In a century-old concert hall with parquet wooden floors full of stories and windows flooded with Alpen Mountain views, I dance with 100 people from all around the globe. We sway, twirl, jut and contort to our own inner drummer around the huge room, which is the centerpiece of famed wellness retreat Schloss Elmau, the German Alps’ only five star resort.
In this historic room symphonies have been played, actors have performed, politicians have niggled one another and literati have convened. As part of a Gaga Movement Language dance retreat led by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin and some of his best-known teachers, we join a panoply of seekers and vacationers who have journeyed to this renowned wellness haven, as people have done for decades.
We’re here to pursue personal discovery and bliss — whether that means satisfying an intellectual whim, delving into new salubrious habits, honing athletic skills or simply wallowing in a bit if hedonism.
“People get really relaxed here,” says Dietmar Mueller-Elmau, CEO, scion of the family-owned resort and overall visionary of its au courant ambiance. Over pots of green tea and views of snow falling like powdered sugar from the sky, Mueller-Elmau and I chat about everything from Thomas Mann to why Gaga Retreats and their intuitive dance technique fit so seamlessly into Schloss Elmau’s eons of holiday history.
At one point, we giggle, noticing a pair of forgotten spa slippers left beneath a nearby chair. They seem a symbol of how easily guests metaphorically peel off the layers at this mountain haven.
Meant to provide options, Schloss Elmau doesn’t judge. You can traipse about the place in your colorful bathrobe (and spa slippers) or wear haute couture. You can swim naked here, take part in a retreat, listen to a concert performance by a celebrity musician, eat at a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, drink green juice or Bavarian beer, cavort with your family, read all day in a glorious library, learn to ski, or swelter in an outdoor sauna then jump into an icy creek.
You can (even) lose your slippers and return to your suite barefoot. Schloss Elmau reigns as place to find your bliss and celebrate it.
Mueller-Elmau, who has brought the tony resort into the future, deeply values individualism. He himself, ever on a quest for knowledge, personifies the spirit of Schloss Elmau as a curiosity satisfier’s paradise. “We have 12 fireplaces throughout the property,” he tells me. “One thing I insist on is that they stay lit all the time.”
I think about that later as I gyrate and jitter in Gaga class, then rest by a fire in one of Schloss Elmau’s hypnotic relaxation rooms. Ever aglow, the fires subtly symbolize how this resort can kindle something within, illuminate a thought — or perhaps turn it into ash, if that’s what’s needed. Schloss Elmau exists, perhaps, most of all, to fan the flame.
The Summit Suites
Stay
In the heart of the Bavarian Alps, this ne plus ultra resort punctuates a valley, fringed by the Wetterstein Mountains. Composed of two hotel buildings, the Hideaway (part of the original castle-like complex, re-created and renewed after a fire); and The Retreat, a sleekly cosseting, new-built hotel-within-a-hotel, with a stylish eco-lodge vibe.
Between the two structures, 162 rooms and suites invite, six spas beckon, eight restaurants tempt and multitudinous indoor and outdoor nooks — from libraries to pools — ensure guests will bask in delight. An overall understated design aesthetic fuses alluring exoticism (think unifying elephant-pattern pillows; headboards and upholstery in fabric by Andrew Martin) with earthiness (leather armchairs, wood elements aplenty), all with a pinch of streamlined elegance.
Minimalist enough to keep the mind open and uncluttered while being quixotically dream-laden and thought provoking, the resort takes itself seriously enough to host the G7 Summit (twice). Ever playful, however, it also welcomes babies, and honors the inner child within every adult. Though awash with a cornucopia of offerings, activities and possibilities, Schloss Elmau will surprise guests with its enveloping intimacy and warm spirit.
Top Suite
For longer stays with kids or for couples with a penchant for spaciousness, take one of the two Summit Suites, situated in the Retreat. They occupy corners, ensuring two-sided mountain views. Incorporating some 1,300-sq-ft, the Summit Suites soothe with Schloss Elmau’s classic mishmash of Mueller-Elmau’s preferred melded-yet-harmonious decor — Indian, Italian, Chinese and more — all of it deliberately summoned to spark an interest, to show, perhaps, how diversity makes all things more interesting.
Tuck into a stylish living room; two bedrooms; and a capacious bathroom with standing tub, Toto Washlet, heated floors and huge shower. Those needing more space can connect with the suite next door for even grander digs.
Schloss Elmau
Experience authentic aufguss ceremonies in the various saunas
Two-Michelin-starred Ikigai is the star of Schloss Elmau’s seven restaurants
During winter, the hotel offers free shuttles to nearby ski resorts
Buffet-style La Salle is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner
Dine
Enraptured by snug eateries and quietude when it comes to dining, I tend to shirk at the thought of eight restaurants at any one resort. But don’t be put off by the fact that Schloss Elmau offers just that: eight unique menus and locations around the sizeable property — some diminutive, others larger, one a hike away. As breathtaking as a magic carpet ride, two-Michelin-starred Ikigai is the showpiece.
The taste of each tiny, Japanese-meets-French-inspired course will linger in your mind for days like a stanza from a perfect poem. Tiny Ananda at the Badehaus spa in the Hideaway serves vegan cuisine, ideal for between treatment meals. Earn your strudel with a forty-minute uphill walk to hut-like Elmauer Alm for a taste of Bavaria. Overall, the various dining spaces turn out elevated options, with diverse focuses that range from Asian to healthy regional to pub food to private dining.
Relax
Mind, body and spirit will be bolstered at Schloss Elmau via cultural programs and endless wellness possibilities. Six spas, some for adults only, enliven the property. I found myself addicted to the Badehaus Spa at the Hideaway for its heated outdoor lap pools (one filled with saltwater) and the no-swimsuit-required edicts.
From authentic aufguss ceremonies in the various saunas to Jivamukti yoga classes and crystal gazing in the steam rooms, I pranced between spas and Gaga dance classes at a velocity some wouldn’t find relaxing. But the overall effect was deep sleep at night and beaming wakefulness in the mornings, ready to do it all again. Don’t miss the old-fashioned pleasure of reading in Schloss Elmaus’ multiple libraries, which waft the perfume of pages waiting to be turned.
Explore
There’s so much to do at Schloss Elmau, including winter and summer sports aplenty. In winter a free shuttle delivers guests to the best slopes at top notch ski spots, such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Seefeld. Munich lies less than two hours from the resort, and Innsbruck is less than an hour away.
