The World's Most Luxurious Sauna

The Castel Fragsburg Experience

Beneath the towering Dolomites, in a quiet Italian town, a 17th-century hunting lodge has long served as a luxurious escape, once reserved exclusively for European nobility. In 1954, it changed hands, opening its doors to the wider world—welcoming guests into its 20 exquisitely appointed rooms. This lodge, Castel Fragsburg, is revered in niche circles as a haven for gourmets, romantics and wellness lovers.

My husband and I were fortunate enough to answer this extravagant call for a friend’s intimate elopement ceremony, held on the property’s private hill. This celebration granted us an unforgettable weekend stay, along with access to the most incredible sauna I’ve ever used. In this article, I’ll share my time at what I believe to be one of the world’s finest saunas, along with practices you can adopt to elevate your own sauna experience at home.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll gladly say it again: I love saunaing. Beyond its many benefits, there’s nothing like it. It’s an underrated practice that can not only enhance energy levels and longevity but also cultivate deep peace. That said, I don’t love every sauna, and not all my experiences have been equal. Poorly constructed saunas can be outright dangerous. Improper ventilation poses serious risks. Even well-built saunas can lose their benefits if, for instance, toxic materials are present, contaminating the air you breathe.

While most sauna factors are within our control, some unfortunate drawbacks are not. Public American saunas often require bathing suits, though trapping and sous-vide-ing our bodies in polyester packaging isn’t nearly as healthy as gyms and health clubs would have us believe. If towels are provided, they’re likely polyester blends. If water is available nearby, it’s often in plastic bottles or from an unfiltered tap. This isn’t meant to discourage you from going to the sauna — far from it. However, these are important things to consider, especially if you frequently use the sauna. What seems negligible at first can, over time, undermine the very health benefits we seek.

I was incredibly impressed with my sauna experience at Castel Fragsburg. I have to hand it to them — they know exactly what they’re doing. And it’s no surprise. As one of several luxury hotels in Merano — a South Tyrolean spa town famed for its thermal baths — Castel Fragsburg carries on a tradition once adored by 19th-century European aristocracy, including the Habsburgs, who sought its rejuvenating properties.

The quality of everything is prioritized. They left no stone unturned. For instance, even the “Rosewater Spray” sold at the counter of their spa is small-batch, made right from the hand-picked roses grown in the hotel’s garden. Their sauna is almost too well-built (it’s the hottest and most effective sauna I’ve ever used). But even then, stepping inside, I wasn’t prepared for an all-encompassing, flawlessly designed experience.

I say flawless in that it’s a uniquely hygienic, aesthetic, and a truly beneficial bodily affair — all because of the spa’s uncompromising dedication to fine detail, and the overall wellness of their guests.

I can almost guarantee that I’ll never get to return to the glorious Castel Fragsburg beyond this one blessed visit. But I firmly believe that the same sought-after health benefits — those people travel miles for and spend fortunes on — are actually well within reach. Of course, not every element can be recreated. The closest I can get to the breathtaking Dolomites is a high-resolution screensaver. But the simplest and most essential details provide a strong foundation for transforming your own sauna experience. These details left the greatest impression on me, and they’re practices you can easily adopt at home.

Nudity is an absolute requirement

A polyester bathing suit is arguably the worst thing you could wear in a hot sauna. Unnatural materials (like polyester, nylon, acrylic, lycra, etc.) not only leach chemicals into your skin and lungs but also interfere with your body’s ability to sweat, completely defeating the purpose of saunaing.

At Castel Fragsburg, nudity isn’t only encouraged — it’s actually required. Apart from robes or towels, swimsuits are strictly forbidden. A sign at the entrance makes it clear: “The sauna cabins are a nudist area, no access with swimsuit.” It’s so refreshing to see that swimsuits are not only unexpected, but are full-on banned.

Robes and towels offer privacy in this co-ed environment, along with a stunning copper dressing divider (how beautiful is that?) just before the showers. There are no cheap plastic curtains in sight — just open drains and fresh alpine air drifting in from half-open windows nearby. True bliss.

Towels are only 100% cotton

The materials you use matter, especially when it comes to what touches your skin. These days, finding anything made from purely natural fibers is becoming increasingly difficult. Synthetic-blend towels are everywhere and they shouldn’t be worn or worse, heated, for the reasons I mentioned above. Beyond that, natural fabrics like 100% cotton carry a higher vibrational frequency than synthetics. Considering that saunaing enhances energy flow, using cheap, artificial towels can be disruptive to the experience. Once again, Castel Fragsburg doesn’t cut corners. Every towel provided is 100% pure cotton. No exceptions.

A Variety of Saunas

There’s more than just one type of sauna and at Castel Fragsburg, I was fortunate to experience a remarkable range. The spa offers four distinct sauna experiences, each differing in temperature, moisture, and intensity. Each sauna type can be accessed upon request to be mindful of their energy and water usage.

On the left side of the room, two traditional wooden saunas display their temperatures at the entrance: one at 90ºC (194ºF, 10% humidity) and another at 55ºC (131ºF, 65% humidity). Opposite them, a steam room holds steady at 45ºC (113ºF, 100% humidity) while an infrared sauna offers a deeply refreshing experience.

The first sauna on the left is so intensely hot that I couldn’t last more than twenty minutes per round. Many others in our party said it was “the hottest sauna they’d ever used.” For those craving more intensity, wooden buckets filled with water are available — but they’re not for the faint of heart.

With multiple sauna options, Castel Fragsburg allows guests to customize their experience based on their health needs, adjusting heat or switching saunas as they please. Beginners and pros alike are accommodated, happy, and sweaty.

For those needing to cool down, a nearby swimming pool offers the perfect contrast therapy. While I didn’t try it myself, the bride and groom raved about alternating between the sauna and the pool, making it a memorable all-day experience.

Mineral spring water on tap

Mineralized water is vital, especially after a sauna session where you lose so many nutrients in your sweat. I learned that it’s most effective (in terms of sweating out heavy metals) to only drink water before the sauna, not during. However, if you didn’t pre-hydrate but want an enduring sauna experience, mineral-dense water is the single best solution.

Any kind of high quality mineral water (bottled in glass, to avoid more microplastics that you’re trying to sweat out) is wonderful, but drinking it straight from the tap is on another level of luxury entirely. Of course, only glass cups are available at Castel Fragsburg.

Calm visual appeal

The interior serves to remind guests where they are: the lush green foliage of northern Italy foregrounds the snow-capped cliffs of the Dolomites, visible just beyond. Steps away from the sauna area is a sky-lit relaxation room, offering plush lounge chairs, extra folded towels, and seasonal nuts, seeds, and fruit medleys to snack on. A wooden shelf of paperback books and newspapers in three regional languages waits by the day-beds for light reading.

Just outside, on the adjacent balcony, a handcrafted wooden bath (available by reservation) overlooks a breathtaking mountain view. From here, you have a front-row seat to where ‘moon water’ is bottled and brewed. Alpine rain infused with the full moon? Rainwater left to bask in moonlight overnight? I never asked, but maybe I didn’t need to.

Castel Fragsburg sets a standard that feels almost unattainable — yet, when broken down into its essential elements, it isn’t. The health benefits of this alpine retreat are the same ones you can achieve in any proper sauna. If we prioritize natural materials, mineralized water, and a mindset rooted in peace, we can recreate a similar experience. The atmosphere won’t be the same without the expensive flight, but the psychological and physical effects of mindful saunaing will be, and isn’t that why any of us do it?

Still, I won’t lie. I dream of that Italian hideaway often, and I feel fortunate to be able to share its greatness with you. Catch me at my local gym’s sauna, eyes closed, envisioning snowy cliffs, sipping spring water from a green glass bottle between cycles. Geographically, I’ll be in North Carolina — but for all my cells know, I might as well be in Italy again.

Constanze Prize writes Coffee w/ Constanze, where she shares essays on travel, culture and passion. Read more of her work and subscribe here.

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This piece was originally published in Issue 33 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the full issue here: