“It’s the Chenot effect,” a friend messages me on WhatsApp the week after I return to London from Switzerland. In my case, that effect – the symptoms my friend diagnosed include better mental focus, renewed energy, a severed reliance on coffee, and a toned physique – originated at Chenot Palace Weggis.
On the shores of Lake Lucerne, with views of Mount Pilatus and Mount Rigi, Chenot Palace Weggis is the flagship property of the Chenot group. Set within landscaped parklands and with direct access to the lake, the state-of-the-art, 5,000-square metre medi-spa is where a team of more than 100 medical wellness specialists carry out the Chenot Method.
First presented in 1974 at a hospital on the French Riviera, the Method was developed by the late Henri Chenot. A holistic programme with a focus on prevention and resetting, the Chenot Method balances traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine and diagnostics. Then, there is the Chenot Diet: three meals per day, totalling 850 calories, all plant-based.
A stay at Chenot Palace Weggis begins with a sort of stocktake, consultations with specialists including general doctors, dietitians and physical therapists, after which a schedule is put together. The award-winning Advanced Detox, which requires a minimum stay of seven nights, comprises 36 treatments and diagnostics.
There are some constants, daily treatments such as hydrotherapy (the Phyto-Mud Treatment, with a clay body wrap supplemented with microalgae, is a talking point amongst guests) and an Energetic Massage that works with the five elements of Chinese medicine, coupled with cupping. To this, treatments such as intravenous ozone therapy and group exercise classes can be added. The trick is in the tailored scheduling.
“Anyone can do treatments,” says Chenot chief operating and scientific officer Dr George Gaitanos. “What is unique to our method is the protocol. There is a sequence, and proof of concept. This applies to everything we do.”
Chenot Palace Weggis has recently become a hotbed of technical advancements in wellness and exercise. In addition to a 20-metre indoor pool, the site boasts a fitness centre with the latest Technogym apparatus and Nasa-approved equipment such as the AlterG, a treadmill used for anti-gravity exercise training, which reduces body weight for strengthening and conditioning.
In a high-altitude chamber, training on treadmills or bikes at reduced oxygen levels simulates an elevation of 3,000 metres above sea level, to improve performance and optimise metabolism.
Whole-body cryotherapy is carried out in a sequence of chambers which, step by step, cool down to -110°C and promise to help with recovery and sleep; while whole-body photobiomodulation happens in a kind of sunbed, emanating red and near-infrared light to reduce inflammation and energise cells. “This is a fantastic playground,” says Dr Gaitanos. “With many things, all in one place.”