Ortisei / St. Ulrich, Italien

Cavallino Bianco (Gruppo Cavallino Bianco)

Gruppo Cavallino Bianco is a two-property Italian family-luxury group, and it became one on 1 May 2026. Both houses are owned and directed by Ralph A. Riffeser, who has been sole administrator and general manager since 1993, when his grandfather Leo Obletter handed him the business at the age of 28. He is the third generation. The original house is the Cavallino Bianco Family Spa Grand Hotel at Via Rezia 22 in Ortisei / St. Ulrich, at 1,236 m in Val Gardena, in the pedestrian centre of the village and a few steps from the Alpe di Siusi and Seceda lifts. It is officially classified 4-star-superior (South Tyrol Open Data Hub: 4sstars), markets itself as a Grand Hotel and is frequently described in the press as five-star. It has 105 family suites across sixteen published categories from 26 m² to 80 m², sleeping three to six, and takes families with children exclusively. Board is either All-In full board or Light half board, both including buffet lunch, afternoon snack, themed aperitivi with a dress code and a gourmet dinner. The kids' world is Lino Land, staffed up to thirteen hours a day and accepting babies from about two months; the spa is Theresia's Beauty & Spa with treatment menus for babies, children, teenagers and adults, a hair salon using Davines products, and the Aqva Sana pool and sauna world. Posta's Bar runs a nightly piano bar. The operating company employs around 156 people, roughly 1.67 staff per room. The second house is the Cavallino Bianco Caorle – Venezia, a 5-star Luxury Family Beach Resort at Viale dei Cacciatori 2/c in Caorle, built on the site of the former Colonia di Pordenone in the Falconera district. It opened on 1 May 2026 after a self-financed investment reported at over €100 million, with 101 family suites of 46–118 m², a private beach of about five hectares with cabanas, a spa of more than 4,000 m² whose top floor is adults-only with a rooftop infinity pool over the pine wood, a Lino Land of over 750 m², three restaurants including an adults-only Marco Polo, the Aurum Bar, 170 covered parking spaces and more than 180 jobs. Its suites are named after ranks of nobility, from Sir and Lord up to Royal. The season runs roughly Easter to Epiphany. The two houses trade through two legally autonomous companies, a fact the group publishes itself: Cavallino Bianco Family S.p.A. Grand Hotel (VAT 00633280219, share capital €4,000,002, REA BZ 91720) and Cavallino Bianco Caorle Srl (VAT 03122190212, incorporated 2025). One brand, one website, one Instagram account, two balance sheets. Commercially the group is unusual in two respects. First, it sells no inventory through any online travel agency at all and says so on its own pages: 'Il Cavallino Bianco non è presente su alcuna piattaforma di prenotazione online.' Distribution is entirely direct, with a best-price guarantee 'senza intermediari', a binding 30% deposit or an optional non-refundable Flex & Free ticket at 10% of the stay, and a waiting-list capture when dates are sold out. Second, it runs a real e-commerce operation alongside the hotels: an online shop selling gift vouchers, own-brand Lino and BelLino children's products and merchandise, bathrobes and a full professional beauty range, with published shipping and returns policies. The stack is compact. The public site is Drupal; booking and the shop both run on Quovai, an Italian all-in-one hospitality platform from Varese; consent is Cookiebot and analytics are Google Tag Manager plus Hotjar. There is a guest login on the website, provisioned from the email a guest booked their last stay with, with self-registration disabled. There is no loyalty programme, no member rate, no points scheme and no mobile app.

Hotel website ↗