The Feuerstein family resort in South Tyrol reopens on 3 December with a 32 °C pool in the snow

Deep in a snowy valley in South Tyrol, Italy, the Feuerstein Nature Family Resort reopens for the winter on 3 December 2026. This family-focused five-star looks after children aged 0 to 16, 70 hours a week, while parents enjoy a 3,000 m² spa. Four pools, including an outdoor pool at 32 °C facing the peaks, and ski slopes 4 km away round off the stay.

☰Contents

1. From 1982 youth hostel to five-star resort
2. Seventy hours of childcare every week
3. Four pools, one at 32 °C in the snow
4. A 3,000 m² spa with an adults-only wing
5. Sledging, skating and ski slopes 4 km away
6. Eight dining rooms and a bar redone in May 2026
7. What does a family night cost?

From 1982 youth hostel to five-star resort

The Feuerstein was a youth hostel in 1982. Peter Mader, a former plumber, bought it in 2000 and runs it with his wife Sarah and their daughters. The house had 28 rooms and three stars in 2004; then came the chalets in 2011, the play barn in 2016, the fifth star in 2017, an equestrian centre in 2022 and a farm in spring 2024. In the same region, see also our review of the Quellenhof See Lodge and Castel Badia, a former convent in the Dolomites.

Seventy hours of childcare every week

Childcare follows the teaching of Maria Montessori, summed up in her motto “Help me to do it myself”. Staff look after children aged 0 to 16 from 9am to 4pm and again from 6pm to 9pm; between 4pm and 6pm, activities are shared with parents. Teenagers have their own programme during the school holidays.

Children move from the hay-filled barn to the woodwork shop, the painting studio, the climbing wall or the “mud room”, where getting dirty is allowed. Since December 2024, an Action Room has combined a Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course with an interactive trampoline, and the baby area has been enlarged. Outside, horses, ponies, alpacas, goats and donkeys await the most curious.

Four pools, one at 32 °C in the snow

The 20 m outdoor pool, “The View”, is heated to 31-32 °C all year round, snow included. Indoors, the thrill pool (32-33 °C) starts with a 100 m timed slide, next to a learner pool at 33 °C and a baby pool at 34-35 °C. The heated swimming lake, on the other hand, only opens from June to October.

A 3,000 m² spa with an adults-only wing

The Mountain Spa covers 3,000 m². For families, there is a family sauna and a softly lit sensory room (known as Snoezelen). The adults-only area spans four floors, with saunas, relaxation rooms and a roof terrace with a hot tub and a cold plunge pool. A 160 m² gym, open day and night, and a yoga loft complete the picture.

Sledging, skating and ski slopes 4 km away

In winter, the football pitch becomes an ice rink, with skates for hire, and a beginners’ ski conveyor awaits under-4s in the garden. The small Ladurns ski area, 4 km away, has 18 km of slopes, and the hotel shuttles children there for ski lessons. 13 km away, the Rosskopf (Monte Cavallo) claims Italy’s longest toboggan run, open on certain evenings; Ratschings-Jaufen is 27 km away. For more ideas, see the new luxury ski hotels for winter 2026-2027.

Eight dining rooms and a bar redone in May 2026

Full board includes breakfast, buffets at lunchtime and teatime and a five-course dinner, served in a restaurant split into eight small rooms; the Artifex gourmet table opens on certain evenings. Reception was redone in December 2025, then the bar was completely redesigned and the room enlarged for the reopening on 21 May 2026: this winter will be the new bar’s first.

What does a family night cost?

On the official website, on 26 October 2026, the night of 9 to 10 December cost €711 for two adults and a 6-year-old child, in a 35 m² Dolomit room with a bunk bed, meals, childcare and spa included. With a separate children’s room (Amethyst family room, 38 m²), it came to €858; for two, the night of 3 to 4 December cost €594. Tourist tax is extra.

The resort offers several packages: “Winter Opening Special” from 3 to 5 December (from €428 per person for 2 nights), “The First Snow” from 8 to 19 December (4 nights from €700 per person), “White Days” from 10 to 29 January 2027 (4 nights from €780), “White Weeks” from 6 to 31 January (7 nights from €1,550) and “Sun, Fun & Ski” from late February to March 2027.