Want to try cryotherapy but hate the cold? We tested a gentle new version that’s coming to the UK

You may have headed to the mountains to ski but have you visited in the warmer months, once the snow has melted away? Many savvy ski resorts are now upping their out-of-season wellbeing offerings, which makes perfect sense. I mean, why should only winter sports fans get to enjoy that vitality-boosting fresh air and sunshine, while being at one with those exquisite natural landscapes? The five-star Gardena Grödnerhof spa hotel, in the Italian Dolomites resort of Ortisei, is a case in point. From late May to late October, there’s plenty here to satisfy fitness and wellbeing fiends, from a cutting edge new cryotherapy bed (cold-haters, read on!) and a suite of saunas so you can get your contrast therapy fix, to hiking and e-biking, and gourmet food.

Clean, green and serene: the views from the hotel are pretty special

Hotel spas can be something of an afterthought – a cursory massage menu or a basement room converted into a tiny gym – but the Gardena Grödnerhof has one of the best spas I’ve visited. The interiors are chic, the space is vast and serene, and the treatments are high-end.

I was particularly excited to try a Zerobody cryotherapy bed session during my two-night stay. It’s a new type of cold therapy that’s gentler and more relaxing than traditional cryo – where you’re basically locked in a freezer and hope someone rescues you before you die. As a delicate flower who hates being cold but loves the health benefits of cold therapy (reduced inflammation and improved immunity, for a start), Zerobody appealed – scroll down to see how I got on.

Bolzano airport is the nearest to the hotel, just 17 miles away but it only offers direct UK flights during ski season. I flew into Verona, 90 miles and a 2.5 hour transfer away, and then back from Venice –  81 miles away and involving a picturesque drive up and down through the valleys. You can also travel via Innsbruck, 75 miles to the north, across the border into Austria.

What is the Gardena Grödnerhof Hotel spa like?

The 17m indoor pool is a thing of beauty – complete with chandeliers and a huge fireplace (!), moody lighting and imposing wooden panelling. It’s far bigger than the standard hotel pool so you can certainly get your laps in.

The 17m pool, complete with low lighting, fireplace and sofas

Upstairs, there’s the expansive sauna area, with a traditional Finnish sauna, a ‘soft’ sauna (a bit cooler, so a good starter one if you’re a newbie), a steam room, a long cold-water plunge pool that you walk through, a relaxation room with day beds and a large outdoor whirlpool with mountain views.

The ridiculously chic sauna and cold plunge area. Naked German OAPs not pictured (thankfully)

Not forgetting the snack area (yes!) with a huge selection of herbal teas, dried fruits and nuts, and little pots of body scrub made with local honey. I was tempted to eat it but it’s actually to take into the steam room and apply to your limbs.

The saunas and steam rooms have a nudity-only policy – yikes! – which took this prudish Brit by surprise. You can, however, wrap yourself in a towel. I was greeted by a rabble of marauding elderly German men, merrily shaking it all about (body confidence is high among this demographic) and was so flustered, I walked slap-bang into a plate-glass door. Fortunately, I found the women-only section, complete with sauna, steam room, and a relaxation room that I was actually able to relax in.

If you use the saunas in the morning, you’ll likely have them to yourself. There’s a rhythm to the days here – guests tend to head out hiking, walking or cycling after breakfast and then return to the hotel to kick back in the afternoon.

What happens in Zerobody cryotherapy?

Zerobody cryotherapy is like a waterbed crossed with a flotation tank. As one of the 0.001 percent of midlife British women who hate cold water swimming, this spoke to me. Zerobody isn’t yet prevalent in the UK, although has recently arrived in a handful of Tanning Shop branches, including the London Oxford Circus one. (As the demand for tanning beds falls due to greater awareness of skin cancer risks, it makes sense to diversify into a new type of bed that boosts health rather than damages it.)

Nervously trying out the cryotherapy bed

With Zerobody, forget the horror of stepping into a standard minus 100-degree Celsius cryo chamber or plunging into icy water, this is a more palatable way of reaping the benefits of cold therapy. Cryo for wimps? I’m in.

I laid down on the bed in a treatment room, wearing shorts and a vest, while the therapist swaddled me in an inflatable plastic duvet, filled with five-degree Celsius cold water. Then the base of the bed was lowered, leaving me suspended in a chilly cocoon for three minutes (you can do up to eight). Bolts of pain pulsed up my feet and legs but it wasn’t unbearable and, by focusing on my breathing, I found it was over in a flash.

Then the nice bit – they warm you up again. This is contrast therapy, which helps improve your circulation and speed up recovery from exercise. Once freed from my icy lair, I climbed into a similar contraption but this time the duvet was filled with hot water. I stayed for 20 minutes, with the lights down low, listening to relaxing music, while the warmth returned to my limbs. It was a lovely sensation but I was so energised by the cryo, I found it hard to lie still – I was itching to get onto the next thing.

What other spa treatments does the Gardena Grödnerhof offer?

That next thing was heavenly too – a languorous 90 minute sports massage – with the help of large wooden rollers. I was alarmed at first when the therapist opened up a briefcase of what looked like baseball bats made of pine – please don’t beat me up! – but the tools sure did the job. A rolling pin pulled repeatedly over my aching calves released muscle tension. I liked how she expertly switched between using the wood and using her hands.

They have a massage for every mood here in nine treatment rooms– lymphatic drainage, Thai, toning, one on a waterbed, and so on. You’ll find a variety of facials, using Natura Bissé products, all manner of body scrubs, wraps and peels, manis, pedis, waxing, and lash and brow services. The prices are reasonable for a 5-star hotel and a spa of this quality – £65 for a manicure, for example. The Active Programme – cryotherapy treatment and a sports massage – I tried cost £200.

What about the e-biking and hiking at the Gardena Grödnerhof?

I tried an electric bike for the first time and it was a revelation – that extra firepower is most welcome when you’re trying to pedal up mountain trails, and you can go far further on this kind of terrain than you’d be able to go on a normal bike. We had a patient, friendly guide, who costs £290 for a half day for up to eight people (so from £36 per person), while the bike costs £33 for a half-day hire. Unlike the UK, the cycle paths are joined-up and safe, with most completely segregated from roads. We wound our way past babbling brooks and sweet South Tyrolean villages dotted through the Gardena valley.

Kerry pretending to cycle up mountains (but actually letting the e-bike do the work)

Don’t miss the guided mountain hikes either (£290 for half a day). Like the e-biking, the hotel team will sort it all out for you. We took the cable car up to the top of the mountain and then walked up and down gentle slopes for a couple of hours. You’ll need sturdy boots and waterproof layers because – plot twist! – it started snowing during our hike, an anomaly for the first week of September. The temperature had been 30 degrees the previous week but quickly plunged to just three. Despite having to borrow the guide’s gloves and spare coat, I found it a magical, meditative experience; a world away from the crowded pistes of the winter season. I became a bit breathless as I adjusted to the altitude so was forced to walk more slowly than my usual stomp, which was unexpectedly calming.

What is the gym like?

What are the rooms like?

The 64 bedrooms are comfortable, quiet and tastefully designed –lots of blond wood and neutral soft furnishings, with balconies to take in the air and views. The handmade chocolates and ultra fluffy bath robe were nice touches.

What is the food like?

There’s a tiny, atmospheric 12-seater Michelin-starred restaurant on site, Anna Stuben, where we gobbled up the modern European tasting menu, washed down with delicious local sparkling wine.

The 12-seater Michelin-starred restaurant. They definitely haven’t chucked out the chintz

Meanwhile, the main restaurant has the breakfast buffet of dreams; the tables laden with various types of homemade bread and Italian pastries, fresh fruits, smoothies, Bircher muesli, yogurt, eggs and so on.

This is Italy so clearly you must eat the pasta – and we found we needed that kind of hearty sustenance after all those fresh air activities. One lunchtime I had a bowl with fresh pesto, juicy prawns and creamy burrata that, months later, I still daydream about.

The verdict

The Gardena Grödnerhof is ideal for an indulgent, soothing wellbeing break in this under-the-radar spot where Italy meets Austria. A family-run hotel for 100 years, it’s sleek and serene, with superb service. Don’t come to party (everyone dined eat early and disappeared off to their rooms by 10pm), come to unwind and slow down. Early autumn or very early summer are the quietest times, as you won’t hit the ski season or school holidays and prices will be lower. I’d recommend a two or three-night stay – and you could always combine it with a few days in a bustling Italian city for contrast. Children are very welcome but if you can get away without them for some R&R, this is the place to do it.

Head to Ortisei’s pretty town centre to stock up on essential cowbells

And it’s well worth tearing yourself away from the spa to wander around the centre of Ortisei, which you cross a flower-framed stream to reach, with its pastel-coloured Italianate architecture and curious little shops, crammed all the jumbo packs of cured meat and cowbells you might need. When in the mountains, after all…

Double rooms from £459 on a B&B basis, gardena.it/en