The water of life: How one Roman hotel is promising rejuvenation via an age-old technique
Revered for its healing effects, Fiuggi water has been taken for centuries. A historic resort adds cutting-edge treatments and fine-tuned cuisine to the mix
A roughly one-hour car drive from Rome airport, the 102-key Palazzo Fiuggi is set within a private park, framed by hills, forests and the resort town for which it’s named. Since 2021, and following extensive refurbishment and restoration, the property has been operating as a luxury wellness resort, replete with a 64,000-square-feet spa, and a team of practitioners that includes doctors, personal trainers and physiotherapists. It’s a new era for the art nouveau-style edifice, and one that befits its illustrious history: opened in 1913 as the Grand Hotel Palazzo della Fonte, it was the first hotel in continental Europe equipped with a swimming pool. Its list of guests too stands out; among the names are King Vittorio Emanuele III and Pablo Picasso. Later, the stars of Cinecittà and Hollywood cinema stayed here, including Sophia Loren and Ingrid Bergman.
'At Palazzo Fiuggi, our goal is not simply to help guests feel better, it is to help them discover what feeling truly well can be'
The retreat is part of a spa town built on Fiuggi water, a low-mineral water that is rich in fulvic and humic acids, calcium and magnesium. Fiuggi water is known to soften kidney stones and to be a natural diuretic, meaning it can be used to flush out metabolic waste, acids and heavy metals. Its use as a therapy can be dated back to the Renaissance, as reported by Michelangelo.
Cups of Fiuggi water are still drunk at Palazzo Fiuggi today; a daily ritual in between hikes up and across the surrounding mountains, exercise classes in a gym furnished with Technogym equipment and hand-blown Murano glass chandeliers, and other, mostly one-on-one, treatments from a menu of options that includes both holistic therapies and medical advancements, such as plasma light therapy, prescribed to invigorate skin.
The hotel utilises water from its spa town surroundings
Deep Detox, Regenerate, and Longevity are the names of some of the programmes to check in for, most of which require a commitment of at least seven nights. Wellness Break is slightly shorter – a three-night option exists – and its itinerary includes expert consultations, deep-tissue massage, a Kobido lifting facial massage, a hammam ritual and thalassotherapy. Three-step hydrotherapy appointments are a guest favourite: a Dead Sea mineral mud body wrap follows warm hydrotherapy bathing, with a massaging shower being the final phase. Each programme is dotted with dishes made from organic, locally sourced ingredients, and created by three-star Michelin chef Heinz Beck, who also trained in natural bioenergies and naturopathy.
‘At Palazzo Fiuggi, our goal is not simply to help guests feel better, it is to help them discover what feeling truly well can be. We want them to leave with renewed energy, mental clarity and a deeper understanding of their own health,’ says Dr Fabrizio Di Salvio, the property’s head doctor and co-creator of the Palazzo Fiuggi method, a special blend of nutrition, medical consultations, treatments and the famous natural spring water. ‘Most importantly, we want them to feel empowered, equipped with the knowledge, habits and motivation to continue investing in their wellbeing long after they have left our doors.’
