From
Quote on request
Confirmed by Victoire's team within 24 hours.
Best for
Mountain retreat · Nature wellness · Design
Stay
3 to 5 nights
FORESTIS, in detail
01
The property
FORESTIS sits at 1,800 metres on the Plose above Brixen, in dense mountain forest bordering the Puez-Odle Nature Park and at eye level with the Dolomites. It is sixty-two suites and a two thousand square metre spa, and it is one of the few properties in the Alps where the architecture genuinely gets out of the way of the view.
The site was chosen for its health properties more than a century ago. In 1912 the Austro-Hungarian monarchy went looking for a place of power in the South Tyrolean mountains on which to build a sanatorium, and settled on these forests for their spring water, mountain air, mild climate and unusual number of sunny days. Otto Wagner was commissioned to design it. The war stopped the project, and what was built instead housed priests and clergymen until the 1950s. The plan to make this South Tyrol’s answer to Davos and Leysin was never realised, which is precisely why the place was never spoiled.
More on the property
Alois Hinteregger found the building behind wild hedges on a walk in 2000, his family bought it and opened it as a hotel in 2010, and his son Stefan and Stefan’s partner Teresa Unterthiner reopened it as FORESTIS on 20 July 2020. The name joins the Italian foresta with the Latin root stem. What they built is not a medical clinic and does not claim to be. It is a forest, a spa and a kitchen, run by people who take all three seriously.
02
The Tree Circle, and the yoga of the Celts
Four elements organise everything here: the pure Plose spring water, which is among the lightest and purest in the world, the mountain air, the sun, and the mild climate created where warm Mediterranean southerlies meet cooler air from the north. Those four have defined the village on the Plose since the early twentieth century, and FORESTIS took them as its own foundation.
The treatment concept is the FORESTIS Tree Circle, developed by the spa team around the four indigenous trees: mountain pine, spruce, larch and Swiss stone pine. You choose the tree that suits your current constitution, and the treatment is built from it. Each tree carries different active substances, frequencies and material properties, and the sound frequencies of the chosen tree generate vibrations that, combined with healing woods and stones, are used to release blockages and physically activate the body.
More on the tree circle, and the yoga of the celts
The reasoning behind it is the parallel between people and trees: both follow the seasons and respond differently in summer than in winter, and each guest arrives in their own physical and mental state. Treatments are adjusted to the season and to you, so the spa team’s claim is that no two applications are alike. The FORESTIS face and body care line, developed specifically for the house, is built on the same tree circle doctrine.
Wyda is the other pillar and the more unusual one. It is the yoga of the Celts, a movement and meditation practice traced to the druids, and it belongs to Traditional European Medicine in the way Qi Gong belongs to Chinese practice and yoga to Indian. It is used to calm the mind, train concentration and perception, release blockages and harmonise energy flow, and it can be adapted to the individual and continued at home. In good weather it happens outdoors in the forest, along streams or against the rock.
The property does run retreats through the year, developed with experts around preventive and high-altitude medicine, on the argument that the altitude, climate, air, sun and spring water are themselves therapeutic. The retreat list is not published in the material we hold, so ask us and we will get the current programme from the property.
03
Forest cuisine, by Roland Lamprecht
The kitchen belongs to Roland Lamprecht, a South Tyrolean who calls what he does forest cuisine and means it fairly literally. The forest was his childhood playground, he learned mushrooms, berries, herbs, nuts and flowers there with his mother, and his final thesis was on the mountain pine native to South Tyrol and its use in cooking.
The method is Mediterranean cooking with Alpine ingredients. Through the summer the kitchen team collects herbs and wild ingredients from the surrounding forest and either uses them immediately or dries and pickles them in the old tradition, so that the flavours of the place are still on the table in midwinter. The point Lamprecht makes about the forest ingredients is a health one: they carry properties that help prevent the diseases caused by poor nutrition.
More on forest cuisine, by roland lamprecht
Sourcing is unusually tight. Farmers in the surrounding area replant old vegetable varieties exclusively for FORESTIS. Fruit, citrus, fish, meat, charcuterie, oils and dairy come from selected producers locally and across Italy, honey comes from the neighbouring Mairhof, all the bread is baked in house and the jams are made and preserved to the property’s own recipes. There is a separate garden of herbs, roots and edible flowers.
Menus are rebuilt every day so that even where the base ingredients repeat, the dish does not. The terraced Restaurant below the historic house gives every table a clear view of the Dolomites and serves breakfast and à la carte in the evening. The lounge restaurant and bar are in the listed building, with fireplaces inside and out, a FORESTIS 24h menu through the day and the FORESTIS menus in the evening. Dogs are welcome in the lounge restaurant. Even the bar works from the forest, with herbs, berries, nuts, bark, tree needles and shrubs in the drinks.
04
Two thousand square metres of spa under three towers
The spa runs to two thousand square metres over two floors beneath the three towers, all of it facing the Dolomites. Guests in the listed building reach it by a connecting corridor, and each tower has its own lift down to it.
On the ground floor there is a twenty by four and a half metre indoor pool connected to a twenty-two by five metre outdoor pool, a brine steam bath at 65°C, a Finnish sauna at 85°C, a bio sauna at 70°C, a textile sauna at 45°C, and an outdoor Finnish sauna at 90°C in a traditional South Tyrolean wooden house. The Silent Room, with a fireplace in the middle, does exactly what its name says. The Tea Lounge has its own curated library and serves eight house tea blends from South Tyrol alongside light snacks.
More on two thousand square metres of spa under three towers
Upstairs are four treatment rooms, a Private Spa for couples, two cosmetic rooms, relaxation rooms, a gym with current-generation Technogym equipment and the Wyda area. Every room has daylight and an unobstructed view of nature.
The architecture is worth understanding because it is the property’s signature. Armin Sader placed three sculptural towers shaped like tree trunks beside the listed building, rising vertically so they take as little forest floor as possible, and every felled tree was replaced with two new plantings. Dolomite removed during construction was milled to rock flour, mixed with water and loamy earth, applied wet and sealed with beeswax, and it now surfaces the restaurant, the spa, the pool, the bathrooms and the four spring water wells. Glass stands for the air, spruce for the climate, and Viabizzuno of Bologna did the lighting. Construction was CO2 neutral and the energy comes from the property’s own plant and pellet heating on 100% renewables.
Outside, guided hikes run all year at every level, sunrise hikes included, with four bike routes through the forest. In winter it is ski-in ski-out onto the 45 kilometres of the Plose ski area, with toboggan runs and winter walking for non-skiers, plus snowshoeing through the Puez-Odle Nature Park and a ski tour to the Gabler for off-piste.
Rooms & suites
One of only two, at the top of each outer tower and running to two hundred square metres over two floors. Downstairs there is a living area with an open fireplace, a custom couch, a large dining table, smart TV, bar and guest toilet, and a bedroom whose glass front runs the full width so the Dolomites are visible from the bed. Upstairs is a three by six and a half metre pool, a spruce wood sauna facing the mountains, sun loungers and a rain shower running with fresh spring water. The south terrace has table and seating.
One of forty Tower Suites spread across the three towers, at fifty-five square metres, with floor-to-ceiling windows giving the best view of the Dolomites in the house. The bedroom has a king-size box spring bed and a walk-in wardrobe with safe, and the living area a couch, armchair, coffee table, desk, minibar and a traditional South Tyrolean tiled stove. The bathroom has a bathtub, rain shower and separate toilet with bidet, and the pure in-house spring water runs through every pipe. In summer the daybeds on the terrace can be made up for the night on request.
One of twenty suites in the listed building, at fifty square metres with one or two bedrooms, a king-size box spring bed and a walk-in wardrobe with safe. The separate living area has a couch, desk and smart TV, and the bathroom a rain shower and a toilet with bidet. The wooden coffered ceilings and the windows are protected and could not be altered, so this is the part of FORESTIS that still tells the building’s history. A terrace with table and seating opens south towards the Dolomites.
Practical details
Getting there
Airport and transfers
Getting there
Airport and transfers
Nearest airport
BZO
| Route | Vehicle | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Bolzano Airport (BZO)About 1 hour by car. Price on request. | — | On request |
| Innsbruck Airport (INN)About 1 hour 30 minutes by car. Price on request. | — | On request |
| Verona Villafranca Airport (VRN)About 2 hours 30 minutes by car. Price on request. | — | On request |
| Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE)About 3 hours by car. Price on request. | — | On request |
| Brixen / Bressanone railway stationAbout 25 minutes by car up the Plose. Price on request. | — | On request |
Arranged with your stay. Ask us and we will book the transfer alongside the booking.
Know before you arrive
Policies, languages, stay rules
Know before you arrive
Policies, languages, stay rules
Languages spoken
Languages spoken
German, Italian, English
Minimum stay
Minimum stay
Provided upon request
Booking policy
Booking policy
Provided upon request
Cancellation policy
Cancellation policy
Provided upon request
Kids policy
Kids policy
FORESTIS is an adult-oriented hideaway with a quiet, design-led atmosphere. Confirm the current policy for children at the time of booking.
Pets policy
Pets policy
Dogs are welcome, including in the lounge restaurant.
Questions we are asked
Atmosphere, prices, alternatives
Questions we are asked
Atmosphere, prices, alternatives
What is the atmosphere like, and who stays here?
Quiet, adult and design-led, with almost no decoration because the materials are the decoration. The interiors are spruce, dolomite, glass and Trentino textiles, deliberately far from alpine kitsch, and the whole building is arranged so the Dolomites do the talking. Guests are largely German-speaking and international, skewing towards couples and design-minded travellers rather than programme guests.
What makes FORESTIS different?
A site selected for its healing properties in 1912, with Otto Wagner commissioned to build a sanatorium on it, now finally used for something close to the original intention. Add three tower suites shaped like tree trunks at 1,800 metres, a two thousand square metre spa built on a four-tree treatment concept, Wyda, the purest spring water running through every tap, and a chef who forages the forest, and there is nothing else quite like it in the Alps.
How much does FORESTIS cost?
Prices are being integrated. Rates are quoted per suite per night including breakfast rather than per person, which is the reverse of how a clinic quotes, so compare carefully. Treatments and retreats are charged separately. Contact us for a current quote and we will confirm it with the property.
What are the alternatives to FORESTIS?
In the Dolomites, Adler Lodge Alpe and Adler Spa Resort Ritten are the closest for an Alpine nature-led stay, and Lefay Dolomiti is the nearest in scale of spa. In South Tyrol proper, Palace Merano and Villa Eden are far more medical, as is Adler Balance. If the appeal is altitude and design rather than treatment, The Capra in Saas-Fee and Six Senses Crans-Montana are the Swiss equivalents.
Is FORESTIS a medical clinic?
No. There are no physicians, no diagnostics and no medical protocol. What FORESTIS offers is a two thousand square metre spa with a genuine treatment concept, Wyda movement practice, forest cuisine and an altitude of 1,800 metres, on the argument that the water, air, sun and climate are themselves the therapy. If you want blood panels and a doctor, look at Lanserhof or the Austrian Mayr houses instead.
What is the Tree Circle?
The treatment concept the spa team developed, built on the four indigenous trees: mountain pine, spruce, larch and Swiss stone pine. You choose the tree that suits your current constitution, and the treatment is built from its active substances and sound frequencies, combined with healing woods and stones and adjusted to the season. The house face and body care line follows the same doctrine.
What is Wyda?
The yoga of the Celts, traced back to the druids and belonging to Traditional European Medicine in the way Qi Gong belongs to Chinese practice. It combines movement exercises and meditation to calm the mind, train concentration and perception, release blockages and harmonise energy flow. It is adapted to the individual, it is easy to continue at home, and in good weather it is practised outdoors in the forest.
What retreats does FORESTIS run?
The property runs a range of retreats through the year, developed with experts around preventive and high-altitude medicine, but it does not publish the list and we would rather not guess at it. Tell us when you are thinking of going and we will get the current programme and prices directly from the property.
Can I ski from the hotel?
Yes, genuinely. It is ski-in ski-out: from the ski room a forest path takes you straight onto the piste with no transfer, and the Plose ski area has 45 kilometres of runs balanced across blue, red and black. For non-skiers there are toboggan runs, winter walking trails, guided snowshoeing through the Puez-Odle Nature Park, and a ski tour to the Gabler for off-piste.
Can I really sleep outside?
In summer, yes. The daybeds on the Tower Suite terraces can be made up for the night on request, which puts you under the South Tyrolean night sky at 1,800 metres. It is one of the more memorable things any Alpine property offers.
Ready to plan your stay?
Tell us your dates and we'll come back with availability and the full price.
Confirmed by Victoire's team within 24 hours.