I’ve recently found myself in between jobs and so together with my husband we decided to make the most out of it and what better way then to go on the ultimate sauna relaxation adventure. But as my husband was still working during that time, our trip required some boundaries:
- We needed to travel within European time zones. Anything too early or too late would make it difficult for him to work and keep on top of meetings.
- We needed to travel via trains – this would give us enough flexibility and time to explore multiple cities without having to rush from one airport to another.
- Maximum relaxation.
So I rolled up my sleeves, did what I do best, and put together the following itinerary: London > Amsterdam > Hamburg > Berlin > Leipzig > Frankfurt > Baden-Baden > Colmar > Paris.
Below I’ll share some feedback on the places that we stayed at. I’ll mostly focus on the hotels themselves rather than what you can do in the cities.
Amsterdam
From London we took the Eurostar to Amsterdam and five hours later we arrived. I booked us The July, an aparthotel that boasts a spa and gym area, a ground floor communal working area with loads of sockets and speedy internet. It’s located on the waterfront in the Houthaven. From here it’s only a 35-minute walk into the city, and close by you can find a supermarket, cinema, coffee shops, and restaurants. When you come out of the train station you can either take the bus 22 or the 48 and you’ll be at the aparthotel within 10 minutes. Super convenient and easy.
We had a basic studio apartment and it was big enough for two people with lovely views of the canals and the neighbourhood. The studio is equipped with a cooker, dishwasher, and a fridge-freezer which allows you to be incredibly flexible and still do healthy cooking while on the go.
The sauna area looked out to the port and on the Saturday morning we saw people going into the water – which was brave of them as we travelled at the beginning of March and the outside temperature was about 10 degrees. However, I could see that this spot would be very popular in the warmer spring or summer months. You had to book your sauna time but the front desk staff were very forthcoming and allowed us to book a double 30-minute slot, which meant we could have the whole sauna space to ourselves, cool off, read, and then go back for a second session without being interrupted by anyone – the ultimate retreat. The design of the sauna area and the hotel overall was super cute, lots of green tones mixed with pastel pinks and blues. The place also had a decent-sized gym with cardio and weights, so you can keep up your fitness routine while on the road.
Hamburg
From Amsterdam we took the train to Hamburg. It was a five-hour journey with a change in Osnabrück. The train journey was simple enough, lots of free seats as we took an early train, and we were in Hamburg by 11am. We stayed at the Conrad, which was a short five-minute walk from the train station but located just between the pedestrian zone and the side streets. Away from any noise.
The hotel room was spacious and felt luxurious. The room had a bathtub and a shower, and looked nice and elevated.
The Conrad had a pool, two saunas, and a steam room. Overall the vibe of the wellness area was calm, neutral, and light. Next to the pool there were big sofa chairs to lounge and retreat. It felt luxurious and spacious enough that it wasn’t overcrowded or too many people fighting for spots. They also had free water bottles at your disposal as well as a water fountain.
One awkward thing was the passage between the changing rooms, the sauna, and the pool. On your way to the sauna the corridor was narrow and people would be walking through it in both directions. So you would have people taking off their swimwear (because Germany is textile-free saunas!) and people who were just on their way to the swimming pool. There was a way to go from the changing rooms to the swimming pool directly, but the labelling made it difficult to find, which led to an awkward shuffle between the people who were naked and heading to the sauna and the people who just wanted to lounge next to the pool.
Additionally, in order to get to the sauna area from your hotel room you needed to go to the main reception floor on the 2nd floor, walk across the lobby to a different lift, and then take that lift to the underground level where the wellness area was located. This was a little bit weird as you end up waddling through the lobby in your bathing suit and dressing gown while other people are suited and booted heading to work.
The gym was on the larger side of hotel gyms. There was a good amount of space between the equipment which made it feel like you had enough room to exercise and do your own thing while other people were also present.
Berlin
From Hamburg we took an early morning train to Berlin. We had been warned about the comical lateness of the German trains. We hadn’t really believed it – after all, it was an early morning train, there hadn’t been any disruptions yet, and it’s not like a backlog of delayed trains could have built up at that hour. However, lo and behold, the train was delayed by an hour due to some vandalism to the train carriages. So while I don’t fault Deutsche Bahn for this delay, it was amusing as we had a delay on each leg of the journey so far.
Once we arrived in Berlin, we took a short five-minute train journey from the main station to Potsdamer Platz where the Grand Hyatt Berlin was located. The hotel room was spacious with a super king bed, and honestly, once you’ve slept on one of those there’s no going back. You become totally bed-size blind. The room also had a shower and a separate bathtub. Something I didn’t like was the fake Balmain soap and shower products. They looked cheap and kind of defeated the look of a high-end, pricey, luxurious hotel. If they don’t want to pay ridiculous money for branded soap, I’m sure they could just put their own hotel logo on it and it would leave less of an icky feeling.
The architecture and design of the rooms wasn’t to my liking. The rooms had black and white photo prints from the Berlin Bauhaus Archives. Those prints were also across the whole corridor, and the corridors were draped in a greyish wallpaper. All of this gave the hotel a very serious, stern aesthetic and especially since we came here for relaxation, the solemnity of the hotel contradicted our eagerness for maximum unwinding.
The wellness area carried that same dark, gloomy look. It was apparent that the sauna and steam rooms were on the older side and some of the mosaic tiles were coming loose in the steam room. The showers also showed some wear and tear and the grout between the dark tiles looked a bit off, which made it seem as if the showers weren’t clean. The doors to the sauna and steam room had an industrial metal look to them which made us joke that we would be trapped in a large industrial freezer. The hotel also had a swimming pool and a jacuzzi. I like having a decent amount of towels with me when I go to the sauna, but when entering the area you were welcomed by rather stern-looking personnel who told you off if you didn’t swipe your card to register your presence. They then hand you towels and when you make your way further in you can’t find any more, so if you want extras you’d have to go back and beg for more which is then greeted with a disapproving look. On the plus side, the wellness and relaxation areas are located on the top floor so you get a nice view over Berlin, and we witnessed some really nice sunsets from up there. They also had a coffee and tea station as well as a water fountain where you could refresh yourself.
The gym was on the smaller side. As it seems to be more of a hotel where business people stay, both the gym and the swimming pool were getting full and busy quite quickly in the morning and afternoon/evening hours with eager businessfolk trying to get their exercise in.
Leipzig
From Berlin we hopped on the train to Leipzig which is a short one hour and forty minutes away. Once we arrived we made our way to the hotel, Steigenberger Icon Grandhotel Handelshof, just a 10-minute walk from the main train station. We got there quite early and our room wasn’t ready yet. We were given the option to check in earlier for an upgraded room at an extra cost, but as we were already spending a lot of money on rooms we declined. As such we were made to wait until our room was ready. The front desk manager we got seemed a bit awkward and not really sure what to do. After asking if they could give us a ring once the room was ready and to hold our bags, we made our way to explore Leipzig with a coffee.
The hotel is nice and the front facade evokes a certain grandeur. It is also reminiscent of the Grand Budapest Hotel look from the movie. The rooms are comfortable, with a good work desk for my husband as well as a shower and bathtub. Having the option to take a bath whenever the mood strikes is one of the nicest conveniences ever.
The hotel also boasted one of the best wellness areas so far. The wellness area has two saunas and one steam room as well as multiple cold and hot showers. You walk down to the sauna area and can relax upstairs on loungers, and there is even a small room specifically for you to lounge and unwind in. They also have a coffee and tea station to replenish yourself as well as a fruit bowl. The whole relaxation area is stocked with towels that you can just take at will, which feels incredibly luxurious as you want to change towels between different sweating sessions. The only thing that might be missing is a pool or whirlpool area, but I know I’m being super picky here.
The gym is also nice but again on the smaller side of hotel gyms. It has all the basics but would easily get very crowded if many people were to use it. To our advantage we were travelling during the off season in March, but I’d assume that in the warmer months the hotel and the gym would be much busier.