48 Hours at the BollAnts - Spa im Park, Bad Sobernheim
A vast wellness & beauty area paired with delicious culinary experiences come together in one of the most interesting and upcoming areas in Germany.
Sometimes you have those moments in life when you need to escape from your everyday life. My colleague Lukas needing to get out of Munich and me after the exams ready to get a free head and to relax finally, we both decided it is time for a getaway. And to be honest, our first choices weren’t everything else than staying in Germany. But there was a moment when our ideas of flying to Marrakech, Tel Aviv or heading to ski in Austria turned completely and we thought why not driving to a German wine region to discover the own home country a bit more. I mean we have seen a lot of places on earth the last few years: might it be upcoming Uruguay and Vietnam, the end of the world in Chile and Argentina, paradise-like Seychelles or bustling China and the US. On the other side, I have never been anywhere else than Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin when it comes to Germany. So we knew for sure: Nahe, it is! Obviously, we wanted to combine this wine tour with testing some cool and special places to stay.
I have to admit, I needed to do deep research and until a few days I found the BollAnts Spa im Park which seemed to meet all the criteria to be a real luxury hotel. A few minutes later, the reservation was in my inbox and Lukas and me were all set to go. What I could observe is that our travel planning always becomes more spontaneous and therefore BollAnts was fully booked for the weekend, that’s why we stayed there from Wednesday to Friday and honestly, at check out I was sad and happy in one moment. Even though I knew Germany is huge, never did I expect that our drive from Munich would take more than four hours to reach the Nahe region. Therefore, it is still a place frequented by citizens of Mainz, Wiesbaden and Frankfurt but we were eager to check it out. Once we arrived at the hotel, we were welcomed with a glass of sparkling wine and did the check-in in an easy way – there wasn’t much they needed to get us our room which made a very good first impression. Generally, we observed that once a hotel experience starts in a good way, it is only getting better.
We were super impressed when we opened the door to our room which was actually the best room in the house: The Halenberg Grand Suite overlooking the entire estate. Both of us were really happy and looking forward to the following two days of pure relaxation and fun. In general, the suite had a beautiful layout with a spacious living room featuring a sofa, armchair, chaise longue and access to the balcony as well as a similar sized bedroom with enormously comfy beds by Hästens as well as a writing desk and another television. On the writing desk we found our welcome amenities such as a bottle of the hotel’s sparkling wine, some fresh fruits and chocolate with a welcome letter and map of the estate. And yes, the grounds are so huge that you need nothing else than a map to navigate around. Once we continued our tour, we found a spacious and airy bathroom with double sinks, a huge bath tub for two, a spacious walk-in shower as well as a corridor leading towards a walk-in wardrobe that could access the separated toilet from where you could then walk to the small pantry with coffee machine and minibar.
To sum it up, the suite was just marvellous and I would have never expected to find a suite of such luxurious level at a location like the Nahe region which is famous for countryside holidays with less luxury hotels. All the interiors of the Halenberg Suites come from Riviera Maison and fitted perfectly into the design of the hotel plus I loved the stones in the bathroom which reminds me a lot of Schloss Elmau Resort. In general, the entire hotel seemed like the best wellness resort Germany has to offer. I mean 3.500 square meters of spa and wellness is definitely everything else than your usual hotel wellness area. There are more than four saunas, two steam baths, four pools (three of them are outdoor but all of them are open year-round!) and last but not least nine relaxation rooms to fit every style of hotel guest.
We have booked two treatments in the BollAnts Spa which took place on our second day. Even though the treatment rooms are at the rear end of the hotel, the way was well worth it since both treatments were the best we have ever experienced. Our therapists were extremely knowledgeable and focused on the exactly right spots on the body – even I managed to fall asleep for the very first time as the pressure was in harmony with my expectations. After a day of touring the wineries, Lukas and me both found ourselves in the stunning panoramic Bio-Sauna before we headed to the Panorama Rooftop Pool – outside but heated to comfortable 34 degrees Celsius. As everywhere in Germany the sauna area is nude so is the rooftop pool. For all those who prefer to swim with bath suit are welcome to do so in the heated outdoor pool (30 degrees Celsius) or the indoor pool right next to the showers. In general, I recommend everyone staying at BollAnts to study the hotel map well as even I didn’t manage to see all relaxation rooms during our two-night stay. It’s incredible.
If you question now how this place might come up to your discerning food expectations, I am glad to tell you that this property has three restaurants with different levels: First, there is the One-Michelin-starred Jungborn restaurant (which was unfortunately closed during our stay), the upscale gastronomic restaurant Hermannshof which we both loved for the amazing duck fillet as well as the tuna tagliata and finally the Villa restaurant serving as the main dining venue open for breakfast and half board dinner alike. While the restaurants Jungborn and Hermannshof is kind of a la carte (with all dishes being served), the Villa restaurant offers starters and soup, ice and cheese from the buffet and serves only the main course. On both evenings, we had a very attentive server who took good care of us and of course we enjoyed a few great bottles of local wine. Almost all of their wines come from the Nahe region which we absolutely loved and is perfect – you go to the Nahe to discover their wide variety of wines and not to drink Bordeaux or Chianti.
Breakfast, served in the Villa Restaurant couldn’t be any more beautiful as you overlook the entire hotel and are welcomed by the first rays of sun and a hotel’s own newspaper telling you the talk of the property in a few pages. A lovely add-on to a casual breakfast. Servers are here to take your order for coffee/tea but you are mostly able to do it yourself with automatic coffee/tea machines. Pointing out the not-too-oversized buffet, I loved the juice bar where Lukas prepared freshly squeezed orange juice each day, while I was putting together a bread selection. In addition to the basic breakfast stuff, there was a live-cooking station preparing omelettes as well as a fruit and cheese corner. Honestly, it was one of the most relaxing stays Lukas and me had for a while and everything was perfect, so I was really sad that we could only stay for two nights and there was no possibility to extend as the hotel was full for the weekend. On the good site though was that I now have the best reason to return to the stunning area of Nahe Region. I absolutely loved it and hope I can still afford to come back one day - Hurry, the prices are amazing!
“We cancelled warm water destinations for cruising German wineries and eating our way through Michelin-starred restaurants only to step back and get the best spa treatment we have had for ages in one of Germany’s leading hotels? The best decision we have ever made!”
We were guests of Ms Bolland-Georg and BollAnts Spa im Park, however all above written expresses solely our own opinion and has not been influenced.
