Ihr Hotel Villa Emma

I’m surprised this is the first English language review in 2024. As there’s quite a few brits that stay at this hotel. Let’s talk about the positives first - plenty of food at dinner time and a good selection and a little free wine. We never went hungry. Though, as others have said, you do need to use the microwave as the vegetables are served cold. Also the portions given to you by the servers are those you might expect in prison. You have to ask for more each time. Not too sure why they’re so careful with their portion sizes. Breakfast was okay though. Of course, the sausages and bacon are European in nature and wouldn’t perhaps be suitable for those of us who are brought up on British food. This is a hotel that is mostly Italian and therefore it’s fine. The showers are very small. And if you try and shower after 6.30, the water is tepid at Best.. so be careful with your apres-ski. The rooms we were given are very small and the storage facilities are very limited. On the positive side, the beds were very comfortable and the temperature in the room generally acceptable. I would suggest the hotel rooms haven’t had a makeover since the 1980s. The bar area was very pleasant, and the prices not too bad . As others have mentioned, you do have to buy a prepaid card. This made a lot of sense in taking cash out of the equation. All of the staff were very pleasant indeed. The hotel was generally not noisy and so one that could be enjoyed by families . However, if you wanted some nightlife, the local town was a good 15 minutes walk away and buses stop at 8pm. Mind you, the local town isnt a hive of nightlife - this is not apres-ski central! With the restaurant timings it is good to be down reasonably on time as arrival anything over 30 minutes later than opening means that the food left is pretty much what you are left with. Sometimes this means no bread and other items, like desserts. Really disappointingly, and this is nothing to do with the hotel, we booked with Crystal who couldn’t be bothered to turn up at the hotel and also didn’t advise us on the resort/buses/ski hire/ski passes/ timings or anything else . We’ve had amazing holidays with Neilsens, including to the same town, and were amazed that Crystal pretty much got you on a bus at the airport and left you to it. No customer service whatsoever. The boot room is small and tends to be taken over by large groups. The spa facilities have to be pre-booked and are only free for one hour per week. The rest of the time it’s £15 per hour per person. There is no evening entertainment at this hotel.

Enjoyed our stay at this hotel. Room was small, but comfy and very warm. We had a balcony with a great view so that gave us a bit more space and also was a great drink's fridge ! The shower was also pretty small but lots of hot water no matter what time we used it. The food was generally good, but often could be a little cold, there is, however, a microwave to warm things up if needed. The staff were friendly and hard working. Easy to access slopes as bus stops very close to hotel, both directions take you to lifts. We preferred crossing the road and getting the bus to the Alba lift as it is a huge chairlift and was never too busy. Its 9 euros to buy a bus ticket for the week, you can buy at hotel reception. Although the bus drivers rarely ask to see your tickets, there were regularly bus inspectors on the bus that you had to show your ticket to. The walk from the boot room to the road was tricky as could be really slippy and is fairly steep. The skiing and snow was fantastic, its a huge ski area and luckily, unlike lots of other areas in Europe, there is loads of snow !

We went here for a fortnight from Jan 7th 2023 with Crystalski (They are a separate issue!) Overall the hotel exceeded our expectations. Plus points:- Very handy for Alba or Canazei lifts via bus stops within 100 metres. However watch the hotel drive slope for ice! Buy your weekly bus ticket at reception (IF they have them!) Lots of ticket inspections. Our room 200?? was plenty big enough and with storage space but heard others were small. As ours was on the main road side we felt the need to close the shutters at night to mitigate road noise. The food was generally pretty good with plenty of choices. Always a soup, 3 pastas, then 3 mains. A few desserts/fruit. Always salad options. As others mention some dishes could do with being warmer! And cold plates never help that. Breakfast was OK. More continental than "Full British." The coffee drinkable. The screech juice not for me personally! The staff were generally very engaging. Not so plus points:- WiFi limited to reception area. Boot/ski room is too small when hotel is busy. That's especially at weekends. They look for you to take out a prepayment "extras" card which not everyone is happy about. They don't always have the full week bus tickets available! The food could be warmer but there is a microwave available and I did use it. Even for the coffee! Very popular with Italians also. Being gracious to say that they have their queue and ski room etiquette. Not a "mark off" but be aware that it is for families and not adults only. On a separate observation this is not an "Apres ski" type hotel. It is a +10 minute walk to town if you want the nightlife. We'd happily return as it represents better than decent value for money. The area and Dolomites overall are absolutely stunning and the skiing ample and varied.

I was very surprised at how good this hotel was. Okay, some of the rooms need a refurbishment but they are fine for a skiing week. Food was very satisfactory, with a good buffet breakfast and a buffet Evening meal. There was an extensive salad buffet, followed by soup and a choice of three starters, three mains to choose from and a dessert buffet. The house wine was very reasonably priced and of a good quality. Drinks from the bar were well priced and we were given lots of nibbles to go with them. The staff were extremely friendly and the two bar staff had a great sense of humour. The Wi-Fi was a bit intermittent while we were there but this wasn't really a problem for us. The heated ski room was fine, with enough boot heaters and enough space in and around it to get ready for skiing. The bus stops for Alba or Canazei were about 50 metres away and service was regular and on time. The path from the ski room to the main road can be tricky in ski boots when icy. Some of our party left skis and boots in Zondra Sports in Canazei village and highly recommended doing this.

Friendly, clean hotel. Great selection of food. Adequately sized room. Location near centres of Canazei and Alba, with regular cheap bus service very close by. The staff, especially restaurant staff, were very polite and cheerful. We were made to feel very welcome. Also ski storage room in basement.

We’ve just returned from a super week staying in Villa Emma. We got a good deal with Crystal and found everything went very smoothly (especially in the current climate!) The hotel is in a great location, we walked our sons (8&6) to Centre of Canazei, which is lovely, several times with no issue. The bus stop right outside worked well when with ski stuff. The hotel is a solid 3 star, it was clean and very fairly priced for what it was, which is nicer than the pictures in our view. The staff were friendly and the bar was well stocked and very reasonably priced. We enjoyed many happy evenings having a drink and playing games. Grace in particular was so lovely with our boys! The food was fine, a little repetitive maybe, but we were happy to eat there every day. They even prepared us a breakfast to take on the bus to the airport as our transfer was so early. We would definitely return to the hotel. It is a beautiful area with fantastic skiing! Thank you to all the staff for making us feel welcome. The Wickham Family

We stayed here for our New Year skiing trip, the rooms were ok clean & tidy, the food was delicious and plentiful, the staff were excellent -always attentive & ready to help. Would definitely go back!