Belle Rice explores what’s new at the forefront of medical well-being at Palazzo Fiuggi.
When a week’s stay at the grand Palazzo Fiuggi in Italy clocks in at a little over £1,000 per night, you might be wondering what could persuade you to part with the best part of £10,000 (at the very minimum)? But while there may not be champagne on ice waiting for you in your suite or even a minibar stocked with luxury nibbles, there’s good reason this striking art nouveau villa nestled atop a woodland hill has serious appeal for those seeking a fresh start, or even just some quiet time.
The truth is, if you’re searching for a lifestyle change, a therapeutic spell away from it all or the chance to explore medical treatments in the utmost privacy, this smart wellness resort ticks all the right boxes.
Located just an hour’s drive from central Rome, the historic town of Fiuggi is home to natural springs, which have been celebrated for their healing powers for more than 600 years. The water has long been said to assist with lowering blood pressure, alongside wider issues with kidney stones and urology. A renowned centre for wellness, the Palazzo isn’t the only hotel here with healthy living at its core, but it’s by far the most luxurious and thorough in its treatment approach.
One of the Palazzo’s pillars is “food as medicine”, and each guest is given a personalised nutrition plan devised by the three-Michelin-starred chef Heinz Beck in accordance with their short- and long-term goals – with temptations such as alcohol and caffeine removed. Every guest works with the team on a personalised schedule around a key wellness aim, be it longevity, detox and weight management, restoration and balance (fitness, in other words) or the medical and diagnostic side, which can include sleep recovery and a full body check-up.
State-of-the-art facilities are available to use across the 6,000-square-metre premises, including 30 treatment rooms, a 400-square-metre movement lab kitted out with TechnoGym and Icaros Virtual Reality machines, a Kineses Circuit 3D and a team of highly qualified PTs.
There’s also a chic Roman-style “Therme” with saunas and Turkish baths, an extensive spa offering an abundance of highly specialised treatments including thalassotherapy with Fiuggi water for anti-inflammatory and detoxifying effects, a Psammo experience that uses the dry heat of quartz sand for muscle and joint pain, and plasma light therapy, which uses infrared technology to stimulate metabolism.
Each protocol, therapy and treatment has been approved by the Palazzo’s team of on-site doctors – there are 15 of them – with an array of specialities with two in residence all the time. The full-body check-up offers an extensive look at all anatomy aspects, and if anything is amiss, it can often be treated on site. There is also a popular aesthetics clinic where you can explore treatment options in privacy.
Guests can also learn at the Heinz Beck cookery school, so you’re able to put into practice the lifestyle changes you make during your stay long after you’ve left – the aim here is to change your lifestyle and living habits for a lifetime. So when it comes to crunching the numbers, from euros and cents to kilograms and pounds, many would say, Palazzo Fiuggi is a sound return on investment. palazzofiuggi.com
First published in the February 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.