29 Dec 2017
Burgenstock’s medical wellness hotel opens with forest-bathing design
BY Jane Kitchen
Bürgenstock Hotels & Resort Lake Lucerne has opened the final hotel in its portfolio, the Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence, a medical wellness centre offering physical and mental wellbeing through a ‘Healthy by Nature’ concept.
Designed by Italian architect Matteo Thun, the five-star Waldhotel features a team of multidisciplinary physicians, using cardiology, internal medicine, dermatology, orthopaedics, psychosomatics, dentists to nutrition and gastroenterology to treat and prevent health concerns.
The physicians will be supported by medical staff from the Kantonsspital Luzern and Kantonsspital Nidwalden and led by medical director Dr Michael Brabetz.
Based on the belief of convalescing in scenic surroundings, the Waldhotel is located in a forested area of natural beauty and designed to be gradually enveloped by the surrounding greenery to embrace the concept of forest bathing.
All 160 terrace rooms and suites are exposed to the sun from morning to evening and boast south-views of the Alps and the Swiss countryside. Additionally, 18 specialist medical rehabilitation rooms are available, alongside five rooms for accompanying guests.
The hotel offers tailored Waldhotel Health Packages based on five key topics: Diagnostic and Medical Check-up, Mobility and Activity, Weight Management and Metabolism, Body and Mind Balance, and Beauty and Healthy Ageing.
Each stay begins with a minimum three-night basic medical programme to ascertain individual requirements, examinations and treatments. Physical examinations, diagnostics, laboratory tests, imaging diagnostics and physiotherapy services are combined to draw findings discussed with an attending physician.
Options for Pro packages under the following topics can then be added based on findings, while bespoke ‘Excellence Programmes’ can be developed to meet individual needs:
• Diagnostic and Medical Check Up – multidisciplinary diagnostics including imaging, health risk assessment and health consulting.
• Mobility and Activity – focusing on performance and revitalisation, including orthopaedics, sports medicine, metabolic and cardiovascular revitalization, ophthalmology, physiotherapy & physical therapy and integrative medicine.
• Weight Management and Metabolism – sustainable weight reduction & regulation, nutrition & dietetics and IMetBalance.
• Body and Mind Balance – assessment of work-place & work-life balance, consulting, burn out treatment and personal coaching.
• Beauty and Healthy Aging – dermatology, cosmetics & spa, dental health and aesthetics.
The Waldhotel Spa features an indoor pool, as well as an outdoor pool with views of the Alps, a sole grotto, Kneipp baths, Finnish sauna heated to 80 degrees Celsius, aroma sauna at 60 degrees Celsius, hammam, ice room, relaxation area indoors and outdoors, water beds and secluded massage cabins.
In addition to the hotel’s health and medical facilities, the Waldhotel also includes two 160sq m (1,720sq ft) conference rooms, a boardroom, library, herb garden with 30 types of herbs and an educational kitchen.
Wellness is continued in the Waldhotel’s dining options, with the Verbena Restaurant and Bar providing health-conscious dishes.
Natural construction materials including wood and stone from local surroundings have been used where possible, in addition to limestone from the excavation.
The Burgenstock Resort, perched on a cliffside 500m (1,600ft) above Lake Lucerne, also includes a newly renovated historic hotel and a new five-star hotel with a 10,000sq m (107,640sq ft) Alpine Spa overlooking the lake. The entire project has taken nine years of extensive construction work and renovation by developer Katara Hospitality, which described its CHF550m revamp as “the project of the century”.
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