“So far we’ve still made it.” Jörg Wund, owner of the Erdinger Therme, can now only shock a little since the beginning of the corona pandemic. Neither a forced closure for around 300 days nor a loss of sales of around 50 million euros or flood damage in the basement of the Hotel Victory at the end of August. Also that recently you can only allow a quarter of the maximum possible guests into the thermal bath – less than 2 G plus. Which means a daily minus of 100,000 euros according to Wund.
And yet there is substantial investment, around 7.8 million euros. Necessary renovation measures have been brought forward, new attractions are ready or are about to be completed. The branch does not stand still, says the thermal bath boss. The competition is not sleeping and more and more wellness facilities are being built.
Before Christmas, for example, a two-storey sky lounge with 37 four-poster beds and 40 double loungers on the panorama gallery above should be ready on the sauna gallery. Anyone who walks through the thermal baths with Jörg Wund quickly realizes that he is the focal point. Whether it is the question of whether he prefers white or dark brown cable ducts or how to design the lava entrance area to the sauna area.
Sore is bubbling over with ideas, even at night, as he says. And then ideas come up that the experts would always say at first: not possible. But not possible, is more of a foreign word for Jörg Wund. “I was up for four hours last night and designed a new gallery that I want to present to my craftsmen.”
The Sky Lounge is based on such a long-cherished idea. “The structural engineer said at the time, no chance. That’s why the idea was filed. Then I had the idea of distributing the load over a large number of people instead of a few pillars. And then the brain worked a few more nights, and the idea Born to use the posts of the sky beds under the Skydeck. ” Each of the four bed posts of the 37 beds now has a diameter of twelve centimeters, which, according to the structural engineer, is necessary to carry the loads. According to Wund, 40 double loungers will be added to the Sky Lounge, which is still being worked on – on three levels so that everyone can see the open area with the pool and palm trees.
If the structural engineers cannot slow it down, then it is the lack of wood during the pandemic. “We designed the wooden ceiling in January, ordered the wood in February and it didn’t arrive until September.” The lack of building materials delayed many of the renovation work and new ideas.
The Sky Lounge in the sauna area should be ready before Christmas.
Image: Gerhard Wilhelm (oh)
Aureum – golden – is the name of a new relaxation room.
Image: Gerhard Wilhelm (oh)
The entrance area to the textile-free sauna area was relocated.
Image: Gerhard Wilhelm (oh)
The idea of the four-poster beds, which offer a certain degree of privacy, comes from the experiences of the past few years. According to Wund, a trend has solidified: guests want more privacy. There are now more partition walls, individual loungers in the sauna area. And these have also meant that the textile-free sauna area has shrunk a little. “Above all, the young people are the ones who feel more comfortable when they don’t have to be naked. A great change has taken place. Probably also caused by the fact that a body image is shown in the media that is portrayed as perfect.” But who is that, says Wund. That’s why you prefer to wear something.
85 percent of the young couples are between 17 and 28, the younger generation who enjoy a day at the thermal baths. You can also see that in the catering trade, which is currently generating the highest sales since the thermal baths opened. You can go out less and if you go to the thermal baths, then you want to have a nice day there.
The length of stay has increased significantly and the day pass is now the common tariff. Communication among the guests has also increased in the textile sector, since the naked shame line is not there.
“We initiated a lot during the pandemic, maybe one or the other was too much, but we don’t know how things will continue.” As a precaution, Wund has again registered short-time work for the thermal baths, because if the incidence exceeds 1000, there will be a regional lockdown, says Wund. In this case, the Erding thermal baths as well as the Hotel Victory and the Victory guest house would have to close again. “Two or three weeks ago I thought that could happen. Who knows what Omikron will bring us. We can only hope that the new virus doesn’t cause quite as many severe courses. Then we have a chance.”
One of his “crazy ideas” is currently being built: a slide in which the guest shuttles back and forth like a skater in a halfpipe before continuing. At first it was said that no further slide would fit in, but Wund’s opinion: “We will find a solution”. They’ve been working on it for the past two months. At the moment, however, work on this has been stopped as the last curve of the tube leads out of the roof a little. And to do this, the roof has to be opened, which is not possible over Christmas.
Spa owner Jörg Wund is a big fan of slides. In the new one, the guest should commute back and forth in a half pipe like a skater before continuing.
(Photo: Gerhard Wilhelm / oh)
It will continue in the new year when the swimming pool and control technology is in place. “It’s going to be crazy,” says slide fan Wund. Shoot out of the tube and swing from side to side in the open area before slowing down enough to slide further out of the area. “It’s the only slide in the world that gives you a feeling of weightlessness. It’s like riding a roller coaster.” With a hill just before the run-out, a “surprise hop”.
The list of innovations is even longer: in front of the Kelo house, two new plunge pools are currently being built, at the Hotel Victory and the wave pool new sunbathing areas around four meters high, the entrance to the textile-free sauna area has been relocated, and seven employees have worked on their own in the textile area and repainted a ceiling in three days. In general, Wund praises his employees. After the flood, they even “performed magic” and repaired 90 percent of the water pumps themselves. Otherwise they would have had to wait six months for new ones. After only four days, they were able to go back into operation.
The thermal bath operator is also proud of a new relaxation room. When it opened in 1999, there was, so to speak, a room left that became the Blue Salon. “The girls wanted to make a forest out of it first. But I said this is the smallest, dark room, let’s make a treasure chest out of it.” He was helped by the artist Sabine König, who dyed the room blue over 22 years ago and with whom contact has never been broken.
“Make me a treasure chest was their job”. Hence the golden color. With water beds. “There are guests who lie here in the evenings and sleep.” The name of the new room “Aureum” – Latin for “golden”. And it was heavily renovated: the dome and the surrounding roof areas in the oldest part of the thermal baths were completely re-covered. In addition, the bathing water and control technology as well as the ventilation system were brought up to date.
And even with the little things, you can see how the Covid-19 virus is having an impact, says Jörg Wund. That is why you had to lend a hand yourself with many of the old loungers. “We had to recycle the old ones because the delivery time for the new one is seven months. In addition, a container no longer costs 2000 but 22,000 dollars. The price of the couches has therefore almost doubled.” That hits the thermal baths very much, as the loungers come from Asia.
The thermal spa manager doesn’t speak very well about 2 G plus – and that you are only allowed to let in a maximum of 25 percent of the guests. Wund hopes that the three times vaccinated will at least not have to present another negative corona test, which is already the case in other federal states.
At Christmas you usually have up to 11,000 guests. In view of the corona situation and the new Omikron mutation, Wund hopes that the 25 percent, 3000, who are still permitted, may come. Earning money is not possible with the occupancy, since the operating expenses are always the same. Only at around 80 percent do you come into the profit zone. One man’s sorrow, the other’s joy: “If you come now, you have the best time. The thermal baths haven’t been that empty in the last 20 years. Even their own employees enjoy it,” says Wund.
Without an online reservation system, nothing works in the thermal baths with a maximum of 3000 guests. “This is the only way we have a chance to guide people so that nobody is disappointed if they don’t come to the thermal baths.” At the moment, many would make decisions at very short notice because the rules could change very quickly or because you have to be in quarantine. At the moment, the slots, the open time windows for a visit, would fill up between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. the evening before. Therefore, guests are asked to convince themselves late in the evening whether something is still available. “You have to recommend the people of Erding: use the stade time before Christmas until December 24th. After that everything will be booked. When we are allowed to open then,” says Wund.
“We must continue to be careful in 2022. I think we will have to live with further contact restrictions. The virus will not leave us in May / June. We will not be after Corona next year, but in an intermediate phase.” Next year you will limit yourself to finishing, fine-tuning and a bit of breathing space is planned.
After all, a little money has now found its way into the empty coffers. However, not nearly as much as the Therme Minus did. The November aid 2020 was received in October 2021. What annoys Wund: he paid into a business interruption insurance for 22 years, only to hear that you may have had to close through no fault of your own, but there is nothing in the contracts about Corona.
After a year he then gave in and received four days of 300 days of closure from the insurance company and about an eighth of the loss in sales as state aid. The alternative was to sue. In the hope that you get 100 percent – or zero. “Then I preferred the 15 percent.” He had a good conversation with Mayor Max Gotz about the repayment of the trade tax advance payment in 2020. “We have paid good taxes for 20 years. The city was very correct and fair when it came to refunds.” According to Wund, it will take longer than you think until everything is back to normal.