Branching out: tree-house hotels are all the rage

As evening comes and darkness falls, brothers Robert and Frederik are finding things a bit spooky. "We're real city people", says the mother of the 8 and 12-year old boys, Miriam Rittner. "We’re not used to being alone at night here in the middle of a forest." The family from Bremen booked two nights at the tree-house hotel in Bad Zwischenahn in northern Germany. It features four comfortable wooden suites, each offering 39 square meters of space, large windows and a terrace. They're supported by stilts and suspended in the trees in the middle of the forest.

Crown lodgings

The Rittner family are not alone in their desire to spend a night up a tree: Germany's first treetop hotel opened in 2005, near Görlitz in the east of the country. Since then the concept has blossomed, and today there are 16 such hotels in Germany, with two more due to open shortly. Some tree-houses are relatively basic, with a composting toilet up top and a communal shower block on the ground. Others come with a kitchenette, designer bathroom and underfloor heating. Most of the treetop residences have some form of heating and are therefore suitable for use all year round.

Insa Otteken opened her tree-house resort in Bad Zwischenahn in 2011. It all started when her son saw a TV report about tree-house hotels in the US and was totally smitten. His enthusiasm was infectious and soon his mother was also inspired by ideas. The family already owned a plot of land in a forest and Insa Otteken had experience of both the hotel industry and marketing: she'd originally trained as a hotel manager and then later studied business administration and had also worked in an advertising agency. So she was well-placed to open a tree-house hotel. Now her guests come from all over the world. "We've developed quite a reputation internationally", she says.

Rooted in nature

Her leafy residences were designed by Bremen tree-house architect Andreas Wenning. He had already created numerous such hotels, in Germany, Austria, the US and Argentina. He says the success of treetop hotels is easy to understand: "Tree-houses are still off the beaten track of conventional places to stay and offer a wonderful refuge", he says. "And you can just observe nature at work".

That's something that Insa Otteken also considers a major plus: "Guests have told us they’ve been able to look right into a bird’s nest from their room and have even watched babies hatching." She says deer and squirrels are daily visitors in the forest. The Rittner family from Bremen are also fascinated by the wildlife. "There are no end of birds here", says Miriam Rittner. Armed with a bird book, her sons are busy trying to identify their new feathered friends.

Out on a limb… satisfying the inner child

But the appeal of spending the night in a treehouse goes beyond just the experience of nature. For many, it's the fulfillment of a childhood dream. "Almost everyone at some stage in their childhood dreamed of building a treehouse and playing in it", says Hamburg scientist Ulrich Reinhardt. "Now it's possible to live that dream". And you don’t have to rough it either: "the quality of accommodation is also at a high standard now", he says. Reinhardt heads up the Foundation for Future Studies in Hamburg. He's convinced tree-house resorts are here to stay. In fact, he believes the trend will continue to grow.

The existing hotel complexes are also busy expanding. Germany's first tree-house hotel in Einsiedel near Görlitz started off with five rooms. Now the 12th treetop suite is due to be ready by this summer. "All the popular weekends get booked up way in advance", says spokeswoman Ulrike Konrad.

The Rittner family are also satisfied customers after their treetop experience in northern Germany. "Overall I find it pleasant to be so high up", says Miriam Rittner. "And the wood of the houses has a real calming effect". Her sons however didn’t find it quite so relaxing. The unusual creaking and groaning of the wood at night had them up several times checking whether the door really was locked.