Complete with cryotherapy chamber, IV drips, ECGs, oxygen therapy, spine lab and MRI scanners, Lanserhof, the German wellness operator, has opened a futuristic gym in partnership with the Arts Club in London, where members will be offered preventative medicine alongside their workouts. Samuel Ballard reports
The company’s first opening in the UK, Lanserhof at the Arts Club includes a state-of-the-art gym that also offers medical treatments and screenings including MRIs. Other facilities include a Movement and Spine lab and a cryotherapy chamber, chilled to sub-freezing temperatures using liquid nitrogen.
The Lanserhof gym is located across the road from the Arts Club, at 17-18 Dover Street, where designer store Dover Street Market used to be. The medical centre features a members’ lounge and doctors’ consultation rooms, as well as a team of therapists, sports scientists and trainers to help build the perfect body.
Its website reads: “You will be afforded the very best care, support, motivation and guidance, towards whatever health goals you might have. Specialising in pain relief, mobility, strength and conditioning, this club will truly optimise your health and wellbeing.”
Members of the gym will be given highly bespoke workout and lifestyle plans, which complement a holistic profile of their health and fitness status using “some of the best diagnostic equipment seen anywhere in the world”.
Treatments range from Airzone oxygen therapy, which is designed to supply and then restrict your oxygen levels when you train (a process called Interval Hypoxia Hyperoxia Therapy), acupuncture and IV infusions, to sonography, physiotherapy and osteopathy.
Pictured below is the Icaros machine that is used to improve core strength and requires users to wear a virtual reality headset that gives them a view of flying over mountains for example, as the contraption moves. 
Dr Christian Harisch, CEO of the Lanserhof group, which has three health resorts in Germany and one in Austria, says: “Lanserhof has a long-standing worldwide reputation and is recognised as the world’s leading medical resort. We look forward to bringing this world-class knowledge to London and, in partnership with the Arts Club, we will help members to lead a healthier, happier and more energetic, prolonged life.”
The fact that the Arts Club, which has a rich history dating back to 1863 (and members that include Charles Dickens, Franz Liszt and Auguste Rodin), has chosen to invest in something so cutting-edge, is surprising and directional.
Alice Chadwyck-Healey, executive director of the Arts Club says: “The Arts Club members have been asking us to expand to incorporate a health and fitness facility into the London club so we were really excited to be able to take over the former Dover Street Market site; it is the perfect location to open in partnership with the award-winning team at Lanserhof.”
How much does it cost? Far from being an added benefit for members of the Arts Club, everyone has to pay for an annual subscription costing £6,500. Butler service is another £1,000 per annum (they will launder your kit between visits, for example). There is also a £1,500 joining fee – although this is waived for members of the Arts Club.
Next year, the Global Wellness Institute predicts the value of wellness tourism to reach US$800 billion. The “halo effect” of health is rippling through hospitality, as companies rush to get in on the action.
Last month, we reported on how the new Equinox Hotel in New York (a brand famous for its gyms) has reimagined the hotel minibar to include 70 healthy snacks and drinks, rather than Pringles and Coke.
Harvey Spevak, executive chairman and managing partner for Equinox, says: “In hospitality, lifestyle hotels have grown up and luxury hotels have gotten younger in their outlook and experience. Now, as health becomes the new wealth, Equinox is uniquely positioned to define an emerging category that is disrupting the entire industry.”