Palace Merano

Palace Merano is a residential medical spa in Merano, in Italy's South Tyrol, that has run health programmes out of an aristocratic hotel opened in 1906 and shifted away from conventional hospitality in 2000.

The core offer is the Revital Method: stays of four to eight days built around a doctor's assessment, a nutrition plan and treatments spread across eight departments. Programmes are priced from EUR 2,580 for four days to EUR 6,480 for six, accommodation included.

Diagnostics run through an in-house biological analysis laboratory listing general, hormonal, cardiac, iron and osteoporosis blood profiles, tumour markers and food-intolerance testing. The nutrition department offers a DEXA scan measuring fat mass, muscle mass and bone density, colon-hydrotherapy, oxygen-ozone therapy and Phlebo Revital, its own intravenous vitamin and mineral infusion. Elsewhere the site lists platelet-rich plasma injections, low-level light therapy and Cryobody, a dry cold-immersion treatment.

Five specialist check-ups - cardiology, urology, dermatology, gastroenterology and ophthalmology - are run with the neighbouring ST. JOSEF Health Centre rather than in-house.

The site claims more than 60 preventative-health specialists on staff. This is a residential proposition for guests booking a week away, not a walk-in clinic.