Route de la Restonica, Haute-Corse
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Dumè Colonna kept goal for France and went to the World Cup of 1958 without playing a single minute. Back home in Corte he ran the family inn in the Restonica valley, and later built a hotel beside it. He died a few years ago, aged ninety-five. Dumè is the Corsican form of Dominique, and the hotel that carries his name still does what a good goalkeeper does. It takes the hardest shots and makes them harmless.
The shots in question come from the mountains. The Restonica is wild country, a gorge of bare granite and fast water that can feel stern even on a summer's day. The hotel absorbs all that force and passes on only the beauty of it. The building is contemporary, local stone and warm wood, and seems to have grown from the valley floor. Olive trees and cypresses that were old long before the first guest arrived shade the garden, and paths wind down through it to the river.
Roughly thirty rooms look out over the valley or the mountains, with beds wider than most and a few that connect for families. The standard rooms are compact, so the suites with private terraces are the ones to ask for. On clear nights the sky above them is dark enough to keep guests outside far longer than planned. Breakfast is generous, with fresh quiches every day and a whole table of granola, and for dinner the family inn across the courtyard is the easy answer.
The ritual here is to do almost nothing, and the hotel makes that easy. There is no busy programme and nobody rounding up guests for excursions. The day's main event is the river. Guests settle on a terrace above the water and watch it rush past. Then they wander down for a dip in the natural pools of the Restonica at the foot of the garden, cold enough to empty any head. The heated pool under the alders feels like a warm bath afterwards, and a plate of cheese at the bar counts as exertion.
For those who must do something, the road up the gorge ends at the shepherds' huts of Grotelle, where Colonna kept a bergerie for his friends. From there, trails climb to the glacial lakes of Melo and Capitello. One big walk is plenty, with a very lazy day on either side. Corte, with its citadel on the rock, lies a few minutes away in the other direction.
The modesty has its price. Beyond a small massage pavilion over the river there is little in the way of wellness, and lunch runs to sharing slates rather than a sit-down meal. A car is all but indispensable, even with Corte station only a few minutes off. Families should know that the river runs cold and fast in spring, and the hotel opens only from April to October.
In goal, Colonna's job was to stand between the danger and everyone behind him. His hotel does the same in one of the wildest valleys in Corsica, and guests feel remarkably safe in its hands.
The namesake
Dominique Colonna, the international footballer behind the hotel, liked to say "De Corte la Corse": from Corte, the whole of Corsica.
A staircase runs down from the garden to the Restonica, where the granite holds a chain of natural pools between the boulders. The water comes straight off the mountains, and the hotel advises bringing water shoes, both for scrambling over the rocks and for reaching a small cascade strong enough to massage a back. Children need a hand on the stones.
The large wooden terrace runs along a railing above the river, with deep wicker sofas, low tables and the granite walls of the valley opposite. Breakfast is served here or under the veranda, and in the evening the terrace is lit for the aperitif, when the bar pours island wines and beers, cocktails and smoothies. A new lounge indoors faces the peaks.
The pool is seventeen metres long, heated and set under the alders, its curve following the railing above the river rocks. A snack menu can be ordered from the loungers, and in the afternoon the kitchen sends out sharing slates and plates of fresh fruit. When the sun is fierce, the staircase down to the river pools is a few steps away.
A Casuccia, the larger suite, is 70 m² under a sloping roof for up to five: two bedrooms, one panelled entirely in wood, the other open towards the Restonica, each with its own bathroom, one with a bath for two. The sitting room overlooks the river, and the private terrace looks out across the pine-covered slopes of the valley.
At a glance
Where
Route de la Restonica, Vallée de la Restonica, 20250 Corte, Haute-Corse; at the mouth of the Restonica valley, near the citadel and old town of Corte; GPS 42.292971, 9.140692 (official contact page)
Why this one
A staircase down to the Restonica.
The family Auberge next door.
Balcony or terrace on the olive garden.
The Edit Notes
The hotel serves breakfast, afternoon slates and drinks, but dinner is next door, a short walk across the courtyard, at the Auberge de la Restonica: milk-fed lamb confit, veal chop with maquis herbs, Leonelli charcuterie. The Auberge is a family business and much recommended, and the hotel strongly advises reserving a table before arrival; reception offers to do it. It is closed on Mondays, so a stay that includes a Monday needs another plan, usually dinner in the old town of Corte.
Most rooms are the La Jardin - La Rivière category, 22 m², facing either the river or the mountain. On the ground floor they have large terraces stepping straight into the garden, and some connect, which is why families ask for them. Upstairs is quieter and more private, and the river view is the one to request. In the smaller Standard rooms, 18 m², the floor also decides the bathroom: a walk-in shower on the ground floor, a bathtub upstairs. Pets are not accepted.
L'Alba, 40 m² under the roof, is lit by large skylights and has an open bathroom and a terrace shared with a hundred-year-old olive tree, looking only at pines and summits; it takes two people or a young family with children under twelve. A Casuccia, 70 m², is a small house under sloping ceilings: two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, one with a bath for two, and a sitting room above the river. It sleeps up to five, which makes it the family choice.
The lakes of Melo and Capitello lie at the head of the Restonica, and the concierge team books the valley shuttles, mountain guides and other partners such as Altipiani for canyoning or via corda. On walking days breakfast can be taken away early, and a picnic should be ordered the evening before. Cyclists can borrow routes devised by a local guide and hire e-bikes or gravel bikes at the hotel. The river pools below the garden then make the obvious end to the day.
The price question
The money buys a quiet base in the mountains with the river at the foot of the garden and very little organised around it. It does not buy a full-service hotel: dinner is at the neighbouring Auberge, the standard rooms are small, and the wellness offer is a massage house, a yoga room and a gym rather than a spa. The real comparison is a simpler room in Corte with the river a drive away.
Book it for three or four nights between one long walk to the Restonica lakes and lazy days at the river, with the Auberge reserved before arrival. Travellers who want a resort with lunch and dinner on site, a spa or a beach on the doorstep are better placed elsewhere in Corsica.
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The Extra Edit
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