Hotel Gut Immenhof

The Farmyard Germany Knows From the Films

Gut Rothensande is a baroque estate above the Kellersee, a manor house and a gatehouse around a courtyard, and for a generation of German cinemagoers it is simply the Immenhof: the farm from the films drawn out of Ursula Bruns novel in the nineteen fifties. The hotel that occupies it now does not trade on the nostalgia so much as live comfortably beside it. A small museum keeps original props and costumes, guided tours walk the shooting locations, and the stables still hold horses. Around all that sit fifty rooms and suites, no two of them the same.

Why It Works

We kept the Immenhof because its dog policy is written by somebody who owns one. A cushion and a bowl are placed in the room. Both the farm restaurant and the fine dining room seat a dog on a lead, which spares the usual evening of takeaway eaten on a bed. The lead stays on across the yard, sensibly, given the horses, and comes off the moment you reach the fields. And the accommodation offered to dog owners is not the worst room in the house but the maisonettes and the apartments, the largest categories on the estate.

Why This Location

Holstein Switzerland is a nature park of moraine hills and linked lakes between Kiel and Lubeck, and Malente sits in the middle of it, on the water between the Dieksee and the Kellersee. The park carries over two thousand kilometres of walking and rambling paths, which is the figure that matters here: you can walk a different route every morning for a fortnight without driving. The Baltic coast is close enough for an afternoon on the sand. The estate itself looks over the Kellersee, with a terrace on the lake side for the end of the day.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: country estate, north German, equestrian, quietly restored

• Rooms: 50 rooms and suites in six categories, from doubles of around twenty five square metres to lake maisonettes and holiday flats beyond ninety

• Best For: dog owners on long walking stays, riders, couples wanting a lake and a sauna out of season

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: that the dog is seated with you at dinner in both restaurants rather than left upstairs

• Dining: Melkhus for regional Holstein cooking, Rodesand for fine dining, Jantzens Bar for the rest of the evening

• Amenities: Immenhof Spa with two saunas, relaxation area, fitness room and yoga, riding centre with hall and school horses, lakeside terrace, dog cushion and bowl provided

• Attractions: Kellersee and Dieksee, the Immenhof museum and film tour, Holstein Switzerland nature park, the Baltic coast to the north

Where the Lead Goes On, and Where It Comes Off

The rules are clear and worth knowing before you arrive. One dog travels per maisonette or apartment, in three of the six categories; the standard doubles and the Immenhof Suite do not take animals. A cushion and a bowl are provided. The whole farmyard is lead only, which any owner will understand once they have seen how close the stables are. Beyond the gate, the lakes, woods and meadows are open running country. Sofas and beds stay out of bounds even in the dog rooms, and the house asks that a dog is not left alone in the room for long stretches.

Melkhus, Rodesand and Jantzens Bar

Three places to eat and drink, with three distinct jobs. The Melkhus does Holstein cooking, the regional register, and it is the room you will use most. Rodesand is the fine dining side, worth one evening of the stay. Jantzens Bar takes the hours in between and afterwards. What makes the arrangement unusual for a country hotel of this standing is simply that the dog is welcome in the two restaurants, on a lead, so a week here never turns into a rota of who stays upstairs.

Horses, Saunas and the Rest of the Estate

The riding centre is a few steps from the rooms, with a hall, stables and school horses, and it carries the thread the films began. The Immenhof Spa is smaller and more useful than a resort version: two saunas, a quiet room, a fitness room, treatments and yoga on request, and access included for guests. Between a morning in the saddle or on the paths, an afternoon in the sauna and an evening on the lake terrace, the estate fills a stay without ever requiring you to leave it.