Bellevue Hotel & Spa

As Alpine resorts go, Cogne is low-key. Though close to the Swiss border and within easy reach of the Piedmont wine region, it’s tucked away in a quiet and relatively undeveloped corner of the Aosta Valley, on the edge of Italy’s oldest national park, the fittingly named Gran Paradiso. It’s not, in other words, the kind of place where new boutique hotels are opening every season. Bellevue Hotel & Spa, for instance, is a family-owned, and it’s been in business for ninety years — since just after the park was founded, even before the concept of a modern ski resort existed around here.

The timing was fortuitous. In 1926, the year after the hotel was built, Italy passed a law preventing further construction in the area. So the Bellevue stands virtually alone on the gloriously verdant meadows of Sant’Orso, at the foot of the mountains, facing spectacular views of the Gran Paradiso Glacier.

The hotel’s old-fashioned grandeur, a quality that the family has perfected over four generations, has been continuously updated throughout the years. There are 36 guest rooms and suites, cozily outfitted with wooden and stone floors, antique furniture, grandfather clocks, and floral drapery framing windows that face snow-capped mountains. Many have four-poster beds and bathtubs, and some have private balconies. The Angel’s Nest suite, a new addition to the hotel, features wide picture windows overlooking a jaw-dropper of a landscape view; there’s also a patio with an indoor/outdoor bath. Three freestanding chalets, almost entirely lined in wood and warmed by fireplaces, have a more rustic feel.

Guest rooms aside, the old-world charm of the Bellevue really shines through in its impressive variety of thoroughly civilized public spaces. In addition to a Michelin-starred restaurant, the Bellevue, there’s a brasserie, a terrace open for lunch in favorable weather, and the Bar à Fromage, housed in a converted alpine dairy. In summer months, you could also hike to the alpine hut La Maison à l’Alpage, hosting open-air barbecues once a week.

Regardless of the weather, there’s always a dip in one of two indoor pools, one reserved for adults only, or a spa treatment featuring local honey, milk, or wine and organic products by Profumo Santa Maria Novella, the classic perfume house in Florence. Classic luxury, after all, is the name of the game at the Bellevue — a landmark hotel that’s had a bit of practice getting the details just right.