Family Hotel Sonnwies, Dolomites review

With half term on the horizon, Stylist’s editorial director Lisa Smosarski recommends whisking the family away to the “breathtakingly beautiful” family hotel Sonnwies in the Italian Dolomites.

I can still remember my sister-in-law offering me some advice when we were planning our first holiday abroad with a toddler. “Always go for an all-inclusive,” she said wisely, “it means you won’t care when they knock yet another drink over at mealtimes.” I promptly ignored said advice, deciding my child could hold a glass steady, a spilled drink wouldn’t bother me all that much, and that, as a family, we weren’t all-inclusive types anyway. And then I spent a very expensive week mentally totting up how many euros worth of Orangina were now soaking into the tablecloths of a charming little boutique hotel in a vineyard in the Dordogne. That was before you tot up how many times I shout-whispered ‘Shhhh’, ‘Sit-down’, ‘Don’t touch that’, ‘Oh God, grab a napkin…’ I vowed there and then never to ignore my sister-in-law’s advice again.

Fourteen years later, this advice still sticks with me: whatever we tell ourselves, having kids will change how most people travel. That might be because you now need to lug a travel cot and a car seat around the world, require childcare or kid-safe facilities, have a tween that will only eat while hopping around a table or a teen that needs adventure-packed activities to get out of bed in the morning.

The good news is you don’t have to compromise for this new travel chapter or end up on your version of a holiday-from-hell, because a new wave of family-oriented hotels is reinventing what all-in travel might look like. Think unique locations, thoughtful and considered activities, incredible food and a chance to explore, relax, play and rest while making new memories together.

Credit: Sonnwies/ASA Luxury (Ann Scott Associates)

Leading the field is Sonnwies, a family-only hotel in the Dolomites, on the Italian side of the Alps. Until now, travel to this area has been dominated by German, Swiss and Austrian tourists, all of which border the region, along with Italian locals. But a new flight route from the UK to the gateway to the Dolomites, Bolzano, with SkyAlps, means that you can now be sipping a limoncello spritz while gazing at a mountain vista in a matter of hours.

The hotel

From the stunning backdrop of snow-capped mountains, lush green meadows, rich pine forests, tiny Alpine churches and wooden chalets cascading down the mountainside to the hotel’s impeccable design, arriving in Sonnwies is like jumping into a painting – it’s breathtakingly beautiful. Alongside the stunning natural backdrop, the former farm has been converted into a wonderfully designed hotel. Every touch is carefully considered, including the panoramic reception area that boasts views across the valley, the curved sofas wrapped around inviting open fireplaces and the wooden miniature carousel that keeps kids entertained while adults sip sundowners on the terrace.

The entire hotel has been designed with children in mind but with a minimalist, Scandinavian aesthetic that makes all of the facilities – even the kids’ areas – super stylish. From a fleet of Vilac ride-on cars and wooden playhouses in the kids’ club to the cream-coloured beach toys and floral print beach balls in the pool, everything has been carefully selected for maximum fun and impeccable style.

The children’s facilities are incredible; in fact, the kids’ club was the biggest I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen my fair share), with activities organised for babies through to teens. Outside, there is a wooden playground with mini-treehouses, zip wire, pedal-powered Go Karts, swings, trampolines and a sandy football pitch. The teenie-lounge, set aside from the rest of the buildings, offers a graffiti-covered teen space (free from little kids and adults) with a pool table, air hockey and screens set up for gamers and movie lovers. In the main building, the kids’ club sits below ground and is expansive, boasting its own soft play, wooden village, theatre (home to the evening disco and popcorn fuelled movie nights), full size sports hall, table tennis room, craft rooms, baby area and – the thing that blew my mind the most – an eight-metre high climbing wall.

Credit: Stylist

The hotel also boasts pony stables and a petting farm, outdoor pizza oven, tractor rides, a creek that the kids can create dams in and float paper boats, a swimming pool, water slides, cinema pool and, somewhat unbelievably, its own ski-slope and ice-rink between December and mid-March – the perfect place for small folk to find their ski-legs.

Family accommodation

Our family of five – three kids aged 14, 12 and eight – stayed in a Luxury Mountain Villa, an incredible apartment with panoramic views of the valley, hot tub, sauna, cuddle-lounge, kitchenette and two bedrooms, one set up with a double bed and bunk beds creating the perfect space for up to four children to share. The absolute highlight was our own heated 8x4m infinity pool on the terrace, which offered the most incredible views. From there, we spent hours swimming, playing Marco Polo, stargazing each evening and spotting paragliders by day – all from the warm water.

All of the 70 chic rooms and suites in the hotel share the same focus on stylish-but-practical family living, with most offering separate areas for children and a balcony or outside space, giving everyone the opportunity to wake up to one of the best views you’ll ever see.

Credit: Sonnwies/ASA Luxury (Ann Scott Associates)

For the kids

Every child – from baby through to teens – is welcome to enjoy 60–70 hours of childcare in the kids’ club a week, taking part in organised activities or just playing freely, all included as part of their room rate. The baby room is open from 9am to 9pm daily, while older kids can dip in or out and take part in as much (or as little) of the organised fun each day. One of my favourite things was watching little groups of kids form friendships throughout the week and run around the hotel in twos and threes, enjoying a rare sense of freedom in the safety of the hotel and its grounds.

For my kids, this meant getting a pass to come and go as they pleased throughout their stay, joining the activities that captured their imaginations or playing together as a family. The relaxed nature of the club really appealed, with no need to pre-book activities other than private use of the climbing wall, which meant the kids could really choose what they wanted to do and when.

My eight-year-old got really stuck in taking part in daily pony rides, cooking classes, movie nights, discos, easel painting, craft workshops, farm visits, haybale jumping, as well as spending hours in the soft play and outdoor playground. Together we took over the sports hall for family ball games and booked exclusive use of the climbing wall (at no extra charge). The pool area and water slides also took up many hours of our day. Heated to 33–36ºC all year-round using sustainable green energy, the pool area is exceptional. It includes an aqua park with slides and splash area, indoor cinema pool, baby pools, outdoor pool with hydrotherapy spots and an indoor pool. Our visit coincided with a very sunny Easter school holidays, so we spent hours outside in the sun, zooming down the water slide on inflatable doughnuts and playing volleyball.

My older boys skipped the organised activities in place of pool, darts and air hockey in the teeny den, football and table tennis in the sports halls, and hours and hours of swimming.

At night, Ferdi, the hotel mascot comes out of hibernation – he’s a giant cow with an ear-worm of a theme song – and leads the kids in nighttime activities: a kids’ only dinner through to disco, movie nights, baking bread and apples over the outdoor fire pits and face-painting parades around the hotel, leaving parents to enjoy some rare time to dine alone. We loved having dinner with our kids before setting them free to play outside or enjoy the activities while we lingered over our meals.

Credit: Sonnwies/ASA Luxury (Ann Scott Associates)

The food

Although Sonnwies isn’t technically all-inclusive, it is a full-board hotel with plentiful opportunities to tuck into as much delicious food as you can eat. On arrival, you’re allocated a set table – my kids loved this, a home-from-home – and the opportunity to choose from an ever-changing menu meant that you really do get different meals every day.

Breakfast is served buffet-style with eggs, pancakes and waffles cooked to order; an extensive assortment of breads, cheeses, cold meats, fresh fruits, nuts, granolas and cereals; plus a kids’ area with pancakes and mini-doughnuts, which my youngest devoured. The juicing room was popular with our family too: a refrigerated glass room crammed with fruit and veg that you can juice yourself every morning.

Lunch is made up of a small daily changing salad buffet and warm dishes to choose from, alongside a pasta bar and ice-cream trolley for the small people. The expansive salad buffers and kohlrabi cream soup were real highlights. If you’re heading out for the day, you’re welcome to request food packaging at breakfast (no more croissants up your sleeve) and make yourself a picnic for the day ahead, something we did twice throughout the week. It is so refreshing to find a hotel that invites you to take what you need for the entire day, rather than reprimanding you for taking your leftovers to fulfil the constant demand for snacks.

Dinner is the main event here, though. Every day, adults (and older children) can choose between three five-course set menus, all small tasting dishes designed to introduce you to Italian, south Tyrolean (the specific area the hotel is in) and vegan specialities. Waiters hand you a printed menu to tick the dishes you want – you can mix and match between the menus – while the children can order kid-friendly favourites like chicken nuggets, tuck into the pasta bar or choose from specials like pizza or roast meats. We tried some incredible dishes throughout our week, too many to mention, but the truffle pasta and generous seafood buffet will stay with me forever. The real highlight of the week for me was when the Cheese Room opened its doors – an entire candle-lit shrine to fromage that you can visit and select your cheeses from. A brilliant experience all hotels could – and should – learn from.

My husband and I laughed when we spotted that the restaurant also opened between 3–5pm for tea and cakes, because we couldn’t believe anyone would need anything else between all the food on offer. That was before we found ourselves there on more days than I care to mention, devouring mouth-watering paradise cake, strudels and gelatos topped with fresh cream after swimming sessions with the kids. Plus, there’s a soda fountain that the kids can help themselves to throughout the day. Unlimited soft drinks on tap… need I say more?

Out and about

Despite the numerous fun organised activities, the real appeal for us was the opportunity to get our children into the glorious Alpine countryside. There are multiple walking trails directly from the hotel, and we spent a memorable afternoon hiking in the  Eisacktal Valley on the Lüsenalm, an Alpine pasture that feels very Sound Of Music. We passed through woodland trails in the forest, the picturesque hamlet of Flitt, where we ate our picnic by a tiny white chapel before a dog joined us from a nearby farm for the rest of our walk until we found snow near the top. One of my favourite things about our walk was the little play-spots dotted throughout the woodlands – big wooden seats, tree trunks over ponds to test our balance, rope swings and climbing frames – thoughtful and sympathetic child-friendly additions to the incredible woodlands.

Credit: Sonnwies/ASA Luxury (Ann Scott Associates)

On a separate day, we took the panorama trail to Lüsen, a small town down-mountain, and discovered pine-covered trails, waterfalls and an idyllic bathing pond, open from June to August. The hotel also offers e-bike hire to explore further afield on the local mountains, but even with the extra pedal power of the electric bikes, it was only suitable for my 14-year-old due to the steep nature of the mountains.

Further afield you can enjoy the PanaRaida trail a 2.5km loop walk suitable for younger children that has 10 interactive play stops and is accessible by cable car, or try activities like the Plosebob summer tobogganing (open May-October) or Monte Pana Zipline, a 50-minute drive away. The ski resort of Plose is nearby, with the hotel offering a shuttle bus during ski season.

Sonnwies makes finding all of these adventures really easy, with an on-hand concierge and a journal that is left at your table each evening with new recommended walks and activities, as well as an overview of the kids’ club’s plans for the following day.

At the end of the week, we all agreed it had been one of our best holidays (not least because no one cried over a spilt drink all week), and with great times come big goodbyes. For our children to the new friends they’d found freedom with throughout their stay (and the adorable ponies they’d ridden each day), while we said a fond farewell to the team and hotel that had created so many new memories for our entire family, as well as the truly awesome views that – despite hundreds of attempts – no photo will ever do justice to.. Sonnwies is quite simply magical for parents and children alike, a truly chic hotel that will change your expectations forever of how wonderful travelling as a family can be.

Rooms start from €620, including full board for two adults and two children (excluding alcohol and bar drinks) and access to the kids’ club and activities. See more here.

Fly to Bolzano from London Gatwick. Flights start from €158 each way. Children under two years old travel free of charge.

Useful info

This area is home to a melting pot of languages. German and Italian are the dominant languages here, although English is well understood.

There are many other airports that you can use to reach the Dolomites. Innsbruck, Verona, Venice and Munich are all options if shopping around for flights.

Although Sonnwies can organise private transfer to and from the hotel, I’d recommend hiring a car so you can explore further afield, as taxis are expensive and buses are few and far between.

Examples of the kids’ club activities include: