DolceVita Hotel Jagdhof

A Sun Valley House Where the Spa Climbs to the Roof

Laces sits at 639 metres, low enough in Val Venosta that apples grow to the edge of the village and the light lasts well into the evening. The Jagdhof stands on Via dei Signori, a few minutes from the centre on foot, and it has spent its recent years growing upward rather than outward. The result is a four-star superior house with three thousand square metres given over to water and heat, and a fifth-floor Sky Spa that turns the whole valley into the view from an infinity whirlpool. The Piris family still run it, and it still belongs to the DolceVita collection, which sets the tone: South Tyrolean, sporting, unhurried at the edges.

Why It Works

Two things decided this for us. The first is the spa, which is not a room added to a hotel but the shape of the building itself, stacked from the jacuzzi garden and heated outdoor pool at ground level to the adults-only sauna deck under the sky. The second is the adventure coach, a genuinely unusual piece of staffing: one person whose job is to plan your days, from a guided hike to a rafting descent to an hour of archery, so that the mountain stops being homework. Together they make a house that works in every weather, which is the hard part in a valley this seasonal.

Why This Location

Val Venosta runs west from Merano toward Resia, and Laces sits on its sunny lower reach, which is why the orchards are here. From the village, a cable car climbs to San Martino in Monte, a hamlet on a shelf above the valley floor, and a chairlift lifts walkers to the Tarscher Alm pasture; both put you on the high trails without a drive. The valley cycle path passes below, flat and long. The side valley of Martello opens south into the Stelvio massif, and the Aqua Forum leisure centre is in the village itself. What the position asks in return is that you drive down the valley to the ski lifts rather than step onto them.

Fast Facts

• Price: €€€

• Vibe: Sporting, family-run, spa-led, South Tyrolean

• Rooms: Bergfex and panoramic doubles at 30 m2, single relax rooms at 23 m2, mountain relax suites at 43 m2 and wellness suites at 45 m2, sleeping two to six

• Best For: Spa travellers, active couples, families with teenagers

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The rooftop infinity whirlpool on the fifth floor, level with the orchards and open to the valley

• Dining: Breakfast, an afternoon buffet and two five-course menus each evening under chef Roland, seasonal and regional, with wine tastings and distillery sessions

• Amenities: 3,000 m2 spa, six themed saunas, indoor whirlpool, heated outdoor pool, jacuzzi garden, adults-only sauna deck, beauty lounge with over sixty treatments, premium bike rental, step-free access, pets welcome

• Attractions: San Martino in Monte cable car, Tarscher Alm chairlift, Val Venosta cycle path, Val Martello, Aqua Forum

Rooms Sized for a Week, Not a Night

The categories tell you what the house expects of you. A Bergfex room is thirty square metres and sleeps two to four; the panoramic version keeps the same footprint and gives the window to the valley. Above them, mountain relax suites run to forty-three square metres and wellness suites to forty-five, both taking up to six, which is what makes this a workable address for a family that wants separate corners rather than one large room. Single relax rooms at twenty-three square metres are a real category here rather than an afterthought, which solo walkers will notice.

An Adventure Coach, and What She Actually Books

The coach is the difference between a hotel with bikes in the basement and a hotel that gets you out. Guided hikes go out through the week, six of them, at different lengths and altitudes. Mountain bike tours use the trails above Laces, and the house rents good machines rather than heavy ones. Beyond that the list runs to rafting, climbing, a ropes course, archery, mountain karting, golf, running, yoga and Pilates. Nothing about it is compulsory, which is the point: the programme exists so that you can decide at breakfast.

Half Board That Earns the Name

Dinner is two five-course menus, chosen on the night, built on seasonal and regional produce under chef Roland, with Alpine and Mediterranean lines running side by side. The afternoon buffet between lunch and dinner matters more than it sounds when you have been on a bike since nine. Wine tastings and distillery evenings fill the nights that stay indoors.