Health is the luxury of the current time. And if, like me, you’re slightly past the age of 50, then you care so much about your physical well-being that you invest your lifetime in prevention. Regardless of whether it’s “bikini body season” again. Bringing your own health back into shape is not always a bed of roses. Sometimes even more of a pickle season. Luckily there are places like the Lanserhof where you (re)find your own balance almost by yourself – physically and mentally.
As a hotelier, new beginnings fascinate me to this day. I’ve opened numerous hotels on four continents and I know what the times before that are like. Pretty much anything happens. Just mostly not what is written on the detailed plan. What I didn’t know until now: that the pre-opening can give a foretaste of the guest experience.
I accompanied the Lanserhof Sylt pre-opening team a few days before the first guest arrived last Monday in order to gather initial impressions for you – and of course also out of curiosity. How is a house of superlatives, because that’s what it is, designed in the last meters? The answer is simple: professional, loving and full of energy.
Health is the top priority for the guest and also for the Lanserhof pre-opening team. Everyday work begins with a fresh breeze on the beach. During a morning exercise session with hotel manager Dorit von der Osten, we gather positive energy for the day ahead.
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Carsten K. Rath as the first guest at Lanserhof Sylt
Exactly this positive mood flows into every pore of the house. Every guest wishes for a team like this! A total of 150 motivated employees take care of those looking for relaxation. That’s around 2.5 employees per guest and therefore Asian standards. Dorit is a full professional. I opened the Hotel Adlon in Berlin with her in the 90s and the Kameha Grand in Bonn in 2009.
The positive energy of the team radiates from the architecture of the house, at least I see and feel it in every corner. The thatched roof is probably the largest I will ever see. The dormers have been developed into tasteful balconies and are used very practically. A great continuation of traditional Sylt architecture, bold and forward-looking.
I never thought I would be gushing about treatment rooms. They are usually cool and do not convey a comfortable feeling. Not so at the Lanserhof on Sylt. I lie on the therapy table for a test and imagine that I’m waiting for my check-up while I can see the dunes through the floor-to-ceiling windows and the sea over the dunes. Sensational. The location is an integral part of the luxury health concept lived here, so that even the therapists rave about it.
Christian Harisch has used the Sylt dune landscape for a new Lanserhof chapter.
(Photo: Alexander Haiden)
The room I live in is ready to move into even in the pre-opening phase. I am therefore guest 1. The interior is elegantly designed and looks very friendly thanks to the light colours, the wooden beams and the large windows. Excellent workmanship and fine fabrics everywhere. I have a fantastic view of the sea from my walk-in dormer window. My accommodation alone makes me feel a lot better. I sleep better here than anywhere else.
This is certainly also due to the fact that around two million euros were spent on each room, if you allocate the total investment. In my opinion, the investment is very well invested. After all, the guests also want to regain their strength far away from the treatment sessions.
But beware: If you are traveling as a couple, you should choose your suite carefully. In the upper rooms, the bathrooms are separated only by a glass door or even a curtain, albeit a noble one. To be fair, there is a second toilet downstairs in the suite, closed off from the rest of the rooms.
The Lanserhof, with its branches on Lake Tegernsee and now on Sylt, together with a clinic in Lans (Austria) and day care centers in Hamburg and London, is one of the leading health centers in Europe. During my last 14-day stay at Lanserhof am Tegernsee, I lost a whopping eight kilograms of body weight and gained a new understanding of the empathy between team and guest.
Light colours, wooden beams and large windows dominate the elegant design of the rooms.
(Photo: Alexander Haiden)
In addition to the natural places of power such as the Tegernsee valley and the sea climate of the North Sea, it is again the therapists, hoteliers, i.e. doctors and hosts, who make the concept what it is today: a symbiosis of top medicine, naturopathy and holistic energy management. In contrast to one or the other competitor, the Lanserhof does not have a “one fits all” concept, on the contrary. Pure individuality. Every pore in every body is different, a lovely therapist told me.
My previously positive feeling on Sylt is also reinforced here by the employees. A beautiful view refreshes me, but in the end it doesn’t necessarily make me healthier. My orthopedic treatment is carried out by Claudia Zeitler-Bürschgens. The lady is a massage therapist, osteopath and physiotherapist, among other things, and now combines the best of all for a successful and, above all, individual treatment.
I am arriving with severe hip pain and am hoping for relief in this environment. I won’t be able to avoid an operation, but after four days at Lanserhof I have the good feeling that the operating table can maybe wait another five years for me. Jan Stritzke, the chief physician, and Christina Heckberg, specialist, take care of me holistically. They are also ambassadors of empathy.
Staircase in the Lanserhof.
(Photo: Carsten K. Rath)
In particular, preventive health care is the magic word. Anyone who is healthy and would like to stay longer is in the right place at the Lanserhof. All areas work together in this house. The kitchen conjures up the right menu for me with its energy cuisine – thanks to chef Dietmar Priewe and after consultation with the doctors. I wouldn’t have minded a few more calories, but of course my health comes first.
Of course I didn’t miss the critical voices about the Lanserhof. The modern architecture would influence the island landscape. Well, that’s a positive development for me. The wonderful thatched roof fits perfectly into the roof culture of the island. I still remember previous openings on Sylt: When the A-Rosa opened its doors, there was criticism. The same happened with the opening of the Severin and Budersand Hotels. I really would have been worried if there hadn’t been any criticism of the Lanserhof. Ultimately, all of these houses characterize the island and contribute to the fact that guests from near and far want to experience a little bit of Sylt.
Conclusion: The Lanserhof surpasses itself on Sylt again
The dormers of the individual houses have been converted into balconies.
(Photo: Christoph Ingenhoven)
Hopefully entrepreneurial courage will be rewarded. I have great respect for the way Christian Harisch uses the dune landscape for a new, sea-fresh Lanserhof chapter and implements his visions for the guest. The journey to Sylt and then to List at the end of the island is certainly a bit difficult, but it is worth it. If I had to choose between the Lanserhof on Lake Tegernsee and the new jewel on Sylt for my next health-conscious stay? Then I would choose my favorite German island. And this time order a more extensive menu from the kitchen…
Rath’s travel rating (current rating in bold):
1. Explicit Travel Warning
2. Better than under the bridge
3. So-la-la, not o-la-la
4. Complaining at a high level
5. If only it were always like this
6. BIG (HEALTHY) CINEMA
About the author: As a former grand hotelier and operator of a travel platform, Carsten K. Rath is a professional globetrotter. He travels to all the hotels he writes about for the Handelsblatt on his own account. Rath is the source of ideas for the ranking “The 101 best hotels in Germany”, whose partners include the Handelsblatt.
More: Ranking “The 101 best hotels in Germany”: Four seasons of Hamburg and Schloss Elmau together at the top