suggestions/recommendations for hotels in Cortina d'Ampezzo and Ortisei/Val Gardena

Many of us on here suggest using booking.com as a tool to see availability and pricing for your dates and reviews from people that have actually stayed at the hotels. Then come back with requests for reviews on specific hotels you’re interested in.

I have used Booking.com and they are fine.
Sometimes i booked through them, sometimes i booked direct through hotel website.
I haven't stayed here yet. My trip is coming up soon next week, i booked Garni Snaltnerhof in Ortisei, based on recommendation from someone at TA.
A bunch of my first picked lodging had 6 or 7 night mininum night and i only need 5 nights. I also wanted a lodging that is in the center of town, since we'll be relying on public transport

I’ve seen many recommendations for Hotel Grones on the forum (you can do a search). We have booked them for September.

In retrospect I would pick an Ortisei hotel that has dinner included (eg. half-pension). There are a few pricy and undoubtedly good restaurants in Ortisei but the ones we ate at were nothing special. Our primary goals were going on hikes, going down to Bolzano, and enjoying the ambience of being up in the mountains. I've seen posts where people said they had good dinners on the half-pension plan, which would have saved time and probably expense as well.

We stayed the first 2 nights of October last year at Garni Hotel Max in Santa Cristina. It was comfortable, clean, had lots of hot water, a delicious breakfast, and was steps away from the bus stop. It was cheaper than many of the options in Ortisei. When we were leaving town, I was very glad to get a spot on the bus before we got to Ortisei. There was a mass of people there, and not enough space on the bus for everyone. There were limited options for restaurants in Santa Cristina though. Looked like many of them had already closed for the season.