Hotel Chalet Mirabell is one of those places that has you at hello. It’s a short drive up the hill from the Dolomite mountain town of Merano, but the sanctum of the lobby is a world of its own. And ...

It was by choice that I ended up naked in a 140-degree room, dripping sweat in the company of 12 similarly unattired strangers, both men and women. We sat, melting, in the “event sauna” at Hotel ...