Sollievo is a restored 1939 villa in Pocol, just above Cortina d'Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomites. Surrounded by more than 11,000 square metres of private woodland and with uninterrupted views across the surrounding peaks, the property reopens as a private alpine retreat, offering a quieter and more personal way to experience the mountains.
The project is the latest by third-generation hôtelière and author Elisabetta Dotto, owner of Ambra Cortina and Excess Venice. Rather than creating another luxury chalet, Dotto has restored one of Cortina's historic mountain houses into a design-led retreat centred on privacy, atmosphere and personal hospitality. The project extends the approach that has defined her previous properties, while shifting the focus away from the traditional hotel model towards a contemporary way of inhabiting the mountains.
Built in 1939 for a Venetian lawyer, Sollievo has been part of Cortina's history for almost a century. During the Second World War, it was requisitioned by German troops before becoming a house of hospitality managed by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. Later, it became the home of a local family, and in 1994 its distinctive interiors appeared in the Italian film La Ragazza di Cortina. The villa's original name has been retained, acknowledging the different chapters of its history rather than replacing them.
For Dotto, Sollievo was familiar long before she acquired it in 2025. Drawn to its architecture and secluded setting, she saw the restoration as an opportunity to preserve the character of the house rather than reinvent it.
The restoration was led by architecture practice Perissinotto Lab, under the direction of architect Gian Luca Perissinotto, working alongside architect Angela Pavan. Developed in close collaboration with Dotto, the project began with a simple objective: to preserve what already made the villa distinctive. Its original proportions, façades, balconies, flower boxes and roofline have all been retained, while the building has been upgraded to meet contemporary standards without altering its identity.
THE HOUSE
The house extends across four floors and more than 500 square metres. Three separate staircases connect the different levels, each introducing its own atmosphere while maintaining a consistent architectural language throughout the property. Rather than creating a sequence of formal guest spaces, the interiors have been conceived much like a private home, with craftsmanship, materiality and comfort shaping every room.
Original furniture has been restored alongside bespoke contemporary pieces, with Liberty cabinets, vintage seating and a nineteenth-century sofa with gilded legs among the villa's historic collection. Timber, leather, velvet and glass bring warmth to the interiors without overshadowing the architecture.
Natural light shapes the experience of the house, with the living spaces receiving sun from early morning and uninterrupted views towards Becco di Mezzodì, Sorapis, Antelao and Tofana di Rozes. A recurring triangular motif, inspired by the roofline, links the original architecture with the new interiors.
Although just a few minutes from the centre of Cortina and its ski slopes, Sollievo feels removed from the town. Surrounded by woodland and protected from further development, it offers a setting defined by silence, changing light and the rhythm of the seasons. Preserving that relationship between the house and its landscape was as important to the project as restoring the building itself.
Rather than following the conventions of luxury hospitality, Sollievo has been conceived as a house to inhabit: one where architecture, landscape and everyday life come together naturally, and where the experience is shaped as much by the place as by the people who stay there.
ABOUT ELISABETTA DOTTO
Elisabetta Dotto is a third-generation Italian hotelier and author whose career spans more than four decades in luxury hospitality, design and brand development. Born into a family of hoteliers, she grew up immersed in the culture and practice of hospitality, developing a hands-on understanding of hotel management and guest experience from an early age. Her early career included managing properties on the Venetian coast, including the family business, before relocating to Cortina d’Ampezzo in the late 1980s.
In Cortina, Dotto acquired and repositioned Ambra Cortina, transforming it into a luxury boutique hotel recognised for its blend of mountain heritage, fashion sensibility and contemporary design. Located moments from the town’s fashion-led centre, the hotel reflects Cortina’s status as a cultural and social destination within the Dolomites. In 2019, she expanded her portfolio with Excess Venice, a luxury boutique hotel set within a restored 17th-century Venetian villa, conceived as an intimate and design-driven experience rooted in atmosphere, detail and personal hosting.
More recently, Dotto brought a 1939 villa back to life. Sollievo Cortina is a country house project in the Dolomites that extends the owner’s philosophy of intimate, experience-led hospitality, with an exclusive guesthouse set within a private park.
Alongside hotel ownership and management, she has held institutional roles within the tourism and hospitality sector, including consultancy, mentoring and academic contributions, focusing on hotel concept development, service culture and experiential travel.
Dotto is also a published author of three books available in Italian and English. Ciao Ciao Cortina. Segreti e bugie della Locandiera (2018) explores real guest stories and life behind the scenes of hospitality, while La bellezza ci salverà (2020) reflects on marketing and resilience within the hotel industry. Her most recent book, Parola di Locandiera. Moda e Hotellerie di Lusso (2024) examines the relationship between fashion, design and contemporary luxury hospitality.
Across her projects and writing, Elisabetta Dotto is recognised for an approach that blends elegance with authenticity, creating spaces where design, place and human connection converge.
