Spa Spotlight Alcide Leali, Lefay Resorts & Residences
Heart and soul
Alcide Leali is a man on a mission to deliver world-class wellness hospitality through his family brand. We meet the CEO of Italy’s celebrated Lefay Resorts & Residences to hear about his vision to promote health-conscious living INTERVIEW BY SARAH CAMILLERI
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t’s now seven years since I first travelled to Lake Garda to experience the exceptional spa destination Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda, beloved flagship resort of the trailblazing Leali family. Back then, I was impressed by this eco-resort’s location, design, immersive wellbeing programmes and ground-breaking approach to sustainability and guest service. Over the years, I have often returned to reset and recharge. The resort is now welcoming back wellness seekers after an ambitious €15 million (£12.8 million) facelift. Repolished to match the ‘wow’ factor of its chic mountain sister Lefay Resort & SPA Dolomiti, which opened to great acclaim in 2019, the revitalised destination has also refreshed its award-winning spa programmes, a combination of Classical Chinese From left: Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda’s €15 million refurb has delivered a new adults-only thermal zone; stunning mountain views from the indoor-outdoor pool
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Medicine and modern preventative health expertise presented as the Lefay SPA Method. Lefay Resorts & Residences CEO, Alcide Leali is as passionate about Lefay’s evolution as when I first met him all those years ago. “Lefay has always been my family’s dream – a dream which began in 2006 when we moved away from the airline business and into hospitality with a mission to create a leading Italian brand in the luxury wellness industry,” he says. “We always wanted to do something different here in our beloved homeland and were lucky enough to find this beautiful piece of land high up here on the side of the mountain for our flagship Lefay destination.” With the brand’s flagship reopened, Leali is proud of the work of his team and Italian designers Studio Apostoli. “It was always our dream to build a collection of Lefay destinations in the most amazing places in Italy. Here in the lakes, our second in the mountains, and our third is scheduled to open in the next two years in the heart of the Tuscan countryside,” he reveals.
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