Sol'ring Hof – two Michelin stars inside a thatched dune villa

On the southern dune line of Rantum, where the paved road gives way to marram grass and sand, Sol'ring Hof occupies a single reed-thatched villa facing the North Sea on one side and the Wadden Sea mudflats on the other. It is a small house by any measure – just 15 rooms and suites – yet for two decades it has carried one of the most serious kitchens on the German coast. The MICHELIN Guide awards the hotel Two MICHELIN Keys, and the restaurant itself holds two MICHELIN stars, now in the hands of chef Jan-Philipp Berner, who took over the entire operation from his mentor Johannes King on 1 January 2022. King had been host here since 2000 and stayed on as the island's best-known culinary patron for two decades. The name is local: Söl'ring is what Sylt calls itself in its own North Frisian dialect.

01The house

Sol'ring Hof's thatched roofline sits low against the dune grass, a deliberate contrast to the glass-and-steel villas that have multiplied elsewhere on Sylt. Johannes King was host at the Dorint Söl'ring Hof in Rantum from 2000 to 2021, and the restaurant was awarded one MICHELIN star before gaining a second from 2004. Berner had led the Söl'ring Hof kitchen since 2013, and from 2018 ran the two-star restaurant jointly with restaurant manager and sommelier Bärbel Ring.

After a jointly prepared transition, King handed the reins of the hotel and its operating company to his kitchen chef Jan-Philipp Berner as of 1 January 2022. The five-star hotel's 15 rooms and suites have since been renovated, after Berner took over from his mentor. Berner now leads an experienced management team alongside a further 54 staff. King remains a loyal friend and adviser to the house and stays on the island, concentrating on his delicatessen in Keitum and his own Sylter Manufaktur brand.

02Rooms and suites

All 15 rooms and suites are individually designed, built with reed, pale wood and maritime textiles, and look out towards the dunes, the Wadden Sea or the open North Sea. Room types run from the 26-square-metre Dune Room with its own small terrace to the 70-square-metre Ocean Suite, which has a fireplace, an open gallery bedroom and two bathrooms; the Watt Room and Watt Suite instead face inland towards Rantum village and the tidal flats, each warmed by its own fireplace.

Insider tip

Reach it by bus line 2 to Rantum–Seeheim, by the hotel's own shuttle, or roughly 15 minutes by car from Westerland.

Every room keeps a private beach chair on the sand outside. From the six seaside maisonettes, guests can watch Sylt change through the day, enjoy a particularly good breakfast, use the small fitness room and wellness area, and spend hours in a private beach chair, with the day's newspaper and a stocked minibar included. Several suites add a loft sleeping area, a second bathroom or space for an extra bed, and each guest is given a beach hut, binoculars for the windowsill and an e-bike for exploring the island when the Sylt wind makes walking hard going.

03Where to eat

The gourmet restaurant remains the reason many guests first book. Jan-Philipp Berner's kitchen is built on excellent, authentic North German cuisine that focuses on high-quality, often-overlooked regional products, drawing on Wadden Sea fish, island lamb and vegetables grown close to the dunes. The restaurant carries two MICHELIN stars under Berner's direction.

The dining room and its adjoining lounge serve the full tasting menu in the evening and a more relaxed lunch in what the house calls its living room, alongside regular cooking classes and culinary events. Because the restaurant is not very big, a reservation is required even for guests staying in the hotel.

04The bar

Wine runs through the house under restaurant manager and sommelier Bärbel Ring, who leads tastings built around a single region, grape variety or style, from Champagne and port to small-production rarities. Evenings often end on the terrace or at the dune-side bench guests know as the Bänkchen – a bench in the dunes with an incredible view, where arriving guests are often led straight from the entrance.

05Spa and wellbeing

The wellness area is intentionally modest rather than resort-sized: a steam room, a Finnish sauna and a short menu of massages, built around the rhythm of the beach rather than the other way round. Most guests assemble their own version of treatment – a walk along the tideline, a cold dip in the North Sea before breakfast, then the sauna once the light fades over the Wadden Sea.

06The neighbourhood

Rantum sits on one of the narrowest stretches of Sylt, with the open North Sea on one flank and the Wadden Sea mudflats on the other, and Sol'ring Hof is built straight into its dune line. The hotel lies between Westerland and Hörnum, directly on the island's beach, with Westerland train station and Sylt Airport around fifteen minutes away by car.

Guests arriving by train can also take bus No. 2 to the Rantum–Seeheim stop, from which it is just a few minutes' walk to the hotel. The hotel also runs a free shuttle service to Westerland railway station or the airport with its partner Porsche.

07Making the most of a stay

The house's own idea of luxury is instructive: guests are encouraged to have a beach picnic on a whim, enjoy one last glass outside as the sun sets, take a swim before an open-ended breakfast, and spend the whole day barefoot. Breakfast has no fixed finish time, the beach chairs are kept by name rather than number, and the dunes outside the door make a longer stay the more natural way to experience it.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.