Bringing Wellness to Perfection

On Monday, March 14, 2016, the Deltapark Vitalresort officially opened its doors for the first time. ThunerseeLiebi took a tour of the new Deltapark grounds and took the opportunity to enjoy a wellness visit at the Deltaspa—a thoroughly relaxing experience.

It's Sunday morning, just before 11:00 a.m. Stretching out before us is the Deltapark Vitalresort, a complex of several freestanding buildings nestled in a 90A 000 m2 landscaped park that stretches all the way to the shore of Lake Thun. This resort is an ambitious project—not just in terms of size—offering a variety of health, wellness, fitness, and relaxation experiences. Although we haven’t booked a longer stay at the Vitalresort—just a day visit to the Deltaspa—we’re confident that this experience will be enough to get at least a first impression of the newly built wellness temple. IT’S TIME TO GET MOVING... The path to the Deltaspa building, located on the lakeshore, first takes us across the spacious parking lot toward the main hotel building. To our right is the “Absolut Outdoor & Events Sportcenter,” a harbinger and the first unmistakable sign that Deltapark’s wellness offerings extend far beyond traditional spa treatments. The aforementioned sports center is designed for resort guests who would like to (also) spend their stay engaging in physical activity, preferably outdoor sports: whether bikes, e-bikes, canoes, or stand-up paddleboards—the sports center’s shop offers the necessary equipment for your preferred outdoor activity for rent. Guests who prefer to improve their physical fitness using exercise equipment can do so in the fully equipped fitness and exercise rooms (with the option of a personal trainer). These are housed in one of the two tent-shaped buildings at Deltaspas—our stated goal.

... JUST LIKE RELAXATION AND PLEASURE

But before we get there, we still need to walk around the hotel building—essentially the hospitality heart of Deltapark. Just a few days earlier, I’d seen the inside when I had the pleasure of accompanying Mirco Plozza, the director of the Deltapark Vitalresort, on a brief tour of the building. What I was shown was comfort in its purest form. From the room views (either mountain or lake panoramas) to the room furnishings (including, depending on the room category, even a panoramic bathtub) to the beds (which operate according to the so-called Flow Sleeping System and, together with high-quality Egyptian cotton linens, are designed to guarantee a particularly restful sleep): everything is refined down to the last detail and promises pure relaxation. In fact, I noticed that the theme of indulgent relaxation is ever-present. Everything is designed to be as comfortable and hassle-free as possible. For example, as a sort of (healthier) alternative to the in-room minibar, refreshment corners are set up on every floor, where guests can help themselves free of charge at any time. Of course, these aren’t a substitute for a full meal, but that’s taken care of as well—and certainly in abundance: the resort features no fewer than three restaurants. The “Restaurant Delta,” which serves hearty cuisine (also open to non-guests of the wellness resort); the “Deltaverde” wellness bistro, which specializes in healthy and light dishes; and the on-site hotel restaurant, which also provides a generous breakfast buffet.

HOLISTIC WELLNESS

During the tour of the hotel, Mirco Plozza emphasized that the Deltapark Vitalresort is about more than just traditional wellness. The core concept—the “raison d’être”—of the Deltapark is health. The resort’s offerings therefore go far beyond those of a traditional spa and can be summarized under the name “Deltavital Health Management.” Broadly speaking, this encompasses services that holistically and sustainably bring the concept of wellness to its fullest potential through health promotion and performance optimization. Workshops, coaching sessions, and checkups tailored to individual health goals—naturally guided and conducted by experienced specialists in medicine, psychology, health promotion, and sports—are just as much a part of the service offerings as numerous opportunities for relaxing the body and mind. So the whole picture is slowly coming together: sports and exercise, relaxation, and enjoyment are the pillars of health through which the goal of “holistic wellness” is to be achieved.

ARRIVAL AT DELTASPA

By now, we’ve walked all the way around the hotel. Ahead of us lies another small park, and directly behind it, two tent-style buildings connected by a passageway: the Deltaspa. A third tent-style building is located to our right, known as the Waldhaus. It houses another 19 rooms, which are somewhat more simply designed compared to the 78 rooms in the hotel, but make up for it with their proximity to the wellness and fitness area. The hotel, however, makes up for its distance from the Deltaspa with a very special feature: a horizontal elevator in the form of a small cabin serves as an electronic taxi between the two buildings, transporting hotel guests right to the spa’s entrance. And that’s where we are now, right on time for our 11:00 a.m. appointment. At the reception desk in the connecting building, we’re warmly welcomed and then immediately provided with spa attire.

THE DELTASPA

Deltaspa offers its guests a wide range of services that can be broadly divided into two categories: Classical Wellness and Medical Wellness. The latter primarily includes supervised programs such as the preventive medical checkups mentioned earlier, which in turn are linked to the various sports and fitness programs offered by the Deltapark Vitalresort. The Classical Wellness program, on the other hand, is all about relaxation. In addition to numerous baths and wraps (sound wave massage bath, wet and foam massages) as well as various wellness treatments (herbal oil massages, cupping massages, Kander stone massages) and beauty treatments (body wraps, exfoliations, makeup, and hairstyling). Guests also have access to various sauna areas and a saltwater bath—and there are a few very special highlights as well...

STOP 1: PRIVATE SPA SUITE

... such as the private spa suites, which can be rented for several hours—our first stop! Wrapped in super-fluffy white bathrobes, we’re immediately escorted there after stowing our belongings in the coatroom. There are three private spa suites to choose from, each designed around its own theme and bearing a fitting name: Asian Lagoon, Swiss Chalet, and African Lodge. We opted for the latter, as this suite boasts not only a sauna and a steam room—including a Rasul mud treatment—but also a very special feature: the exclusive couples’ tub, designed to look like a giant cooking pot. So we spend the next two hours treating our bodies with Rasul mud, sweating in the sauna, taking cold showers, floating in the whirlpool, and taking occasional breaks on the loungers to enjoy the magnificent view from the windows. Private spa suites are pure luxury.

STATION 2: COUPLES' MASSAGE

After two hours, we leave the suite. Two spa employees are already waiting outside the door to take us to our next stop: a one-hour couples’ massage. We’re led into a small room where two massage tables are set up. First things first: I’d never had a professional massage lasting an hour before, so I didn’t know what to expect. Looking back, I can’t really describe it either—I’m not quite sure what happened to me. Suddenly, as if I’d woken up from a trance, it was over. My companion assures me, however, that she found the treatment wonderfully relaxing and that my deep breathing (snoring?) during the massage revealed that I must have felt the same way.

STOP 3: THE SPA

Although I’m still a bit dazed from the massage, I remind myself of my journalistic duty. After all the exclusive experiences, I still need to visit the “regular” spa. In hindsight, it was a good decision, because this visit also turns out to be worthwhile. Spanning four floors, we find a diverse spa landscape that is in no way inferior to our previous experiences in terms of style and enjoyment. The saltwater bath, for example, is not only pleasantly warm but also offers access to an outdoor freshwater pool. Here, too, the bathing experience is elevated by the beautiful scenery, making it the ultimate getaway experience. The beautifully designed sauna areas—divided into clothed and nude sections—further reinforce the impression we’ve come to have: that at Deltapark, wellness goes hand in hand with aesthetics. And yes, by now we’ve become so spoiled that we take the refreshment corners with tea and dried apricots—found in the various relaxation areas—for granted, as if we’d expect nothing less from Deltaspa. After five hours, we set off for home, feeling wonderfully relaxed. That night, I slept more soundly than I had in a long time.

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