WHAT? WHERE?

Once you’ve made it to this scenic corner of the South Tyrol, you can’t miss My Arbor. The spa and wellness hotel juts dramatically up from a mountainside on angled pillars, mimicking the towering conifer trees around it. It claims to be the region’s only ‘tree hotel’, which isn’t hard to believe given its unworldly appearance. If you think it looks striking in the green, you should see this place in the snow – it’s got serious Bond villain vibes. Not only does it look spell-binding but the design is clever: at nearly 200m long it allows every room – bedroom, restaurant, treatment room (you get my drift) – to have views across the valley to the Dolomites mountain range opposite, with its scattering of cuckoo clock chalets and sprinkling of snow on the summits.

It’s quite a journey to get to this edge of Italy. Fly to Verona or Innsbruck, hop on a train to Brixen for 1.5hr to 2hr, before winding up the mountain for the last 15 mins in a taxi. Like so many other regional outposts, the South Tyrol has a personality that is distinct from the rest of the boot – up here, German is predominantly spoken and dumpling stew sits alongside linguine pasta on the menu. My Arbor is big on local traditions too. From the cuisine to the sauna culture and, together with its remote location, this all makes you feel utterly cut off from the real world. That’s only furthered by the company. The guests here are international types chicly dressed from Milan’s A/W catwalks. Wear your finest Moncler lookalike and a whopping pair of shades and you’ll fit right in.

THE VIBE

Pass through the doors into the double height atrium and it’s a sensory smack of roaring fire, bold modern art, cool alpine design and a refined piney spa smell, which seems to waft around the whole place from no apparent source (and not a hint of ‘Magic Tree’). Wood features everywhere in the hotel in countless forms – the reception desk is two vast tree trunks while from the ceiling smaller trees trunks hang like an inverted forest. The whole ‘Arbor’ theme is resounding throughout. The art is gorgeous, from the wispy elfin statues to the gold flecked acrylics. It screams quiet luxury.

The spotless design is alpine but with clean lines and contemporary furniture – no cow bells or chalet kitsch here. You can hang in the lobby area around the fire or take a drink out onto the terrace with its jaw dropping views. Otherwise, all of the guest rooms have daybeds for mountain gazing or spend your time in the spa on the lower two floors.

PILLOW TALK

The Arbour South Tyrol Italy bedroom with mountain views and wood cladding on walls

The long corridor of guestrooms has Inception vibes as you pass room after room with boxed out wooden door frames. It can be a bit of a hike to nip back and fetch your slippers, but it does mean there’s no cheap seats – no matter what room you are allocated, you’re guaranteed a stonking view. Our Nest Suite is the smallest of the room categories but had ample space with a massive shower and drench showerhead, vast box spring bed with a duvet each (genius!) as well as a Nespresso coffee machine and kettle, flat-screen TV, dressing table and the dreamy daybed and balcony. The larger rooms have separate living area, drinks in the minibar included and bath tub.

THE SPA

The first level of the spa has a whopping 10 treatment rooms, an indoor-to-outdoor pool, relax rooms and sauna where you can keep your ‘kini on. Downstairs things get a little more Austrian, and bathing suits are banned. This includes the four further saunas, the heated outdoor whirlpool and ice-cold plunge pool.

Initially bemused as to why you’d spend quite so many hours down here (our hotel itinerary suggested entire days could be spent in the spa), once you embrace the sauna culture, it is strangely moreish. The hotel hosts a series of ‘sauna infusions’ throughout the day. Here, balls of ice infused with essential oils are dropped onto the sauna coals and a towel-flicking dance performed to music, which sends swathes of hot humid air over the sauna goers in a 10-15min frenzy that ends in sweaty participants and a round of applause. Some wore felted hats, but nothing else.

Like many Scandi-originated health practices, there’s an element of no-pain-no-gain and pushing yourself to the uncomfortable edge – think Wim Hof/cold water swimming. But strangely you find yourself going back for more. It’s something about the scents – delicious pine, larch, orange and mint among them, plus that purifying feeling of it all. Once you’ve cooled back down and showered, you’re checking the blackboard for the next one.

Between infusions the idea is to loll about in the many relaxation rooms, swim in the pools or book some time in a cosy cabin. Again, this was a little bemusing as to why lying in an open-sided hut in -1 degrees might be appealing but with heated beds, lamp heaters, a fluffy blanket and the mountains ahead, we happily wiled away a couple of hours sleeping/reading/gazing.

There’s treatments too, ranging from facials to massages, peels, wraps and mani/pedis, all exceptionally well delivered with comfortable treatment beds, rooms at a perfect temperature, tuneful spa music (rather than wafty whale sounds) and therapists who check in with you, so you’re in total comfort and can truly relax and enjoy the deliciously fragranced products.

SCOFF & QUAFF

The stay for every guest starts with a welcome drink in the bar overlooking that view and sets the tone for the sort of food and drink that My Arbor offers. This is no cheap Prosecco – there’s a menu of aperitifs made with homemade syrups like pine and rose, and signature cocktails including a superb White Americano with bergamot, dry vermouth and sanbitter bianco.

The room rates are all half board so everyone stays in the hotel for a five-course meal in the evening. The restaurant for breakfast and dinner is quite different from the clean lines and natural textures elsewhere in the hotel. A labyrinth of banquette seating upholstered in a monochrome check creates seating nooks across the vast room. The high seat backs mean you don’t feel like you’re in a huge clattery restaurant, plus the soft fabric effectively cuts the noise, but the overall effect for me felt canteeny and less chic than the rest of the hotel. Just try to request a seat by the floor to ceiling windows for the best views.

The menu is seasonal with much of it supplied by the hotel’s own farm. Dishes like linguine alla carbonara di lago reflect local cuisine but with a twist – a lighter carbonara made with smoked fish. All of the dishes were elegantly presented and on the small side, so you can eat light or do as we did and try lots of them. The menu is super flexible and you can mix it with the buffet – a literal smorgasbord of salads, roasted veg, cheeses, and freshly made dishes to order. The desserts were little works of art and delicious. My only gripe was the chef’s predilection for serving chocolate dishes with fruit, but I’m really clutching at straws to find fault here.

The booze offering is huge with local wines for every palette and a team of sommeliers on hand to guide you through it. We ended up trying a chardonnay from the Manincor vineyard in South Tyrol, meanwhile the cocktail menu featured 13 G&Ts alone. The opportunities to eat and drink local are plentiful – even the mineral water comes from the mountain.

Breakfast is up there with the best hotel offering I’ve had. The buffet varied from the Continental ham/cheese options to fruits, cereals (including multiple homemade granolas), home-baked bread and pastries, eggs cooked to order and a range of dishes like spiced tofu, tomato and avocado on toast.

OUT & ABOUT

I’m not usually one to stay on site, but there’s so much on offer here that there’s little reason to leave the hotel unless you’ve opted for a longer stay. The activities range from yoga and fitness classes to guided walks and, of course, the sauna infusions. Hunched over my laptop on a grey day at home it was easy to be sceptical of the first person language of the My Arbor website and its floaty parlance, but a couple of hours into our stay and one sauna infusion down and we’d signed up for the forest bathing hike. It’s amazing what mountain air and isolation can do for the English reserve.

If you do venture into Brixen, it’s a treat – the immaculate streets of the chocolate box old town are lined with gorgeous shops, cafés and restaurants and there are countless pretty Baroque churches to look around. Go in late Nov-early Jan and catch the stunning light show that fills the Bishop’s Palace (above), alongside a charming Christmas Market. Also from late November to April 1, the Plose ski resort opens with the cable car a few minute’s drive from the hotel. It’s a modest sized resort but great for a few days and if you’re a die-hard skier you can drive to nearby larger resorts like Val Gardena (30km) and Kronplatz (37km).

THE MUDDY VERDICT

My Arbor is a proper retreat hotel where you feel far-removed from the everyday and can recharge and refuel, whether you want wholesome and sweaty or a little more indulgent with massages and cocktails thrown in. My top tips – book spa treatments ahead as these get full up, and take your own sliders to wear in the outdoor areas of the spa.

Good for: a romantic stay in a dreamy setting, or anyone in need of a reboot – it would work equally well for solo travellers.

Not for: This is an adult-only hotel and even teens might struggle with the nudity aspect of the spa. Also not one for a girls’ break where you’re after a raucous catch-up – chatter in the relaxation areas doesn’t go above a hushed whisper. That said, there was a corporate group there during our stay – it just depends how you feel about sharing a sauna with your colleagues.

The damage: From €245pp per night, half board, which means breakfast and a five-course dinner, so not bad value if you go easy on the G&Ts and don’t rack up the extras bill. Yeah, right.

My Arbor; info@my-arbor.com; +39 0472 694012

Review: ski and spa at My Arbor, South Tyrol in Italy

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