A breath of fresn air

Anew hotel in the Dolomites is putting wellbeing at the forefront, with sauna rituals, forest bathing and relaxing hikes with spellbinding views.

- Lorna Parkes

Backlit by the setting sun, which is casting tremulous spotlights through the gathering steam, Teresa Altamura moves around the sauna with the grace of a swan. In one hand, she holds a large white fan, waving it like a wing through the humid air; with each movement, the scent of Alpine larch wafts over me. "Breathe deeply," she whispers.

I'm perched on the sauna's wooden steps, which are arranged like a small amphitheatre in front of a bowl of fizzing hot rocks. But with the woodland aroma, I can't help but feel connected to the outdoors.

Outside a window, I can just about make out the spruce garden through the steam and, beyond it, a mountain like a witch's hat.

Daily themed saunas, like this mediation infusion, are just one of the relaxing experiences offered at Sensoria, a family-run Alpine lodge in the Dolomites. In 2022, it was completely reinvented into a wood-and-glass wellness resort: there's equine therapy, yoga and even new moon wishing - the practice of manifesting your thoughts and desires by writing them down during the new moon.

And while skiing, climbing and adventure hiking remain the bread and butter of this Italian range, it's hoped these activities will appeal to a wider audience, as more visitors are brought into the region with new SkyAlps flights from London to gateway town Bolzano.

But of course, the biggest draw lies in the outdoors, in the UNESCO inscribed landscapes. Sensoria has been designed with Japanese architecture principles in mind: sight lines around the lodge lead to purposefully framed views of the mountains, where one of the Italian Alps' most famous profiles rears just above the sun loungers.

The Sciliar Massif is a sheer wall of grey that ends with the splintered granite of Mount Santner-the great witch's hat. Indeed, locals say the Sciliar is home to a coven who use woodland stones as launchpads.