Staff at England’s luxury five-star Euros base reveal the Three Lions’ special requests to change the resort before their arrival this week

The England stars’ special requests to make themselves at home at their five-star Euros base this summer have been revealed.

Gareth Southgate’s men will land in Germany in the coming hours for the 2024 European Championship and will stay at the Weimarer Land Spa and Golf resort in Blankenhain – a town of less than 7,000 inhabitants – for the duration of the tournament.

The luxury resort, for which Mail Sport provided an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour last month, cost England an estimated £850,000 as it beat off competition from the Netherlands and Austria, and features two Michelin-star restaurants and a 2,500 square meter swimming pool. spa known as the ‘Lindentherme’.

The owner, Matthias Grafe, has also opened up to the players’ requests to transform their experience.

When asked to reveal the main issue raised by the Three Lions, Grafe shared Image: ‘Most of the questions were about the air conditioning in the rooms – probably after the experience in Qatar. We had to renovate one room.

The five-star resort has three golf courses to keep players entertained during their free time

Matthias Grafe (pictured) is the owner of the resort and has revealed the players’ special requests, with air conditioning and access to English TV being the main focuses

‘We also ensured that English television was broadcast via satellite in the rooms. We also darkened the glass fronts and windows, so that the infamous yellow press could not take pictures of the boys.’

A number of English players enjoy a round of gold in their spare time, and they will have plenty of opportunities to do so in Weimarer Land, which has three golf courses plus a padel court and even a robot called Robbie, who speaks only German, to serve the team and collect their dishes.

Grafe confirmed that as many as 35 chefs will be on hand to cater to the players’ needs, while the rooms will also have a personal touch with family photos hanging on the walls in each room.

“We have 35 chefs here who prepare everything the English want based on their menu,” he continued.

“I’m sure there will be hamburgers one day. The rooms of the players, coaches and support staff are also furnished with personal items.

‘We received family photos and other personal items in advance, which we then used to decorate the rooms.’

The England team is ready to have everything they need off the football pitch, but the resort is also keen to provide everything they need, with an on-site training surface of the highest quality.

“The England greenkeeper was with us a few weeks ago and said there was only one lawn better than ours – his at Wembley,” Grafe said.

‘And this is exactly the mixture that is sown, then scarified and maintained – also in consultation with the DFB, who was here beforehand.’

England will start work on the training pitch this week ahead of their European Championship opener against Serbia on Sunday, with WAGs required to be kept at a ‘safe distance’.

England will have access to high-quality training pitches, the grass of which has been approved by Wembley grounds staff

Gareth Southgate and his players will soon start work at their resort, with WAGs to be kept at a ‘safe distance’ to avoid a repeat of England’s stay in Germany for the 2006 World Cup.

Southgate has assured key others they will get the chance to see the players but will assess when and how once the tournament gets underway.

The England manager is keen to avoid a repeat of the national team’s last visit to Germany for a major tournament in 2006, when they stayed in the usually quiet spa town of Baden-Baden.

On that occasion, the WAGs generated as many headlines as the players, with Rio Ferdinand later admitting that ‘we had become a bit of a circus’ following the team’s quarter-final exit on penalties to Portugal.

England will be hoping that doesn’t happen again this time and it appears everything is in place as they look to go one step further than three years ago when they lost to Italy in the last Euro final at Wembley.