Is This The Future Of Health?

From space conditioning and neuro-acoustic therapy to nature bathing and breath training, Robb Report explores the latest advances in wellness.

The European Detox

I'm covered in green mud and standing semi-naked in the hose-down room. A bespectacled attendant in white Crocs sprays me with a jet of water powerful enough to put out a fierce fire. Bridget's not just rinsing me off. This procedure is designed to stimulate my body's meridians, like an acupuncture session, but the pressure is so high it hurts.

It's only day two of my week-long detox (from US$8,300 per person) and my patience is already waning. Perhaps my hunger-induced headache is making me paranoid. Maybe the smell of vegetal mud mingling with the barky earthiness of the dandelion-root tea still on my breath is causing hallucinations. Whatever it is, I think I see a glimmer of schadenfreude in Bridget's eyes.

Though at times I feel as if I've been dropped into a dystopian movie, I'm actually at a Swiss facility called Chenot Palace Weggis. While iterations of Chenot spas have existed for decades in Italy, Greece and elsewhere, this flagship location on Lake Lucerne opened in June 2020. It consists of a renovated wooden hotel originally built in 1875, buttressed by a brand-new white-timber-clad wing that houses modern suites and a labyrinthine medical facility.

The word 'clinic' is eschewed here, but anyone craving an old-world sanatorium vibe would feel at home. The hose-downs, for instance, are a ritual of Chenot's famed seven-day Advanced Detox, the pillar programme created in the 1970s and customised with rigorous diagnostic testing to address each visitor's specific needs. The protocol, like the others on offer here, is based on the Chenot Method, developed by Henri Chenot in the 1970s to excrete metabolic waste and toxins, repair defective tissues and restore hormonal balance. Its unique mix of results-based science and luxurious accommodation has attracted everyone from Luciano Pavarotti to Naomi Campbell.