There are wellness retreats, and then there’s Forestis: a place where architecture dissolves into landscape, and silence becomes the most coveted luxury on offer.
Perched at 1,800 meters on a forested slope above Brixen, this South Tyrolean masterpiece reimagines what it means to retreat. The design philosophy is deceptively simple: three slender towers rising like extensions of the surrounding spruce forest, their timber facades weathered to echo tree bark, every suite oriented south toward the jagged peaks of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Step into any of the 62 suites and you’ll understand immediately what makes this place extraordinary. Walls and ceilings of untreated spruce releasing their subtle scent into rooms where floor-to-ceiling windows frame the Geislergruppe massif like living artwork. Stone basins carved from local Dolomite. Linen in shades of snow and stone. No televisions, no distractions, nothing between you and the mountains stretching endlessly beyond the glass.
The Tower Suites are spacious and serene, with balconies extending over the forest canopy. But the Penthouse Suites? They’re something else entirely. Two levels, private rooftop pools, personal saunas, and the kind of seclusion that borders on monastic. Imagine floating in heated water at nearly 2,000 meters, surrounded by peaks glowing pink in the alpenglow, with nothing but sky above you.
For those seeking even more privacy, the Villa stands as a separate nineteenth-century building nearby, accommodating up to ten guests with its own garden, private spa, and the intimacy of a secret alpine hideaway.
The culinary program here isn’t an afterthought. Chef Roland Lamprecht forages in nearby meadows and grows vegetables in the hotel’s own fields. The restaurant, aptly named Waldküche (Forest Kitchen), occupies a tiered dining room where curved booths angle toward panoramic windows. You’ll be assigned the same table for your entire stay, transforming dinner into something more personal than transient.
The seven-course tasting menus honor South Tyrolean traditions while embracing contemporary technique: burrata with zucchini, ravioli stuffed with trout and chard, pike-perch with cauliflower. The vegetarian “Detox” menu proves that virtuous eating doesn’t mean sacrificing pleasure. Pair everything with wines from local vineyards blessed with more than 300 days of annual sunshine.
Breakfast deserves special mention. The spread includes organic cakes, house-made muesli, cold cuts from nearby farms, and a juice selection that goes well beyond orange: pomegranate, cucumber-celery, pear-apple, herb-infused waters. It’s the kind of morning meal that resets your expectations.
But what truly distinguishes Forestis is its approach to wellness, rooted in an unexpected source: the ancient Celtic tribes who once called these mountains home. Their Druidic understanding of nature’s healing properties has been woven into treatments that feel both timeless and utterly contemporary.
The indoor pool flows seamlessly into an outdoor heated pool through sliding glass doors, allowing you to drift between spaces while the Dolomites rise in every direction. Saunas built from mountain pine, spruce, larch, and Swiss stone pine follow local custom and are clothing-free. Cold plunges tucked into the forest become ceremonies rather than challenges.
The Tree Circle Ceremony and forest bathing sessions ask you to move slowly, breathe deeply, and remember that humans are part of this landscape, not separate from it. Wyda yoga, a Celtic practice blending elements of qi gong with European tradition, is taught in a room where the boundary between inside and outside nearly disappears. Massage treatments use products made exclusively for Forestis, based on the “tree circle” concept that matches specific trees to individual needs.
Here’s what happens at Forestis. You arrive with plans. Hiking trails web across the mountainside. Ski slopes descend from the hotel’s doorstep in winter. The region’s charming villages beckon. Then you settle into a sauna. Or drift through the pool. Or simply sit on your balcony watching light move across the peaks. And suddenly those ambitious plans feel less urgent.
Teresa Unterthiner and Stefan Hinteregger, the couple behind Forestis, designed their hotel as a place where time can be “sensed and filled with emotional value.” It sounds abstract until you experience it. Then you realize they’re describing the rare luxury of being fully present.
The property operates on seasonal rhythms. Winter invites rest and restoration. Summer calls energy back to your limbs and sends you into the mountains. The programming shifts throughout the year to match what bodies naturally crave, a kind of attunement you didn’t know you were missing.
Sustainability here isn’t performative. The three towers were built upward rather than outward to preserve the surrounding forest. Renewable energy powers the property. Water comes from the mineral-rich artesian spring that feeds those trickling stone basins throughout the hotel. Materials came from the immediate region: the carpentry, stonework, fabrics, even the small wooden bowls in your suite were crafted by artisans from South Tyrol.
The details matter. Lighting by Italian company Viabizzuno is so subtle you barely notice the fixtures. Spring water from Mount Plose fills stone carafes in your room and feeds the pools. The staff are mostly local, employed long-term and trained not just in service but in ecological awareness and emotional intelligence.
These aren’t grand gestures. They’re the accumulation of hundreds of thoughtful choices, each one oriented toward a single question: how do we help people reconnect with nature and with themselves?
The Dolomites reward every season. Summer brings hiking through wildflower meadows and long evenings when sunset paints the peaks coral and gold. Autumn cloaks the forests in rust and amber. Winter transforms the landscape into a study in white and gray, with ski-in, ski-out access. Spring might be loveliest of all, when crocuses push through melting snow and the air carries the scent of awakening earth.
Between game drives and cooking classes, there’s a moment that happens at Forestis, usually on the second day. You’ve finished breakfast and you’re walking back to your room, passing windows that frame the Dolomites, breathing air that tastes impossibly clean. And you realize you haven’t checked your phone in hours. Haven’t thought about work or the long list of things waiting when you return home.
That’s when Forestis reveals its purpose. This isn’t about pampering, though you’ll be beautifully cared for. It’s about permission. Permission to slow down, to be still, to remember that you are not separate from the natural world but part of it.
The hotel sits on land recognized as a place of power since the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy built a sanatorium here in 1912, searching for somewhere with pure air, healing climate, and profound quiet. They found it on these slopes above Brixen. More than a century later, those qualities remain. Forestis has simply refined them into an experience that feels both ancient and utterly contemporary.
Forestis isn’t for everyone. If you need constant stimulation or a packed itinerary, you’ll be restless here. This is a place for people who understand that the deepest luxury isn’t about accumulation but about stripping away everything until only the essential remains.
For those who get it, Forestis delivers something close to transformative. You’ll leave with renewed energy and a recalibrated sense of what matters. The mountains have that effect. So does spending days in a place designed with such clarity of purpose.
Book a Tower Suite if you can. Stay at least three nights. Don’t make plans. Trust that the mountains and the silence will fill the time more meaningfully than any excursion could.
This is where you come when you’ve done luxury hotels before but hunger for something more considered, more architecturally significant, more mindful. When you want your retreat served with purpose and your wellness seasoned with substance.
The Details:
- 62 suites including Tower and Penthouse options
- Exclusive Villa for up to 10 guests
- 2,300 sqm spa with indoor/outdoor pools
- Waldküche restaurant with seven-course tasting menus
- Celtic-inspired wellness treatments and ceremonies
- Ski-in, ski-out access in winter
- Seasonal hiking and mountain activities
- Sustainable operations throughout