seating and a nineteenth-century sofa with gilded legs sit alongside newer pieces in timber, leather, velvet and glass. The guest bedrooms have vintage freestanding baths, which give the bathrooms a character of their own. A recurring triangular motif, drawn from the shape of the roofline, runs through the new work and ties it back to the building that carries it.

There is enough history here to have justified a rather theatrical restoration. Instead, the rooms feel domestic. Furniture has been retained because it belongs in the house, rather than because it makes an interesting exhibit. The newer additions are sympathetic without pretending to be old.

A historic property needs modern heating, bathrooms and services, particularly in a mountain climate, but it is easy to lose the character of the original building in the process. At Sollievo, the architectural work has respected the house rather than overwhelmed it.

The Setting Is the Point

Sollievo occupies more than 11,000 square metres of private woodland and meadow above Cortina. Pocol is only a short drive from the centre, but the atmosphere is quite different from the busy streets around Corso Italia.

The house is ski-in, ski-out, with direct access to the slopes, yet Cortina's restaurants and shops remain only a short drive away. For anyone coming to the Dolomites to ski, it is an appealing combination: a house in the woods, the mountains on the doorstep and the town close at hand.

The windows look out towards some of the Dolomites' most recognisable peaks: Becco di Mezzodì, Sorapis, Antelao and Tofana di Rozes. The house benefits from its elevation, with the mountains forming a backdrop to the rooms and terraces.

We arrived on a clear October day, before the winter snow had settled. The sunshine was warm enough to sit outside, although the air had the crispness that comes with autumn in the mountains.

It was a particularly good day to see the house. The surrounding trees still gave the setting colour, the mountains were clearly visible, and the terrace was somewhere we could comfortably spend time rather than simply step outside for a photograph.

Lunch, Before Anyone Else

The property told us that we were its first official visitors. We had come for a private preview and lunch, rather than an overnight stay, and the house had the particular atmosphere of somewhere that had only just been finished.

We began on the terrace with champagne, charcuterie and cheese. It was a sunny, crisp day, with the Dolomites spread out across the valley. The food was simple, well chosen and exactly what we wanted to eat in that setting.

Lunch then moved indoors, where the private chef prepared casunziei, the half-moon pasta filled with beetroot that is one of Cortina's best-known local dishes. It comes from the culinary traditions of the Ampezzo valley, and is a good measure of a kitchen that claims a connection to its surroundings.

These were very good indeed. The filling had the characteristic sweetness of beetroot, balanced by the pasta and its dressing, without losing the identity of the dish. It was the sort of cooking that makes more sense in a mountain house than an elaborate tasting menu would have done.

The meal also demonstrated something about the hospitality Sollievo is aiming to provide. We were eating in a private house, with a chef cooking for us and the owner hosting. There was no restaurant to navigate, no menu to study and no sense of a hotel dining room operating around us.

That is a particular kind of luxury, and not necessarily one that depends on extravagant ingredients or formal service. Much of its appeal comes from the setting, the food and the feeling of being welcomed into somebody's home.

Chef services and other experiences can be arranged with the property, with the precise arrangements confirmed when booking.

A Familiar Standard of Hospitality

We have stayed at both of Elisabetta Dotto's other hotels, Ambra Cortina and Excess Venice, and know the attention she pays to comfort and service. Sollievo feels like a natural extension of that approach, although the setting and the format are quite different.

There is the same consideration in the details, from the way the rooms have been furnished to the welcome and the food. What makes Sollievo particularly appealing is that Dotto has brought those standards into her own home, rather than creating another hotel. The result feels personal without being informal, and luxurious without trying particularly hard to announce it.

Why It Earns Its Place

Cortina has attracted substantial hospitality investment around the 2026 Winter Olympics, with established hotels refurbished and new luxury accommodation entering the market. Much of that development follows a familiar model of rooms, restaurants, spas and increasingly elaborate facilities.

Sollievo is something smaller and more personal. There are only three guest bedrooms, no conventional hotel lobby and no public restaurant. The experience is built around the house itself rather than a collection of amenities.

It is also a considered use of a historic building. The restoration has retained the character of a private residence, and the setting gives it a sense of separation from Cortina without putting the town out of reach.

Sollievo is not trying to be a smaller version of a five-star hotel. It offers something more individual: the privacy and character of a historic mountain house, ski-in, ski-out access, and the hospitality of an owner who has spent her career getting the details right. On the evidence of our visit, it is a particularly compelling addition to Cortina.

Disclosure: Our visit to Sollievo Cortina, including lunch, was hosted by the property. All editorial opinions and scores are independent.