Last updated September 15, 2022
Sitting snug in the hillside of Naturns in South Tyrol, Italy, adult-only Preidlhof Luxury Resort enjoys spectacular views of the lush Vinschgau Valley, with orchards, vines, olive trees, scores of medicinal plants and the purest mountain air.
This traditional slice of wholesome Alpine hospitality has been part of the Ladurner family for over 50 years. As with other family-owned hideaways in this corner of the world, the classic décor is very much in tune with the region.
Local wood fittings peppered with bright quirky soft furnishings stand alongside a few ultramodern Scandi-style suites in the Stammhaus building, with hot tubs and glass-fronted saunas on the terraces, whirlpools and mini outdoor cinemas in the penthouse suites.
While guests typically return to Preidlhof to lose weight, get fit, recuperate or enjoy a spa break, now, with health and self-care center stage in our world, more are taking time out to calm their weary minds and fully reset, recharge and retune internal rhythms.
To this end, the Preidlhof Way comprises a menu of personalized wellness and healing programs and rituals, featuring, amongst others, Energy Healing, Ayurveda, Transformational journey, Sleep Better and the hugely successful Glowing Flow.
These are all curated by transformational coach and wellness pioneer Patrizia Bortolin and Italian spiritual shaman Stefano Battaglia—the healing duo long whispered about in wellness circles worldwide.
“It’s about opening our hearts,” Bortolin explains. “This is the key to living a happy, more joyful life.”
And this is very much the cornerstone of the Preidlhof ethos, with recent studies on the land over which the six-floored futuristic Spa and Sauna Tower is built showing a vortex of the highest vibrational energy feasible rising from underground.
Battaglia’s expertise is ortho-bionomy, a gentle, non-invasive osteopathically-based therapy that addresses chronic stress, trauma and pain.
His understanding of the emotional language of the body is quite rare, and within minutes his intense eyes will cut to the core of your soul.
Spiritual Shaman Stefano Battaglia
During a typical Glowing Flow session, applying varying degrees of manipulation, Battaglia somehow manages to slowly release deep-seated trauma from within, that after a few sessions, starts to retune that vital connection with the heart and open to a happier, more joyful way of being in the world.
Alongside an elite team of Chinese medicine doctors, Shiatsu masters, transformation coaches, barefoot athletes, naturopaths, yogis, forest bathing experts and unfailingly intuitive therapists—including the softly spoken Dr. Angener who offers assessments based around Heart Rate Variability diagnostics for a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the body—these integrated programs are precisely designed to rebalance the body, open the heart and ultimately bring us home to our true selves.
None of this is rocket science, but in our material world of ‘doing,’ it is not so easy.
Most of Battaglia’s clients are exhausted and stressed from many years lived in overdrive.
He says that most of us are so busy doing the Yang (dominant, male, doing energy) in Chinese medicine speak that there is little left to nourish the softer, more receptive and creative Yin (female, being energy), which is essential for overall balance and joy.
Wellness Pioneer Patrizia Bortolin 
And herein lies the magic, as you can’t find it in books—you have to find it in your body, and the wider world is slowly waking up to what our ancestors always knew: that the real genius in life is the Yin and we need to nurture her by smiling more, laughing more and being more.
Easy to do here with six floors of dedicated sauna and steam experiences and evenings spent stargazing from the rooftop pool. Of course, there are facials, massages, outstanding Ayurvedic treatments, gong meditations and the coziest relaxation pods ever.
As with the best destination spas, Preidlhof’s food is superb, and after early morning yoga, hiking or scooting through the olive groves on the coolest canary yellow Vespa scooters, a healthy hunger is worked up.
The award-winning restaurant (three toques by Gault Millau) prides itself on offering the best seasonal food bursting with flavor and freshness.
Here the pleasures of eating are taken seriously too, emphasizing training the senses and encouraging decidedly positive body image and awareness.
“After all, it’s not just what we eat, but why we eat, how and where,” Bortolin adds. With advice sought from leading Slow Food experts and food psychologists, they help guests use their senses to their full potential, so they can smell, taste and describe what they are eating and enjoying.
A specialized 7-course plant-based Wellness Healing Gourmet menu created by internationally renowned Healing Chef Emanuele Giorgione and Preidlhof‘s Vlastimil Stava is also available.
Opening the heart and mind is very much the Preidlhof prescription, and to this end, it excels.
Yet Battaglia’s star rises higher still, as his dynamic internal frequency transmits ever so precisely and subtly, through his heart and hands, all the while softly reminding you that you are the alchemist of your soul.
And in this deeply nurturing environment, powerful experiences such as these can be processed in a safe and mindful way.
So don’t forget your journal—this is your time to transform.
