I’m in the shallows of sleep on a plush lounger after a long hike in South Tyrol when the sound of a gong cuts through the silence of the relaxation room. It’s 5pm – that would usually mean cocktail hour at a hotel a stone’s throw from the cable car, but here at the Sensoria Dolomites, the after-party takes place at 90C.
I pad over to the largest of three saunas – it’s bigger than my living room – and sit naked in silence with five strangers, looking through a large picture window. Sauna isn’t an ancient tradition here as in northern Europe, but Sensoria owner Lea Oberhofer tells me it was almost inevitable that it would become a way of life in the Dolomites.
