11 November 2025
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Though the ancient Romans were justifiably famous for their ambitious bathhouses, the best spas in the Dolomites, today among the finest in Italy, are often found in South Tyrol — a largely German-speaking region that owes much of its thermal tradition to Austro-Hungarian roots.
Part of that empire for centuries, these serrated, UNESCO-protected peaks inherited the Central European devotion to saunas and cold plunges, long celebrated in places like Baden-Baden and Bad Gastein.
But it’s not just the smartly conceived pools, steam rooms and sauna spaces that make these stays so special and so removed from regular life. It is also the consideration given to the architecture, dedicated as it is to complete immersion into one of the world’s most spectacular natural settings.
COMO Alpina Dolomites
What it's all about: A One-Key with extensive ski access and otherworldly design.The main hotel building and spa, housed in a white granite-covered block, sit alongside an iconic circular annex — nicknamed "the UFO" by locals for its spacecraft-like form — all with eclectic interiors designed by Italian designer Paola Navone.
COMO’s great advantage is its location, set on a plateau between Sasso Lungo and other Alpe di Siusi peaks, with a vast expanse where guests can catch the sun rising over one toothy mountain and setting behind another. It’s also at the heart of one of the largest ski areas in Europe, with trails reachable via an extensive network of gondolas.
Adler Lodge Ritten
What it's all about: A special One-Key stay for forest seclusion and romance.Adler getaways are known for their generous, full-board stays and the excellent food and drink guests enjoy in abundance, but the spas deserve their plaudits, too. In Ritten, the Adler built saunas on stilts tucked among the treetops, immersing visitors in the spectacle of the sweeping Alpine landscape. Add to that a cold plunge outside and an indoor-outdoor pool in the main structure, as well as cozy pinewood cottages clustered on the hillside around a lake.
Unusually for this area, no car or epic taxi ride is necessary: the destination is easily reached by cable-car from Bolzano to Soprabolzano, finished by a narrow-gauge scenic train ride on century-old cars.
Forestis Dolomites
What it's all about: Seclusion and gourmet dining for high-style globetrotters in this special Two-Key hotel.A 1912 Habsburg sanatorium designed by Austrian architect Otto Wagner anchors the three newly built towers that host the hotel suites at Forestis Dolomites, their angled geometry a mirror to the mountain and endless pine forest setting of this uber-chic VIP getaway in the Dolomites.
Accommodations celebrate larch timber and other essential elements of Alpine construction, while saunas with nature views — including one outdoor sauna cottage with its own cold plunge — and a steaming outdoor pool are designed for contemplating the landscape.
A newly opened five-bedroom villa dating to 1912, remodeled and outfitted with its own sprawling private spa, is the only part of Forestis welcome to children. Meanwhile, Yera, Forestis’s new restaurant, serves experimental, forest-inspired cuisine in a cave carved from the mountainside — a striking complement to the hotel’s exceptional in-house restaurant for guests.
San Luis Retreat Hotel & Lodges
What it's all about: A dreamy One-Key escape that blends sophisticated minimalism with whimsical winter pursuits.Designed by the onetime fashion designer Ilse Meister and inspired by Tyrolean tradition, the San Luis is a masterpiece of minimalist contemporary architecture. Inside the main lodge lies the spa complex — a soaring, candlelit pavilion of glass with an indoor heated pool that flows seamlessly into its outdoor extension.
Outside, a clear pond centers the property (and makes for great cold dips or ice skating), encircled by woods and the inviting chalets and treehouses where guests can stay — each with its own pond-facing sauna, fireplace and impeccably tasteful interior.
Aman Rosa Alpina
What it's all about: A quietly minimalist Two-Key escape with a storied history.The long-loved Rosa Alpina has been newly reimagined as an Aman hotel and a contemporary Alpine retreat by one of the world’s premier hotel architects, Jean-Michel Gathy. The structure incorporates pale wood, Dolomite rock and floor-to-ceiling glass walls to draw in the mountain panorama — now open to families for the first time, but with a Zen simplicity designed to calm all comers.
The sleek and spacious spa has three pools, including one outdoor infinity pool, plus a plein air Jacuzzi.
Hotel Hubertus
What it's all about: Deep comfort and some of the region's most daring architecture.Designed by NOA architects in a daringly contemporary style, Hotel Hubertus is not afraid of heights. A 25-meter cantilevered Sky Pool projects out from the structure, suspended several stories above the grassy slope, with spectacular views from the heated waters.
A sauna and whirlpool complex juts out from the hotel to hang midair like a bee’s nest, giving guests the sensation of floating free from the everyday world, with spa huts seemingly turned upside down like a hovering reflection in water.
Milla Montis
What it's all about: Serious style at a surprisingly affordable One-Key standout.Made for mountain views, Milla Montis earned the Paris Design Award for the architects of Milan’s Peter Pichler studio. Traditional Alpine pitched roofs top a structure in blackened wood opening to ultra-modern terraces and big, bubble-shaped windows — including in the sauna, which gazes out over mountain peaks.
The spa’s hay room bathes visitors in the soothing scent of dried straw, and a creek on the property serves as a natural cold dip.
Schgaguler Hotel
What it's all about: Mountain relaxation with town life close at hand.Another arresting contemporary project by the Peter Pichler studio, Schgaguler Hotel, set in the center of Castelrotto, transforms traditional Alpine lodge construction into a gleaming vision of glass and geometry, with unbroken views of the Dolomites and clean-lined interiors of chestnut wood and pale resin floors.
The light-filled interiors are home to two heated pools and a pair of saunas, with a whirlpool on the outdoor terrace.
Castel Fragsburg
What it's all about: Romance and special healing options at this spectacular Two-Key.Overlooking the Dolomites from a mountainside above Merano, Castel Fragsburg sits beyond the UNESCO-protected range of cliffs. Architecturally, the small distance from the mountains manifests in the nostalgically romantic interiors of this former hunting lodge — in character, it follows more the heritage elegance of Merano than the contemporary minimalism of the Dolomites, but the charm of the flower-patterned rooms and antique-framed beds makes it an irresistible base for exploring the area.
The spa, which includes open-air massage rooms, uses a unique approach of alchemy and handpicked herbs and flowers to offer healing treatments.
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Hero image: A suspended pool at Hotel Hubertus. @Hotel Hubertus
