The Location
Let’s start with a bit of geography, since Kyritz is charming but not on everyone’s radar. From Berlin, take the highway toward Hamburg and, after about an hour, turn off toward Lake Bantikow. The lake is a popular spot, home to the Insl, a hangout beloved by Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg crowd. The best part: It is a wonderful place for a summer vacation, an idyll that feels straight out of the 1980s, when this was still East Germany.
The Apartment
To find the two apartments, head to the center of Kyritz and look for the biggest building on the square: the former headquarters of a trade and agricultural bank. It is a building that makes a statement, built in 1910 and now brought back to life by two very charming, creative women who commute between Berlin and Kyritz and delight more than a million Instagram followers with design and food content (@_foodstories_). Both apartments look out onto the historic peace oak in front of the house, which gave St. Oak its name.
The Loft Apartment is absolutely stunning. Laura and Nora did an incredible job renovating the second floor of this historic building and, thanks to their contacts with brands that make beautiful kitchens, chairs, beds and home accessories, turned it into a true showcase. Any hotelier planning to open a place should take a look. What we loved most: The main room, including the first bedroom, was kept as one 100-square-meter space, so you sleep, in effect, in the living and dining room with its pretty kitchen.
The apartment is perfect for four. One bedroom is part of the living area, and the second is in a separate room next door. Each has its own bathroom, so you don’t need to know each other all that well to stay here comfortably. The bathrooms are beautifully stocked with towels, soap, shampoo and shower gel from the Copenhagen brand Frama.
The kitchen really is the heart of the apartment. Made by the English company deVol, it has a Smeg fridge, induction cooktop and oven, and it is stocked with everything you could need: a dishwasher, espresso machine, high-quality pots and pans, a coffee maker, a Vitamix, a hand mixer, an immersion blender, a waffle iron, even a kitchen scale for measuring flour and saffron to the gram.
A quick aside: In the morning, we ran into the well-known publisher Angelika Taschen at the café downstairs, just as she was setting off on a pilgrimage. The people you meet in Kyritz!
The highlights of the large Studio Apartment (210 square meters, or 2,260 square feet, on the third floor): a Scandinavian wooden kitchen by Kvänum x Frama with a travertine countertop, a La Marzocco espresso machine, a Bodum coffee maker, a Lacanche range with two ovens, two built-in Miele fridges and freezers, a Miele dishwasher and every tool a pro cook could want. There is a lounge area with two Italian sofas, a vintage dining table with Danish wooden chairs, three bedrooms for up to six people and two bathrooms. Magnificent.
The Courtyard
Both apartments are also ideal for food-related photo shoots (and not only those). To make guests even happier, the courtyard was completely redesigned: a beautiful space lined with vines climbing the walls, with lounge furniture, a dining table and an outdoor kitchen by Atoll Berlin, perfect for a small barbecue.
The Surroundings
Kyritz is just a seven-minute drive from Lake Bantikow. Laura and Nora took us to a completely secluded patch of forest, where a path leads down to the lake; it is a great spot to pitch a tent for the day. In the middle is the Insl, a very popular spot to eat. Closer to home, there is an ice cream café and a small organic grocery right on the pedestrian street below, and during our visit there was a market on the square.
Dogs
Well-behaved dogs are welcome; dog beds in various sizes and bowls are available on request.
Special
You can easily arrive by train, since the station is just a five-minute walk away. To explore the area, four St. Oak bikes are available free of charge.
Prices
Whole apartment from 280 euros per night.
Booking & Contact
St. Oak Apartments
Marktplatz 2B
16866 Kyritz
Germany
