Hotel de la Poste in Cortina d'Ampezzo

Completely undeserving of its four-star rating.

The price is extremely high, yet the service is terrible. The staff had a poor attitude and left before I had even finished asking my questions.

There was no kettle, no air conditioning, and no fan. The hair dryer was so weak that a handheld fan would have been more effective. It was practically unusable. A hotel that fails to provide even the most basic amenities does not deserve its star rating—frankly, it doesn't even qualify as a one-star hotel.

The room was old and poorly maintained. The wooden floor creaked loudly and felt as though it was falling apart.

Save your money and stay elsewhere. Unless you're looking to pay a fortune for a disappointing experience, I would strongly recommend avoiding this hotel.

We had lunch at well located restaurant and it was terrible on all levels. Bad service with waiters disappearing and the simple unimaginative burgers arriving almost an hour later. We had to stand up and find a waiter to ask gor cutlery and then again for a second small and very expensive beer. The burger was covered in a massive amount of cocktail sauce. I do not recommend anyone to go there. Rather go to Mac Donalds or a petrol station, the food will be better and the service to. If I could give a minus star I would.

I stayed here as part of a tour group. As mentioned elsewhere, the old-fashioned keys are a bit tricky, and you literally have to lock yourself into the room with a key- and getting back out takes some finesse. Imagine having to fiddle with the key during an emergency.

My room faced out onto an outdoor seating area of a bar/restaurant or two. No a/c means open windows…with loud, drunken people talking, shouting, and screaming at 3 AM. There are only sheer curtains(the translucent white ones) and the bright light in Party Central Plaza down there means your room looks like twilight all night long. Between the two, sleep was poor.

For me, the capper was a 6 AM shower. 6 AM- not exactly the crack of dawn. No hot water. Turn shower and sink faucets on full blast hot water- nothing. Get dressed again, make my way downstairs and ask the night clerk what’s going on. He is surprised and asked if I tried turning the hot water on all the way(gee, dude, I never thought of that….). He goes to the restroom off the lobby and confirms, that no, there is no hot water, then tells me they turn the hot water off at night. No comment on that rationale but turning it off brings a duty to turn it back on - before 6 AM when breakfast is served at 7 AM.

To their credit, they did offer to switch me to another room, but I only had one more night there and it wasn’t worth gathering up and repacking my stuff. The dining room staff were very friendly and helpful. These keep this from being a one-star review.

The location is great because it’s very central but given everything here, I simply cannot recommend this hotel.

Hotel de la Poste is clearly a hotel that once had real grandeur. The marble staircase, superb central location, and history of glamorous clientele all hint at what it must have been in its heyday. Unfortunately, those glory days now feel quite distant, and what remains is a very dated hotel with patchy service and poor value for money.

Secure underground parking can be booked in advance for €30 a night, or there’s access to free parking nearby on the piazza. The underground garage is extremely tight though, so worth being aware of if you have a larger car. They are also an Audi partner hotel and have an EV charging point.

The main bar area is probably the most updated part of the hotel, with additional seating outside. The seating at the front overlooks the square and catches some lovely views, although it’s also right by the Cortina Express and local bus stops, so not the most relaxing setting for a drink. There’s quieter seating around the side. The restaurant terrace wasn’t open for drinks during our stay at the end of May, only for dinner service.

Our standard double room on the fourth floor felt untouched since perhaps the late 1950s. The website photos are definitely styled at their absolute best, because the reality was a fairly tired and disappointing room. Even basic details were missed — for example, there was only one drinking glass provided in a room booked for two people.

The bathroom setup was particularly awkward. There was nowhere to mount the shower head and no shower screen, so taking a shower without flooding the bathroom was nearly impossible.

Breakfast was also disappointing and unappetising.

Sadly, I wouldn’t stay again or recommend it in its current state unless there’s a major refurbishment or the room rates are adjusted to better reflect the standard of the rooms and service. As it stands, it felt very poor value.