Austria’s Forsthofgut launches waldSPA Health – a wild new chapter in wellbeing

Leogang – a pocket of Alpine stillness where forest trails brush up against the rugged folds of the Steinberge – now hums with a quieter kind of revolution. Naturhotel Forsthofgut, the storied woodland retreat carved from its roots as a forest estate, has opened a new sensory sanctuary: waldSPA Health – a forward-thinking wellness concept fuelled by nature’s deep intelligence and designed for the seekers of slow vitality.

This is not your average spa extension. It’s a health hideaway forged from stillness, science, and elemental clarity – a layered experience that filters longevity thinking through a distinctly Alpine lens.

Spread across 5,700m² of sleek, timber-clad calm, the waldSPA Health isn't about trends or detox dogma – it’s a gentle invitation to reconnect. Think cryotherapy chambers set to an icy –110°C, UVida metabolic diagnostics, breathwork rituals that unfold in the hush of pine groves, and infusions of wild herbs and nutrients custom-mixed for your inner ecosystem. Hypoxia training, forest bathing, raw cacao ceremonies – everything is designed to move with you, not against you.

The whole ethos spirals out from four grounded pillars – Roots, Strength, Breath, Mind – a poetic nod to the anatomy of trees and a metaphor for human resilience. It's all about building strength at the base, expanding clarity in the crown, and letting the breath flow like the alpine wind through the firs.

This new chapter has been shaped in collaboration with an interdisciplinary Board of Experts – doctors, thinkers, and wellness disruptors who bring rigour and intuition to the table. Their imprint is felt in every detail: from the warm, curve-lined architecture with no sharp corners, to the Health Concierge who reads the body's cues like a forest path underfoot.

Nourishment, too, plays a starring role. The hotel’s culinary team doubles down on plant intelligence – antioxidant-rich plates, fermented signatures, and dishes marked out for their restorative qualities. It’s forest-to-table cuisine that tastes as good as it heals.

In June 2025, Forsthofgut hosts its first waldSPA Health Retreat – a slow immersion into this new kind of wellness. Over five days, guests breathe deep, move mindfully, and sink into regenerative rituals from cryo to cacao, all under the guidance of Dr Andrea Gartenbach and Andrea Guenther. Sunrise breathwork. Alpine brunches. The kind of silence that stays with you.

With this bold evolution, Forsthofgut doesn’t just add a spa programme – it rewrites the script on what a nature-led hotel can be. A place where luxury doesn’t shout, but listens. Where health isn’t a prescription, but a personal rhythm waiting to be found.