Hotel Maistra is Partnering with Ylah®—a Swiss Startup in the Healthcare Industry

What’s it all about?

The Hotel Maistra 160 bases its “Deep Health” course offerings for guests and its corporate philosophy on the principles of mind body medicine as the foundation for a holistic approach to health. The focus is on healthy individuals who want to strengthen their resources, develop resilience, and promote their self-efficacy. To make the offerings and inspiration even more effective, the ylah® app was further developed exclusively for use in our tourism setting.

How does it work?

Starting in the fall of 2025, the ylah® app will be used as a digital companion to our course offering, the Mind Body Medicine Introductory Week. Through exercises in mindfulness, nutrition, breathing, relaxation, sleep, physical activity, and nature, participants can deepen what they’ve learned in the course at home and integrate the exercises into their daily lives.

Starting in 2026, participants in mindfulness courses led by Regula Saner will also gain access to selected exercises on mindfulness and self-compassion.

Every guest will have the opportunity, for at least 12 months, to review what they’ve learned, try out new exercises, and incorporate them into their daily lives.

This collaboration combines a personal course setting, scientifically grounded prevention, and digital support to extend the course’s impact beyond the retreat into everyday life.

Ms. Plattner-Gerber, you call your approach “Deep Health.” It’s based on Mind Body Medicine. What is the central idea behind this approach?

Bettina Plattner-Gerber:

Deep Health takes a preventive approach. We focus on healthy people who want to consciously strengthen their health resources, develop their resilience, and establish a sustainable, health-promoting lifestyle. Mind-Body Medicine demonstrates how closely the body, mind, and behavior are interconnected. The goal is to empower people to actively shape their own health and strengthen their self-efficacy.

Why did you decide that the next step was to supplement the MBM Introductory Week with a digital support tool like ylah®?

Bettina Plattner-Gerber:

An intensive week can provide important inspiration and spark change. But the key question is: How can we successfully carry these insights and routines forward into everyday life? This is exactly where ylah® comes in. The app helps our guests reflect on, reinforce, and continue what they’ve learned. Health doesn’t end at checkout.

Ms. von Gunten, ylah® originates from the digital health sector. What makes the collaboration with Hotel Maistra special?

Florence von Gunten:

What makes it special isn’t the app alone. Digital offerings in the areas of mindfulness and mental health already exist. The unique added value comes from combining the app with a personal, in-person course setting. Participants first go through an intensive development process—guided by experts and set in a special location. The digital support then helps them carry these insights forward into their everyday lives.

The ylah® app was first used in the fall of 2025 during the Mind-Body Medicine Introductory Week. Starting in 2026, participants in other courses will also have access to selected exercises. What was the idea behind this combination of in-person courses and digital support?

Florence von Gunten:

ylah® was originally developed to provide digital support for personal therapeutic processes within the framework of blended psychotherapy and to continue these processes between sessions. The basic idea is that change does not occur solely during a single session, but is deepened through continuous reflection and practice in everyday life.

This same logic is also particularly compelling for prevention. During the course, participants engage in an intensive, personal exploration of topics such as mindfulness and self-care. The digital support helps them take these insights home with them and continue practicing them over the long term.

Bettina Plattner-Gerber:

That’s the key point for us: The app doesn’t replace the in-person experience, the interactions with experts, or the unique setting of Hotel Maistra 160. It extends the impact of those elements. The learning experience doesn’t end at checkout. What’s more, the app adds an extra layer of quality to the course itself: from the confirmation letter and course information to onboarding, course materials, exercises, offboarding, questionnaires, and follow-up support and information about new offerings—everything is handled professionally through the ylah® app.

In your view, what makes this collaboration innovative?

Florence von Gunten:

The innovative aspect lies in the combination of different elements: a scientifically grounded prevention program, a personalized course setting in a tourism environment, and digital support that extends beyond the stay. It’s not about offering yet another app, but about providing people with sustained support throughout a process of change.

Bettina Plattner Gerber:

For us, innovation means understanding guests’ needs, creating tailored offerings, and providing people with real added value. When digital support helps people make better use of resources in their daily lives, deepen their mindfulness, and establish new health-promoting routines, it creates a lasting impact.

Your shared goal in one sentence?

Bettina Plattner Gerber: To sustainably integrate health-promoting routines into everyday life and make them accessible to guests and employees.

Florence von Gunten: To empower people to take an active role in shaping their own health.

Our partner, ylah®, has received several innovation awards since its founding. This year it was named the winner of the Innovation Challenge Future Health Basel 2026.

You can find more information about Deep Health at Hotel Maistra and our course offerings here.