Tiles made from coconut shells and bamboo beds with red feet? Some projects are a first even for a company with 90 years of experience. For example, the furnishing of the recently opened Bikini Island und Mountain Hotels Es Trenc in Mallorca. Instead of the usual modern alpine flair, the production facility of the Austrian hotel furnishing company Voglauer was transformed into a colourful place with boho vibes for this project.

It’s called slow food and yet the food at Villa Arnica is served very quickly. If you want, you can even choose your own ingredients in the natural garden. A glance over the garden fence is all it takes. Or you can take a few more steps into the 3,000 square metre Arnica field. The sun is shining. The first lettuces are poking their heads out of the soil. There is a delicate scent. The gardening season begins.

Was braucht es, um zu wachsen? Hindernisse vielleicht. Fehler. Angst – und ganz bestimmt auch Mut. Aber vor allem eines: Stille. Und ein paar tiefe Atemzüge. Am besten an einem Ort, an dem Stille laut sein darf, getragen von sanfter Musik und liebevollen Stimmen. Ein solcher Ort sind die Arise Body & Mind Studios der Alto Hotel Group in Lana und Bozen in Südtirol.

If you want to spell the Alfa Hotel, you might find more suitable words than Andrew, Lucy and Frederick – words that capture the feeling of this special place: A for alpine, L for letting go, F for finesse and A for a time out. All of this reflects in the spa area of the four-star hotel in Serfaus, which recently added an outdoor relaxation pool to provide even more space for relaxation.

Is there really a place called Maria Alm? Yes! Even if it does sound a bit like you’ve discovered an isolated place with an impressive name, a pilgrimage church and an idyllic mountain and meadow panorama. And in Maria Alm there is also a Josef, although his surname is Sepp. He’s the one who’s in charge of all the excitement round here with his eponymous hotel for “children over 21”, as he calls his guests.

PIA KNOESTER, THE VISIONARY BEHIND HELGABAD, SHARES HER JOURNEY FROM THE BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE INDUSTRY TO THE CREATION OF A BRAND CENTRED AROUND WATER
AND MINDFULNESS. HELGABAD IS NOT JUST ABOUT PRODUCTS; IT’S ABOUT ENHANCING EVERY-
DAY MOMENTS INTO SOMETHING SACRED. IN THIS INTERVIEW, PIA EXPLORES THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF WATER IN BOTH PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING, AND HOW HER PERSONAL EXPERIENCES SHAPED HER UNDERSTANDING OF ITS POWER.

How do you capture the essence of a place? One way to do it is through language. Learning basic words and phrases doesn’t just show respect, it also helps you to understand the people and their region a little better. It’s particularly interesting in South Tyrol, where melodic Italian meets rustic Tyrolean, resulting in as many dialects as there are valleys.