Aethos Monterosa in Champoluc

Don’t let the Michelin Key fool you, this place is terrible. I’m giving it 2 stars solely for looking pretty and having a nice spa. The only acceptable reason to come here is to use the spa or the rock-climbing wall. Whatever you do, do not eat at the Japanese restaurant on site.

For a hotel at this price point, the incompetence of the staff was apalling. They were friendly, but useless.

Check-in took over an hour. Our rooms were framed as an “upgrade” because they were in the newest part of the hotel, but that meant walking through three separate hallways to the furthest possible end of the property. When we arrived, the keys didn’t work and the staff member escorting us literally body-slammed the doors trying to get them open before giving up and trekking all the way back to the lobby. One of our rooms was supposed to be a suite with a separate living room. Instead, it was basically the same room as the others, just 5 square meters bigger, so it was technically a “suite.” When we asked for the original room booked instead, we were told it had already been given away.

The Japanese restaurant was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had. Service was painfully slow despite only four tables being occupied. Our order had to be taken multiple times because staff kept forgetting it. Portions were tiny, prices were outrageous, the food lacked flavor, and everything arrived cold. We made the mistake of eating there again during the New Year’s Eve gala, with the same results. The vegetarian main course was boiled cauliflower with a peanut-butter-like sauce. For non-vegetarians, it was an over-salted, lukewarm soup with overcooked, cold seafood. We left early just to salvage the night by being in our rooms. The next morning, the restaurant manager asked why we left early. After explaining that the food and service were bad, she apologized and said she too had left early, and that if she hadn’t, we wouldn’t have had that experience.

Interactions with the staff can me summed up with this experience: I asked for my room to be cleaned. The staff said it was fine and told me to message them when I left, which I did. When I returned later that day, nothing had been cleaned. I called the front desk and they apologized, saying someone would come shortly. Twenty minutes passed, and nothing. I called again and was told to hold on. Five minutes later, someone called me back and said, “We sent cleaning to you twenty minutes ago already.” I said, “No, you didn’t. No one came.” They replied, “Okay, great, so everything’s good then?”

I hadn’t planned to leave a review because I was excited to never interact with the staff again, but unfortunately, I still had to. My luggage didn’t make it onto my flight and was supposed to be delivered to this hotel during my stay. At the start of our stay, we informed the hotel that delayed luggage might arrive and asked them to notify us when it did. The luggage was delayed further, and we eventually checked out of the hotel. Even after leaving Italy, my luggage was still missing and I had no idea where it was. As a last resort, I messaged the hotel simply to confirm that it never arrived. It turns out it did arrive, after I had already checked out, and the hotel never notified me. When I asked why they would accept luggage for a guest who had already checked out and then fail to notify them, I was met with AI generated gaslighting, insisting this was “policy” and that I would be notified when a courier picked it up. Unsurprisingly, I was never notified when that happened either.

In summary, a pretty property and a nice spa, but completely undermined by unresponsive, poorly coordinated staff and a dysfunctional operation overall. Please consider other options when booking.

The hotel is aesthetically beautiful and well located, but the price did not feel proportionate to the level of service. Spa access was limited despite being included in the room booking. Breakfast also lacked proper attention to food intolerances, as it took three days to receive a dairy-free croissant and a vegan yogurt. Overall, a decent stay, but the value for money could be improved.