How our dreams came true
Hotel Marmolada - 60 years of history, love and devotion
The story began in 1962, when Giarone Costamoling (Nene), once a farmer, together with his eldest children (Hansi, Richard, Willy, Albert and Edi) decided to build a small hotel in the centre of Corvara and begin working in hospitality. The first years were difficult, and they had many problems to overcome, but with a combination of courage and perseverance the Costamoling family managed to open a second hotel in 1968, under the name of Sporthotel Panorama.
Hansi was then also working as a tour guide for several travel agencies and acting as the reference person for Hummelsreisen.
Since the 1960s, Corvara and the entire Val Badia have experienced something of a tourist boom, and fortunately this continues to this day.
Our story
In May 1971, the first wedding was celebrated in the Costamoling household .... Hansi married Sonja from Bolzano, who'd already had considerable experience of working in some of the important hotels of that time... So it was that, in December 1971, the couple began managing the Hotel Marmolada on their own. Meanwhile, the other brothers continued to run the Sporthotel Panorama, and more premises were opened over time, such as the Interski, the Sidonia and the Angelo guesthouse.
In 1973, the first "Kellerbar" in the Val Badia was opened in the Hotel Marmolada, and groups of skiers enjoyed using it for parties. Indeed, the bar became a reference point, not only for house guests, but also for locals, with people of all ages attending the Ladin evenings, musical evenings, dance evenings, and splendid carnival parties.
In 1977, the entire hotel was renovated, creating all new rooms; the restaurant was also extended, and rooms were added for the staff. Towards the end of the 1980s, the attic space was also extended to make room for the first 3 Junior Suites.
After years of fighting, Hansi finally managed to build the first underground garage in Val Badia in 1987.
On March 28, 1998, a tragic skiing accident led to the death of Hansi, our dear brother and father (Tati), at the age of only 56. It was a terrible blow for all the family, and very hard to take in.
Sonja was left alone with the hotel and 3 children (Iwan, 25, Jasmin, 22 and Fabian, 14), but with a great will to work, lots of energy and help from her children, she was able to keep everything going.
In 2000, Iwan extended the hotel again, building the new wing which now houses the Sassonghersuites. The dining room was also extended further, and the SPA area was greatly enlarged.
In 2004, the room housing the historic Marmolada restaurant was transformed into the very first Cocktail Lounge Bar in Val Badia, under the name of "Toccami". Within 2 years of opening, it was awarded the title of the best mountain bar in Italy, winning awards in 2006 and 2007.
Also in 2004, the Residence Amonit was opened just along the river, very close to the Hotel. It offers a number of comfortable, welcoming apartments plus an underground garage.
In the autumn of 2009, some major changes to the mansard area, and the creation of 4 innovative Design rooms, led to the Marmolada being promoted from a 3*S to a 4* hotel.
The renovation work that had been planned for some time finally took place in the autumn of 2014, involving the entrance area, hall and reception desk, as well as the lounge with open fireplace, bookshop, and smoking room. The famous Cocktail Lounge was transformed into a Wine Bar - Cocktail Lounge, with different opening times and a change of clientèle.
In the autumn of 2015, the whole façade of the Hotel Marmolada was refaced using old wood, some rooms were refurbished, and a playroom was created for very young children.
In the autumn of 2017, a total of 16 rooms were refurbished, including the 9 Sassonghersuites, the 3 single rooms, and the family suites (101-201-105-205).
Autumn 2018 saw the creation of a new SPA on two floors, with building work continuing from 12 September to 6 December. The historic Kellerbar had to make way for the new wellness centre, which offered every facility to please our guests.
In 2018, Iwan managed to buy Villa Imar, and already had plans in mind about how he could transform and improve it. It seemed to him that everything progressed far too slowly.
After a year of planning and then the Covid lockdown, work finally started on the 20th of April 2020, and the new Hotel Marmolada was ready to open on the 7th of December 2020. Over the course of those 8 months, the entire restaurant dining room was completely rebuilt. Eleven new rooms were also added, plus a brand-new lounge with fireplace and a stylish wine tasting room. The centre of the new building was also redesigned to create a lovely scenic indoor pool, with an outdoor grotto containing a large hot tub, and with views of Mount Sassongher.
The Museum
The great passion of the Costamoling family: fossils and the discovery of the Ursus Ladinicus
More to come ….
The deep passion for fossils of the Costamoling family, originally from Corvara in Val Badia, is quite well known. On 23 September 1987, this passion was honoured by Willy Costamoling with the extraordinary discovery of the Ursus ladinicus in a cave in the Conturines area at an altitude of 2,800 metres.
Ursus ladinicus, also known as the 'Ladin bear', is a species of cave bear from the Ladin valleys that lived in the Dolomites around 45,000 years ago. An exceptional aspect of this is that it represents the only known trace of the cave bear in the Dolomites. To this day, scientists continue to investigate how and why these bears reached such high altitudes and what led to their death in the Conturines cave.
The Costamoling brothers, Hansi and Willy, have always shared an unconditional love for the mountains and have spent years collecting one of the most important fossil collections in the region. This dedication has also led them to write a book on the fossils of Val Badia, disclosing their findings to the public.
This geological process lasted millions of years, and was once unimaginable to the human mind, but the Costamoling family has pursued their interest right up to today. Their passion has helped explain the wonders we now see before our eyes. Iwan Costamoling has chosen to name the various types of rooms at the Hotel Marmolada after different kinds of fossil, in memory of the late Hansi Costamoling.
The Val Badia is one of the most beautiful valleys in the Dolomites, and also known for the fossil deposits that made it famous in the last century and continues to attract the interest of tourists and scholars, contributing to the popularisation of the natural history of the Dolomites.
