Hotel of the month

Forestis Dolomites, Italy

WHAT is in this water?’ I ask a waiter, as he hands me my third carafe of the morning. ‘Nothing at all,’ he says. Forestis sources its water from a river that flows down the Plose mountain only a few yards away. Wellness is key at Forestis, a spot favoured globally by those yearning for fresh mountain

air and knockout views. An hour and a half from Innsbruck by car, it is technically in Italy, although the staff all speak German. The hotel dates back to 1921, when it was used by doctors as a tuberculosis sanatorium.

The owners have built on this idea. The inside-outside swimming pool, surely one of the most photogenic in Europe, steams in the crisp air, filled, as I am, with Plose mountain water. Here, a sauna is de rigueur. There are multiple rooms at varying temperatures, all hot and some herbal. There’s even an alfresco sauna in the woods. Movement is encouraged, but gently, with stretching classes and daily Wyda meditation.

Plastic is reassuringly absent and the building is carbon neutral, powered by renewable energy. Every time you press the ‘no room service’ button in your room, staff plant a tree.

Dining is theatrical and private. The boothstyle tables are arranged on tiers, all facing the mesmerising forest and mountains. Little adorns the walls here or anywhere else, lest it distracts from the view. HL

From €660 (£557) per night (00 390 47 252 1008; www.forestis.it/en)