Of all of the sensible new hotels which have not too long ago opened in the Dolomites, Castel Badia—set in a manor home that dates again to the 12 months 1000 – is on the high of the pile. The resort, an Alpine counterpart to Puglia’s Borgo Egnazia, was created by Ian Schrager’s protégé Aldo Melpignano, who brings a new sense of cool to high-end Italian hospitality. The constructing has served as a courthouse, a convent, a non-public fort, and, because the Nineteen Seventies, a resort. A latest renovation saved every thing that may very well be saved: The flooring, wooden ceilings, stuccoed vaults, and frescoes stay. A portray of an abbess gazes down from the wall of the present kitchen on the informal, conventional Stube, the place chef Andrea Ribaldone prepares dishes like grilled pumpkin served with truffles and olive oil; he may also open a fine-dining restaurant in the approaching 12 months. Silence reigns in this historical fort, the place life, because it did in the Middle Ages, revolves across the courtyard. Through that nexus you entry the backyard, swimming pool, visitor rooms (there are 28 in complete, together with a three-story chalet), basement spa with frescoed leisure rooms overlooking the mountains, and crypt of San Lorenzo, a protected website that, like the remainder of the fort, is open to the general public. This stays a sacred place, whilst visitors get pleasure from its sybaritic choices. From £477. Sara Magro