Our family will be in Alsace mid-March for WWII commemoration ceremonies. We will spend a few days in Colmar after the events, and then I was thinking it might be nice to go to a spa hotel for a couple of days. I'll just go ahead and say "textile free" is not for us. Any recommendations for particular hotels or locations that are handy to public transportation? The Strasbourg area would be very convenient. Our last stop is Paris.
Posted by
Savannah, GA
1400 posts
Hotel des Harras in Strasbourg has a beautiful spa.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34074 posts
by "spa" do you mean an area in a hotel dedicated to treatments and beauty or do you mean a water based (usually mineral water) relaxation or exercise facility with water "toys" like bubble beds, water mushrooms, waterfalls, hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, etc?
In other words, in very broad terms, an american style spa or a German style Therme?
If you are in Colmar you are only a few minutes away across the Rhine River from Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany which has an excellent Therme, the Keidel Mineral-Thermalbad https://www.keideltherme.com/ with an adjacent Dorint hotel with spa privileges, and just a very few kilometres to the south is Bad Krozingen with the Vita Classica Therme and surrounding hotels with various privileges. https://www.bad-krozingen.info/Vita-Classica
The Keidel therme is my and my wife's favourite of all German ones.
A German therme will usually have a sauna area (extra charge) where towels are required bo no clothes are; and most of the area will be covered by the base charge and swimsuits are required and all the other water based offerings will be available, with different extra charges for beauty treatments. German facilities usually do no prescribe the type of suit worn.
Most French spas are like fancy hotels in the US where the water is tap water and the focus is on beauty treatments, and swimsuits are required. In France swimsuits for men must usually be the tiny Speedo type budgie-smugglers ONLY. No swim shorts or briefs, they must be form fitting. Women have more latitude, but again no loose fitting.
Which sounds more like what you are looking for?
Posted by
OP
15 posts
Thanks for the advice and recommendations. The heads up on swimsuit expectations for men is especially appreciated.
We are hoping to find a place that includes various kinds of water therapy options. Definitely something more than a hot tub--perhaps a hammam and relaxation room as well as massage offerings. So something that is a "half therme" would be terrific, and if that were in Strasbourg--perfection.
Hotel des Harras certainly has potential and looks lovely.