Cardinello In Madesimo

I only know this place as a restaurant. A pleasant surprise in many ways. First of all, the ambiance: it's a visual feast to dine in the original, perfectly preserved stube, with its coffered ceiling and elegantly decorated period wood paneling. The menu features traditional local dishes, well-executed and rich in flavor. The service, led by a young, cheerful staff, is informal yet very attentive. The price will pleasantly surprise you; it's no coincidence that the place is very popular, making reservations essential.

August 2022: On a hike along the Via Spluga, we stayed overnight at the Albergo Cardinello. The owner, Martino, warmly welcomed us in very good German. We had a brand new room, furnished with lots of wood, with a shower and toilet, and very good quality beds. Before dinner, we were served an aperitif together with the other guests and listened to an interesting lecture by Martino on the history of the house. On our way to the dining room, we were given a tour of the house. The set dinner in the historic guest rooms was delicious and absolutely excellent value for money. After a hearty breakfast by Italian standards, we continued our journey to Chiavenna, well rested and refreshed. September 2025: We were hiking the Via Spluga again and, based on our positive experience in 2022, stayed again at the Albergo Cardinello. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. The welcome described above, with an aperitif and tour of the house by the now very elderly owner, Martino, no longer exists. In contrast to our last stay, we were given a room in an annex of extremely mediocre quality. The room was more like an attic, very small and cramped, the bathroom poorly lit, the beds very soft, there wasn't even a chair in the room and only a bedside lamp. Dinner and breakfast were very good, just as they were three years ago. Given our poor experience with the room, we will not stay there again on future hikes.

Excellent restaurant with very good typical dishes and friendly and helpful staff!

Very nice atmosphere and cuisine

The food and service were very good. I didn't use the rooms.

One of the best dinners in recent years. Friendly staff, excellent food, reasonable price. What more can I say? Try it and believe it. Congratulations 💯👏🏼😋👌🏼💯❣️

We used the hotel restaurant. The price/quality ratio was truly excellent. We really appreciated the fact that there was no cell phone reception downstairs, where it was very comfortable. The dishes were excellent. The meat fell off the bone and was of excellent quality. So were the hams. The cheese was also excellent, and its dairy aftertaste was perfectly evident. We also had two slices of cake, which were truly excellent. Highly recommended.

Cambio di gestione da quest'anno. Ristorante ottimo con cibi tipici della valle e alta qualità delle carni locali servite. Molto bene anche aperitivo e tutto nel complesso. Ovviamente la location è rimasta quella di sempre con accoglienza in locali storici di metà 1700...senza eguali in valle! Avanti così!

We ate there for lunch, the dishes were good, the only flaw was the slow service.

Buonasera conosco il Cardinello da almeno 30 anni e dopo Martino, persona squisita e gentilissima, in questi giorni la struttura, pur rimanendo in famiglia, è passata di mano. Pur se ancora in rodaggio (ha aperto da pochi giorni) la cucina è in buone mani, Marco e Roberto garantiscono tradizione ed esperienza. Provare per credere!!! Gianfranco