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A stone drinking fountain standing alone in an empty room at FORESTIS, with the Odle through the windows and bars of sunlight across the dark floor

Inspection · Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy

FORESTIS

A mountain retreat where the setting shapes the entire stay.

Tower Suite, 55 sqm Small Luxury Hotels of the World

Book FORESTIS with me, through Classic Travel Register first, free of charge, and the rates and partner benefits open up, with the account linked to Wheresnik. Tell me your dates before you book and I will say which room to ask for here, and which week I would avoid.

What stayed with me most about FORESTIS was the sense of calm. The mountain views are extraordinary, but they are only part of the experience. There is something about the light, the quiet and the way the spaces open towards the landscape that makes it remarkably easy to switch off. I found it deeply restorative, without ever feeling that relaxation was something I had to work at.

Set among woodland at 1,800 metres on the southern slopes of the Plose, above Bressanone, FORESTIS combines a historic building with three contemporary towers. The distinction matters when choosing a room: these are two different expressions of a mountain stay, more than simply different accommodation categories.

FORESTIS seen from above, the towers and the pool against the slopes of the Plose
Eighteen hundred metres up, with the valley doing the talking.

Rooms and suites

The tower suites would be my clear recommendation. Their appeal lies in the relationship between the interiors and the view: pale timber, restrained furnishings and floor-to-ceiling glazing allow the mountains to become the room's defining feature. The Tower Suites measure 55 square metres and include a terrace, a living area with a traditional tiled stove, and a bathroom with both a bathtub and rain shower.

What I particularly appreciated was the balance between openness and shelter. You feel immersed in the landscape while remaining somewhere intimate and deeply comfortable. The architecture gives the view room to breathe.

The interior of a Tower Suite at FORESTIS looking through to the terrace
A Tower Suite from the door, pale timber and a wall of glass.
The terrace of a Tower Suite with the mountains beyond the balustrade
The terrace of the same suite, where breakfast arrives if you ask for it.
An unmade bed in a suite at FORESTIS in late afternoon light
Late afternoon, and nobody in a hurry to make the bed.

The accommodation in the historic main building has a more traditional Alpine character. It will appeal to guests who prefer the warmth and familiarity of a classic mountain hotel. For me, however, the tower suites offer the more distinctive experience and would be an important part of the reason to return.

A welcome tray with fruit and sparkling wine on a table facing the mountains
The arrival tray, with the mountains where a television would be.
An espresso on a dark saucer beside a grey card printed with the FORESTIS arrow
The arrow is the hotel's mark. It turns up on everything, including the coffee.
The tiered dining room at FORESTIS with lamps lit over curved banquettes
The room in tiers, each table inside its own curve.

Dining and service

The restaurant is one of the hotel's most intelligently conceived spaces. Arranged in descending tiers, almost like an amphitheatre facing the mountains, it gives each table both a clear outlook and its own sense of enclosure. Curved seating creates small, cocoon-like settings within the larger dining room. The result is unusually private dining without sacrificing the panorama.

A breakfast table at FORESTIS with the Odle framed by the dining room glazing
The same room at breakfast, with the Odle through the glass.
A plated fish course by candlelight at FORESTIS
Dinner stays close to the valley and arrives without ceremony.
Bowls of raspberries, blueberries and redcurrants on the breakfast buffet
The berries at breakfast come off the slopes below the hotel.

During my stay, the service matched the setting. I found it attentive and assured, particularly in the restaurant, with the same high standard carrying through the rest of the hotel. The privacy of the tables makes that attentiveness especially valuable: you feel well looked after without losing the intimacy of the occasion.

The kitchen's stated approach is rooted in the surrounding landscape, drawing on cultivated produce, forest gathering and natural processing. It gives the dining experience a connection to place that extends beyond the view.

A table laid for lunch on the lawn at FORESTIS facing the Odle
Lunch outside whenever the weather allows, which in March it did.
A weathered timber table on the terrace at FORESTIS laid with glasses and water, a rucksack on the bench and the Odle beyond
The afternoon snack, taken on the terrace with the bag still on the bench. Nobody suggests you tidy up first.
The indoor pool at FORESTIS in daylight with the mountains through the glazing
The indoor pool in the morning, mountains in the glass.

The water

It is worth knowing before you arrive that everything you drink and bathe in at FORESTIS comes from a single source. An artesian spring on the Plose, about fifty metres above the building, feeds the entire hotel. The jugs of carved stone in the suite, the small fountains along the corridors, the indoor and outdoor pools, the treatments in the Spa: it is all the same mountain water, naturally rich in oxygen and carbonic acid, left untreated.

For a place that is in many ways about calm, that detail is more than technical. The sense that the hotel is self-sufficient, drawing from the mountain directly, settles something in the mind that is hard to describe. The decanter waiting on the bedside table reads differently when you know where it comes from.

The indoor pool at FORESTIS lit at night
The same water at ten at night, when the room empties.
The darkened relaxation room at FORESTIS lit by a single candle
The relaxation room is dark on purpose, with one candle at the centre.
Oils and wooden boards laid out on a bench in the FORESTIS spa
The oils are laid out before a treatment and explained one by one.
The outdoor pool at FORESTIS with the Odle reflected in the glass balustrade
Outside, the pool is kept warm straight through the winter.

A history that makes sense of the setting

The site's restorative associations predate the hotel. In 1912, the Austrian monarchy selected this location for a planned tuberculosis sanatorium, attracted by its natural conditions. War interrupted those plans. Alois Hinteregger rediscovered the building in 2000; a hotel opened in 2009, followed by the beginning of the FORESTIS chapter in 2020.

Knowing that history gave context to something I had already felt. The atmosphere is nothing like a clinic, and the sense of release was unmistakable. The setting, the architecture and the care of the service all seemed to support the same thing: permission to slow down.

Advisor's perspective

I would recommend FORESTIS to travellers who value privacy, thoughtful architecture and time spent somewhere that does not demand much of them. It is particularly compelling for a couple seeking a quiet mountain stay, with dining and service that feel integral to the experience.

My priority would be to secure a tower suite and leave enough time in the itinerary simply to be there. The strongest impression I took away had little to do with how much there was to do. It was how good it felt to stop.

A sand-coloured cap embroidered with the FORESTIS arrow, worn by the author
The arrow points up the mountain, which is roughly the instruction.

Before you book

The questions people send me about FORESTIS.

A tower suite or a room in the historic building?
The towers, if the view is why you are coming. Pale timber, floor-to-ceiling glazing and a terrace, with the mountains left to do the work. The historic building is warmer in a classic Alpine way and will suit anyone who wants a traditional mountain hotel. I took a Tower Suite of 55 square metres, with a living area, a tiled stove and a bathroom with both a tub and a rain shower, and it is the reason I would go back.
How many nights does it need?
Two full nights at least, and three is better. At 1,800 metres with no reason to leave the building, the body takes a day to understand it is allowed to stop. One night arrives and leaves before that happens, and the stay turns into a drive.
Should I book the spa before I arrive?
Yes, at the same time as the room. The treatment rooms are few and the hours go early, so choosing in advance decides whether you get the stay you planned or the one left over. Everything in the spa runs on water from an artesian spring fifty metres above the hotel, untreated, the same water that reaches the pools and the carved stone jug by the bed.
What is there to do if the weather closes in?
The hotel is built for exactly that day. The indoor pool faces the mountains through glass, the outdoor one is kept warm through the winter, and the relaxation room is dark on purpose with a single candle at the centre. The dining room is arranged in descending tiers facing the Plose, with curved seating that gives each table its own enclosure, so a long lunch there is no consolation prize.
Where exactly is it?
On the southern slopes of the Plose above Bressanone, in South Tyrol, at 1,800 metres, in woodland. The site was chosen by the Austrian monarchy in 1912 for a tuberculosis sanatorium that the war interrupted, which tells you what they thought of the air.

Something else you want to know? Write to me and I will answer it here.

The rooftop terrace and pool of a tower suite at FORESTIS, seen from above Steam rising from the outdoor pool at FORESTIS at dusk The garden fire pit at FORESTIS at night, under the Odle A bottle of Harlin champagne carried to the table at FORESTIS The lit porte-cochere at Forestis at dusk with the old timber house on one side and the new wing on the other Wheat nubuck boots seen from above in fresh snow at FORESTIS in the Dolomites

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