Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort

Why book?

To enjoy a perfect holiday on the Baltic Sea, whether in midsummer or off-season. And since the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort – to use its lengthy full name – lies right on the water, the two-mile-long beach is less than a two-minute walk past the property’s gate. More succinctly, guests come for the unmatched sense of tranquillity that they experience here, at a resort where everyone can find the perfect setting that fits their own style of relaxation. They can choose from a dock extending over the water-lily-covered pond, a tree swing by an amphitheatre or a small observatory with panoramic windows. Weissenhaus offers – and this is definitely meant as a compliment – curated, cultivated and relaxing boredom, just as you reminisce about from your lazy childhood school vacations.

Set the scene

From Hamburg, it’s about an hour's drive north to get to Weissenhaus. Two nature reserves, both a protected dyke-and-dune area and a lagoon meadow, are found on the château’s 185 acres. As treasured as the old working estate is, it often feels more like a park with three well-marked walking trails. The château itself sits in the middle like a star around which both well-preserved historic buildings and seamlessly integrated new ones orbit. In between and all around them are forests, meadows and a number of spots where you can find refuge, including a scent and rose garden that you might well get to enjoy all by yourself. In addition to the cities of Kiel and Lübeck, both just over an hour’s drive away, the island of Fehmarn makes for another fine excursion. Most guests, however, come primarily to relax and unwind on the Weissenhaus grounds.

The backstory

A quick run through more than 400 years of château history tells us that the gleaming white building was erected in 1607 by the noble Pogwisch family. In 1735, the Count of Platten Hallermund took over, and in expanding the château, he and his descendants added buildings to the estate. In 1895, the château burned down to its vaulted cellar ceiling, but the reconstruction before you today was completed within a year. By the 20th century, the château was being used for vocational courses, and later as a concert and exhibition space. The noble family sold it in 2005 to the current owner, Jan Henric Buettner, who in renovating it, respected the property’s historical character. In 2014, the hotel opened its doors under the name Grand Village Resort & Spa. Heirs of Platten Hallermund still own a small monument on the château pond where they occasionally lay a wreath.

Rooms and suites

The 59 rooms and suites at Weissenhaus accommodate up to 120 guests. Spread over the château and across 10 other buildings, they form a harmonious whole while appealing to a variety of different guests. For maximum comfort with modern amenities, check into the six-bedroom Signature Villa that opened in 2022. To be closest to the beach, head to the thatched Meierei, the old dairy operation, just behind the dyke. For a truly romantic retreat, choose the secluded bath house, a gift from the count to his wife so that she could warm up quickly by the fireplace after her Baltic Sea dips. And for the classic Weissenhaus experience, stay in the château, of course. You’ll warm up in the Premium Suite by its fireplace, and enjoy a private sauna and a freestanding bathtub. The ample living area’s subtle white, blue and grey colour scheme doesn’t compete with the real highlight: the view over the treetops that allows you a glimpse of the sparkling Baltic Sea that greets you in the morning when you open the shutters. Pretty and practical, the old-fashioned rotary light switches, unlike in many other top hotels, have handsome labels so that you don’t have to waste time turning them all on and off before you find the right one.

Food and drink

When it comes to cuisine, a trio of establishments sets the tone at Weissenhaus. A buffet and à la carte breakfasts are served in the Kavaliershaus, or the Cavalier House, and on the front terrace. (The oldest building on the estate is easily recognised by the soft curve of its roof.) It’s only over morning coffee when you realise how many guests have checked into the resort before everyone vanishes around the grounds again. A crowd favourite, the Croque Ostsee (Baltic Sea) is a poached egg on toasted bread with avocado cream, smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce. The culinary jack-of-all-trades in the trio is the Bootshaus, an Italian restaurant located like a beach bar right on the sea. Here, you can enjoy not only lunch, coffee and cake, but also Mediterranean delicacies at sunset, such as a yoghurt chilli dip into which you can dunk delicious Northern German sourdough bread, followed by coastal classics such as sole with boiled potatoes and spinach. However, the Weissenhaus culinary flagship remains the two-star Courtier restaurant in the château, run by the Scharrers—Christian works his magic in the kitchen, while Nathalie is in charge of restaurant management. The six-course menu has a classic French touch that Head of Guest Relations Charlotte Spyrka describes as “very soulful” and which makes you “want to dive right in.” Don’t be surprised in the course of the meal if a hare, deer or, on rare occasions, a fox dashes across the meadow in front of the terrace. “It's like a scene from a Heimatfilm,” says Nathalie Scharrer, referencing Germany’s popular homey postwar movies. And indeed it is.

Spa

Perhaps the best thing about the award-winning thermal bath is that, unlike many other hotel spas that either morph into some gigantic sauna world or are so tiny that they hardly deserve the name spa, this one is just the right size for the resort. The 32,000-square-foot thermal baths, which can also be reached by a tunnel from the château, are spread over three buildings. The former Kutscherhaus (or coach house) offers treatments such as a fine full-body massage and a JetPro Duo skin treatment. Connected via an atrium, a brick building in back not only houses two Finnish saunas and a steam bath, but it is also connected to a normal pool and a saltwater one. The quiet star of the whole operation is a new wooden building, which is less visited than the others, perhaps because of its slightly higher location. You’ll find a stylish black onsen pool here and an herbal salt sauna decorated with bundles of herbs. As you sweat and gaze out through panoramic windows onto a quiet corner of the garden, you don’t have to worry about unwanted glances from anyone outside.

Service

When breakfast service gets extremely busy, the occasional drink order might get lost, but overall, the staff, led by Guest Relations Manager Spyrka, takes care of everyone with the perfect combination of Northern German composure and thoughtful attentiveness. When I wanted to sit for a few hours in a wicker chair in a beautiful glade and enjoy a pot of tea, the Courtier team happily extended service in this spot far away from their own restaurant without batting an eye. They placed my order on the grass without fuss, while the orchestra of crickets provided a musical backdrop. It doesn’t get any better.

Families

Two years ago, Weissenhaus went adults-only, with the minimum guest age set at 12. In addition to being able to simply rent two suites next to each other, families with teenagers have the options of two suites in the Signature Villa and one in the Gatehouse, each of which can accommodate four people. A suite in the old Stellmacherei, the cartwright’s workshop, can accommodate two more. The cinema, the billiard room, the occasional ice cream-making class and the beach, of course, are popular with young adults. To be sure, though, there isn’t much action in Weissenhaus – the unbelievable tranquillity is the main draw here.

Sustainability

Sourcing local ingredients is an absolute priority for the property’s culinary teams. Surrounding farms supply eggs for breakfast, while the herbs come right from Weissenhaus’s own rose and scent garden, which also has its own bee colony. “We’re actually completely self-sufficient,” says Managing Director Frank Nagel, referring to everything from liquid gas and the resort's own sewage treatment plant to the spa fitness equipment, which generates electricity during workouts that flows back into the grid. And then, there’s the natural beauty itself of the resort grounds, where several hundred trees are planted every year.

Accessibility

Partly still paved in cobblestones, the bumpy terrain isn’t ideal from an accessibility perspective. However, a shuttle service is available to all guests to take you anywhere you want to go. A lift can be set up at the rear entrance to the château to avoid its many stairs. The best room option is the Gärtnerhaus, the former gardener’s house, next to the pond, one of whose three junior suites is completely accessible thanks to wider doors that can accommodate wheelchairs.

Anything else?

The Weissenhaus breakfast newsletter spells out the day’s activities that range from guided tours of the grounds to yoga and cooking classes and open-air concerts. With only a handful of events scheduled, you never feel overwhelmed. For solo travellers, Weissenhaus has started offering personalised retreats, including a culinary package and several treatments and personal styling consultations. A final note: the atmospheric daytime music playing at the pond is clearly intended to enhance relaxation, but it rather has the opposite effect of masking what makes Weissenhaus so special. It’s a place that radiates so much tranquillity that there’s no need to drive the point home with a score.