Hotel Plunhof is a 5-star eco-hotel perfect for a stay between wellness and adventure immersed in the nature of South Tyrol.
There is a moment, just before sunrise in the Breonie Alps, where the mountain seems to hold its breath. The fresh snow absorbs every sound, the sky turns from blue night to mauve, and the silence becomes so dense that it can almost touch it. It is in this secluded corner of South Tyrol, a few kilometers from Vipiteno, that the Val Ridanna preserves its secret better hidden: a refuge where luxury dresses with scented wood and millenary stone, where time slows down to synchronize with the quiet beat of nature. Where winter does not scream, but whispers.
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A Reinvented Alpine Refuge with Style
The Plunhof emerges from the landscape as a dream of Alpine design that has been able to reinvent itself without betraying its essence. After a transformation that redesigned the spaces keeping intact the soul, this eco-hotel certified KlimaHaus today presents itself with 95 environments where every detail tells a precise philosophy: that of conscious luxury, rooted in the territory. Here the concept of sustainability is not a slogan from brochures, but a daily practice, every raw material comes from a radius of fifteen kilometers, each resource is treated with reverential respect.
The rooms and suites, each different from the other, are variations on a theme: the perfect balance between the warmth of the local wood and the taciturnal energy of the gneiss. But it is in the twenty-eight new suites that experience reaches its sensory apex. Imagine sinking into a private hot tub on your terrace, the steam rising in silvery volutes while snowflakes descend slow, hypnotic. Above you, a sky of stars so sharp that it seems unreal.
Sky Pool and Suspended Terraces between the Vettes
On the third floor, reserved exclusively for adult guests,a Sky Pool "Source Celeste" is much more than a pool. With its twenty-five meters stretching towards the horizon, it is a suspension experience – literally and metaphorically. Slide in that warm water while the snowy peaks surround you means abandon the coordinates of ordinary space. Steam rises, snow falls, and you float in the middle, in a dimension where the body finally forgets its tensions.
Next, the new relaxation area "Silenzio delle Vette" keeps the promise of his name. Here silence is not absence, but presence – a palpable quality that wraps and heals. The sauna-event "Cortile di Luce" instead plays with subtle contrasts: the enveloping warmth of the interior dialogues with the view on the courtyard, where natural light enters to illuminate moments of deep purification.
Minera Acqua & Spa: 4000 sqm of Pure Relax
But it is going down in the four thousand square meters of Water Mining & Spa that the Plunhof reveals its true nature. Here the air itself seems impregnated in the history of the valley – smells of mugo pine, spruce, larch. Resin fragrances recalling the ancient mining tradition, when the mountain restored its hidden treasures to men.
The millenary stones are not simple décor, but protagonists of a sensory journey through temperatures and atmospheres. In the mineral saunas the thermometer rises up to one hundred degrees, while in the Turkish bath the steam becomes dense, almost liquid. Biosauna and infrared sauna offer more delicate alternatives, while the panoramic relaxation area frames the snowy peaks as a continuous moving picture.
The route continues through Kneipp pools where cold water awakens circulation, an evocative area of caves with a mining pond that seems suspended outside time, up to the spectacular indoor pool that extends for twenty meters before opening, through large windows, towards the dazzling candor of the outdoor landscape.
And then she is there: "Miner House", where the Aufguss show becomes a theatre. Forty-five square meters where the temperature ranges between eighty and one hundred degrees, while beyond the mirrored glass the panorama unfolds in all its majesty. Outside, in "Miner's Garden", the nudist area offers the invigorating contrast of the alpine air on the blinded skin.
Among the exclusive spa treatments, "Price ritual" with silvery quartzite emerges by emotional intensity. Expert hands work with stone, while herbs, resins and flowers of the Aurina Valley free their active ingredients. The nervous system slows down, the mind settles down, the body finds an ancient centering.
The Art of the Table between Tradition and Innovation
When the body regained its balance, it is the palate to enter the scene. The refurbished restaurant plays with intimate niches that become soft light shelters and whispered conversations. I gourmet dishes tell stories about terroir, every ingredient at zero kilometer is a tribute to authentic flavors of South Tyrol.
The fully redesigned buffet area offers an abundance of attention to detail. On the first floor, the bar with terrace is the perfect place for that hour suspended between afternoon and evening, when a glass of local white wine or a cocktail built with alpine botanists accompany the sunset show that draws the snow of pink and gold.
For those looking for conviviality in a lesser tone, the lounge invites a chess game in front of the fire or a pool challenge, while outside the night envelops the valley in its starry coat.
The Dream of a Family Continues
Behind every corner of the Plunhof cleans a love story, that of Leopold Volgger, which in the 1970s saw in a simple pension the seed of something extraordinary. With Paola at his side and eight children sharing the dream, he built not only a hotel, but a manifesto of hospitality where tradition and innovation coexist in harmony.
After Leopold's death in 2002, the family continued to cultivate this alpine garden, adding new chapters without ever losing the thread of original history. Today the Plunhof is recognized well beyond national borders as pearl of mountain hospitality, a place where privacy, generous spaces and maniacal care of details create memorable experiences.
Adventures on the Snow in the Racines-Giovo
But it would be reductive to think of the Plunhof only as a haven of peace. Winter here is an invitation to action: walking with snowshoes in the woods where the snow touches every step, descending on the perfectly beaten slopes of Racines-Giovo area at two thousand hundred fifty meters, draw lines on the fresh snow in fat bike.
The panoramic cable car is just a few steps from the hotel, and from there is access to twenty-five kilometers of descents that snake between pines and snow-covered fir trees. The Funpark at the top gives pure adrenaline to those who love jumps and acrobatics, while three perfectly snowy toboggan runs ensure laughter and thrills for all ages.
The fans of cross-country skiing find fifty kilometers of carefully prepared rings, where sliding in the silence of dawn is almost a meditative act. While families with children appreciate Monte Cavallo and Colle Isarco-Ladurns, designed for the youngest and for those who approach the world of winter sports for the first time.
And there is a detail that makes the difference: right in front of the hotel, the small Gasse plant is accessible free of charge to guests. For those who move the first steps on the skis, it is an unexpected gift.
How to Get to Plunhof in Val Ridanna
Getting in Val Ridanna is part of the experience. By car from Milan, about three and a half hours along the A22 direction Brennero, exit Vipiteno, then follow the signs for the valley to the village of Gasse, where the Plunhof welcomes on the left, at the entrance of the village.
For those who choose the most sustainable route, the direct train Milan-Bolzano stops in Vipiteno, from where the hotel organises a shuttle service. The journey thus becomes contemplation, watching from the window the Alps approaching, knowing that at the end of the race there is a place where time learned to slow down.
Here, in the heart of the Breonie Alps of Ponente, far from the clamor of the great resorts, Val Ridanna keeps a different rhythm. It is the rhythm of the snow that descends, of the steam that rises from the warm waters, of the breath that synchronizes with the silence of the mountain. It is the rhythm of those who realized that the real luxury never screams, but whispers, with voice of ancient wood and millenary stone.
