Forestis Dolomites

Le verdict

Cela vaut-il le coup pour votre voyage de noces ?

Forestis Dolomites is the single most arresting hotel in the Alps and one of the four or five most distinctive resort hotels in Europe — a 62-suite-and-chalet adults-only retreat perched at 1,800 metres on the Plose plateau above Brixen, with three connected vertical larch-and-stone towers and a 2,000-square-metre glass spa cantilevered into the void above the valley. The original 1912 building was a tuberculosis sanatorium chosen for the purity of its alpine air; the 2020 reconstruction by the Vienna-based Stefan Hitthaler Architekten and the South Tyrolean owners (the Hinteregger family) is a piece of architecture that has redefined what a mountain hotel can be. Every accommodation is a suite or chalet — no standard rooms — and every one faces directly onto the UNESCO Dolomite peaks, with floor-to-ceiling glass framing the Sass de Putia, the Peitlerkofel, and the Geisler/Odle range. The defining spaces are the three pools: the indoor 25-metre lap pool with the panoramic glass wall, the outdoor heated infinity pool with the most photographed mountain view in the Alps (a steam-edged infinity over the Plose valley), and the Auriga rooftop pool with the open-air panorama. The spa philosophy is based on the four trees of the mountain — stone pine (for sleep), spruce (for vitality), larch (for strength), and mountain pine (for breath) — and the signature treatments use needles and oils harvested from the property's own forest. The restaurant is one of the best half-board kitchens in the region — modern Alpine cuisine drawing on the Hinteregger family farms below — and is included in the rate. For honeymooners, the rooms split: the Tower Suite (538 sq ft) at entry, the Forest Penthouse (1,076 sq ft, top floor, the freestanding bath at the glass wall facing the peaks) as the move, and the standalone Forest Chalet (1,615 sq ft, private sauna and steam) as the destination splurge. The hotel is adults-only (16+), which is unusual in the Dolomites and a major honeymoon plus. Caveats: the rate is the highest in the Dolomites; the location at 1,800m is 20 minutes' drive from Brixen and a serious commitment to wellness over sightseeing; and a stay is best paired with a second valley (Alta Badia or Cortina) to access the famous trails like Tre Cime. But the wellness, the architecture, and the view from your bed — there is nothing else like it in the Alps. The single most strongly honeymoon-fit mountain hotel in Europe.

Détail du score

92/100