Hotel Nassauer Hof may be one of Germany’s grander grande dames, drawing the likes of Wagner and Brahms since 1813. For all the creamy luxury, Michelin-star and iconic glasshouse thermal swimming pool and spa, there’s also a cosy intimacy to the place. Doubles from £200.
Where to eat
The grand, wood-panelled Benner’s Bistronomie, in the magnificent 1907 Kurhaus, is the most impressive place to eat in town, though locals come for relaxed Sunday brunches or the house Wiener schnitzel. Café Maldaner is an old-fashioned kaffeehaus that doubles as a patisserie and chocolatier. About £105 for two.
Where to bathe
The arches and murals of the KaiserFriedrich Therme have barely changed since it opened on the eve of World War I. This remains a serious spa that allows visitors to alternate between hot and cold, dry and humid, with a dozen different stations, including a luminarium, frigidarium, sudatorium and tepidarium.
Baden-BadenFranz Grünewald
Baden-Baden
Where to stay
A hotel since 1872 and now part of the Oetker Collection, Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa has retained the understated elegance of a stately English home. Look out for the Joshua Reynolds portrait above the fireplace in the drawing room and the adjoining Villa Stéphanie, one of Europe’s most exclusive private spas, with serious medical programmes. Doubles from £405.
Courtyard at BrennersFranz Grünewald
Where to eat
Rizzi the Restaurant is what Germans call a “treffpunkt” or “meeting point”. For the well-heeled clientele, the steak, sushi and seafood platters are in some ways secondary to the people watching and being seen on the parkside patio or under the neon sign that reads, “Together is my favourite place to be”. About £105 for two.
Where to bathe
Caracalla Spa is a replica of a Roman bathhouse built on the foundations of one that stood there 2,000 years ago. It has hot- and cold-water grottoes, a brine-inhalation room and aromatic steam baths. The dome-roofed Friedrichsbad next door offers a more traditional bathing experience.
