I am surprised there has not been a review or any post about the Montana Lodge & Spa more than three years after the hotel opened.  Hopefully some will find this review useful - we stayed there for 4 nights and had a comfortable and enjoyable stay.  

Location

The hotel is in La Thuile which is about 15km / 20 minutes from Courmayeur.  You have to drive up the mountain on the long-winding road and La Thuile sits at 1440m altitude compared to Courmayeur down the valley at 1220m.  La Thuile is a smaller and more quiet village than its larger cousin Courmayeur; it was perfect for us.

Room

I booked a Grand Deluxe room which is one category up from the basic room (Deluxe) and got a Best Rate Guarantee approved before Marriott pulled the plug on Design Hotels for BRG.  At check-in I got the same room as booked so no upgrade.  Since the August 18 merger, Design Hotels are now supposed to participate in the Platinum upgrade program so I asked what is their normal treatment of Platinum upgrades because I knew they had plenty of availability for other room categories, in part because I was staying during the week, not a weekend.  They told me the next category up was the Loft Room but that it was smaller than the room I got and they recommended I keep my room.  I said no problem and I went along with their recommendation.  The Loft Room is selling for a very modest amount over the Grand Deluxe so even if that had been the upgrade it would be nothing to write home about - a suite upgrade would have been more material. Anyway, I think most Platinum guests staying in a Design Hotel probably do so having low expectations for upgrades which was my situation and I did not push the issue – I was happy with my low rate and with the room I got.  

Our Grand Deluxe room was at the end of the hallway so we were not disturbed by noise in the hallway at any time during our stay. On Marriott.com we can see that this room type can range from 30 to 40 square meters; I suspect ours was at the top end of that range because we had ample space available.  We had nice mountain views from the windows and patio doors and access to two small balconies as well since it’s a corner room. The room is finished to a high standard for example thick doors and windows, and it reminded me more of Swiss-quality hotels rather than Italian ones.  The room has heated wood floors which is great in the winter.  The bathroom is large as well, except for the shower which felt cramped.  

Common Areas

Regarding cleanliness, once again the hotel reminded me of Switzerland: everything was perfect, not only the room, but also the hotel common areas even the underground parking lot floor was washed by staff while we were there, which is great especially in the winter to clean up the sleet falling off from the cars. 

Dining

All cash rates seem to include breakfast and I do not know whether breakfast is free for Platinums booking here with points.  The restaurant is very inviting with wood tables, large windows, and high ceilings chalet-style.  There is a breakfast buffet with high quality food for standard breakfast items: fruits, yogurt, bakeries, cold cuts, smoked salmon, and cereals.  The one thing that stood out compared to other hotels is that they are quite generous with sweets for breakfast: brownies, donuts, tarts… if you like desserts you will be pleased to have some in the morning.  Hot dishes at the buffet were the same every day: mushrooms, tomatoes, and hash browns. There is also an a-la-carte menu to go along the buffet which includes fried eggs, pancakes, and omelets, among other things.  

Platinum Recognition

Although I did not get an upgrade and the breakfast was included in the rate, I cannot say that there was no Platinum recognition at all.  My ambassador informed the hotel in advance of our stay of a special occasion and we got a note from the GM along with a bottle of Prosecco which was a nice touch. Strangely when I checked out I was asked for my Marriott account number which was a bit puzzling and made me wonder whether staff had that information + Marriott elite status available when I checked in.

Overall

Overall this is a good hotel which I can recommend. There are hardly any chain hotels in the Italian Alps so there is not much competition and even if you want to pick an independent hotel I do not think there are other hotels in La Thuile of the same caliber as the Montana Lodge.  Obviously the Platinum benefits are not the strongest given that it’s a Design Hotel brand, but it would not stop me from booking there again in the future if I was to return to this area since my alternative would be independent hotels where I would not get any better treatment at 3-4 star hotels compared to 5-stars for Montana Lodge.