A Convent on a Rock Above the Pustertal
Perched on a wooded crag above St. Lorenzen, Castel Badia is the kind of hotel that comes with its own sense of time. The former Benedictine convent, whose origins go back to the eleventh century, reopened in December 2025 after a careful restoration by the Melpignano family of Borgo Egnazia. Twenty-eight rooms and suites now occupy the old complex, alongside a chalet in the former convent bakery, a spa tucked into the medieval walls and heated pools looking out across the valley. Romanesque frescoes remain in the crypt, while the slopes of Kronplatz are just five kilometres away.
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Photography © Castel Badia.
Rooms & Availability
Bella
On the first or second floor, looking onto the courtyard or down the valley, with a walk-in rain shower and, in some, a sofa set into the deep window alcove of the old walls.
Bella
Splendida
Larger rooms under timber ceilings, facing the courtyard or the valley, some with a balcony, with a walk-in shower and a freestanding bathtub.
Splendida
Sublime Junior Suite
Junior suites with views over the valley and the mountains; depending on the room, a balcony, terrace or patio, a bathtub or a walk-in wardrobe.
Sublime Junior Suite
Preziosa Junior Suite
The junior suites that kept the most of the old convent: panelled walls, historic ceilings and, in some, a balcony, terrace or patio and a bathtub.
Preziosa Junior Suite
Stupenda Suite
Two suites on the first floor, each with a separate bedroom, a rain shower and a bathtub; one has a private sauna, the other sits inside one of the old towers.
Stupenda Suite
Magnifica
Under the sloping roof with a view of the Dolomites, heated floors and a freestanding bathtub; one of them opens onto a small rooftop terrace.
Magnifica
Meravigliosa Tower Suite
A tower suite over two levels, with an upper lounge that can become a second bedroom, and a bathroom with both a shower and a bathtub.
Meravigliosa Tower Suite
The Chalet
The old watchtower that became the convent bakery in 1693, now a house of its own over three levels: two double bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a private garden with an outdoor whirlpool.
The Chalet
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The spa is laid into the medieval walls, its treatment rooms in former nuns' cells, with an indoor pool and two heated outdoor pools looking over the Pustertal; dinner is served in panelled Stuben under carved ceilings.
Photography © Castel Badia.
ST. LORENZEN | OCTOBER 2026
A Thousand Years on the Sonnenburg, From Convent to Castle Hotel
Castel Badia does not feel like a hotel that has been inserted into an old building. The building is the hotel. Its rooms, corridors and public spaces unfold through a former Benedictine convent whose oldest parts date to around the year 1000, with Romanesque frescoes in the crypt, cross-vaulted rooms and carved wooden ceilings still intact. The result is atmospheric without feeling staged: stone and old timber alongside soft carpets, contemporary furniture, art and books, with the Dolomites appearing through the windows.
Much of the restoration was about knowing what not to change. South Tyrolean studio Null17 worked with Nathalie and Virginie Droulers on the architecture, while Marta Ferri designed the interiors, bringing in natural materials and colours drawn from the surrounding landscape. Historic details were restored rather than reproduced, and local craftsmen were involved throughout. The old convent bakery, dating to 1693, is now a three-storey chalet; the spa occupies the basement, with treatment rooms fitted into former nuns' cells. Even the public spaces retain the feeling of a house that has evolved over time rather than one completed all at once.
There is a slightly unexpected story behind the convent itself. The women who lived here were among the wealthiest nuns in South Tyrol, and life inside the walls was considerably less austere than the word convent might suggest. They came from noble families, kept close ties with the surrounding villages and were occasionally reprimanded by the bishop for leaving the convent to visit friends and family. Their abbey became one of the most powerful in the region before being dissolved in 1785. The building later fell into decline, until Karl Knötig bought it in 1965 and turned it into a hotel. After another major restoration, it reopened as Castel Badia in December 2025.
Today, the place feels less like a historic property being preserved for its own sake than a hotel that happens to have an extraordinary past. The wood-panelled Stube serves South Tyrolean cooking, while a new restaurant is planned in the former abbess's rooms. The spa, garden and pools make it easy to stay put, but Kronplatz is only a short drive away and Bruneck is close enough for an afternoon in town. What makes Castel Badia distinctive is the balance: it has the weight and irregularity of a building that has been lived in for centuries, but none of the stiffness that can come with it.
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