I’m trying to finalize part of a summer trip, and there’s one portion of it that I’ve been stuck on for a few weeks now, as I’m struggling to make a decision. So I’m curious if any OMAAT readers have ideas or suggestions. Let me explain what we’re trying to do, and what I’ve already found…
We’re taking both of our kids to Europe this summer
Our travel situation has changed significantly in recent years. Our older son, Miles is now nearly four years old, while our younger son, Jet, is about to turn one. While we’ve traveled long haul with Miles several times (and he’s finally getting to an age where it’s relatively easy and also enjoyable), this will be our first long haul trip with Jet.
We’re taking things slow (as is needed when you’re traveling with little ones while also trying to work, and while maintaining your sanity). We’ve rented a house in Greece for a week, and then we’ve rented a place in Sylt for a week.
Greece is of course always awesome in terms of the climate, food, people, etc. For the past couple of trips we’ve done to Greece, we’ve rented a home ina less popular place, rather than staying at a hotel in the few hotspots that most people visit. Meanwhile Sylt is an island in northern Germany that’s special to us — my mom absolutely loved it, and with her recent passing, we thought it would be nice to take our kids there.
The thing is, between those two stays, we have a little over a week. We’d like to spend that time in Germany or Austria. There are a few reasons for that:
- We’d like to expose our kids to the culture more, in general
- Ford is basically now fluent in German (he’s really good at learning languages), and wants to actually spend more time there
- We’re going to see relatives, since basically my entire family lives there
Anyway, we’ll have around a week to kind of do whatever. Initially we were just going to visit cities, but the more we thought about it, the more we decided it might be nicer to just go to more of a rural, outdoor-focused area. After all, if the weather is nice and our kids can just run around, that honestly sounds more relaxing and fun than dragging two little kids through cities.
One of my fondest travel memories from when I was young was when I did a road trip through the Alps with my parents. We didn’t know where we were going to stay each night, but instead, we’d just drive, and then end up in a really cute bed & breakfast. It was just such a special memory, and I can remember one of the inns in such vivid detail that it feels like it was only a week ago. How time flies.
So as I think of the concept of this, I think something in the area around the Alps, like a road trip from Munich, Salzburg, or Innsbruck, sounds like it could be prettiest. It would just be nice for them to have space to enjoy the outdoors, whether it’s in the mountains, on a lake, or whatever The thing is, I’m trying to figure out what’s best, which brings me to my question…
Any creative Germany or Austria hotel ideas?
I’d like to think I have a reasonably good grasp on the hotel market in Germany and Austria, challenging and scattered as it may be. The issue is that Germany doesn’t see much inbound international tourism, so the traditional ways you might find good hotels (like through Virtuoso) don’t necessarily work in the area. Furthermore, most of the best properties are actually tiny, boutique ones, and those aren’t necessarily as widely known.
So, what’s my thought process here? On the one hand, one easy option would be to just fly into Frankfurt, and then go to the nearby Marriott Autograph Collection properties, like the Falkenstein Grand Koenigstein, and/or the Villa Rothschild Koenigstein. However, I just visited those, and I feel like we could do better than that in terms of scenery.
Another great Marriott Autograph Collection option is Roomers Baden-Baden, and I quite like the area, as it’s right at the base of the Black Forest. However, the immediate area around the hotel feels like a busy town, so it’s maybe not necessarily ideal for kids.
Going back to my Munich area concept above, here are a few thoughts:
- The Kempinski Berchtesgaden (formerly the InterContinental Berchtesgaden — shoutout to any OMAAT readers who were around back in the day when I constantly talked about this hotel) is a beautiful property in an area that perfectly fits the bill in terms of nature, but I’d still like something that’s ideally even smaller scale (though I do like the angle of being able to use GHA Discovery, given the elite status match)
- I’d love to stay at the Rosewood Schloss Fuschl, as I stayed there back when it was a Marriott Autograph Collection property; however, given that we’re looking to stay somewhere for around a week, it’s more than I’d ideally like to spend, especially since we may be joined by other family, and need multiple rooms
- Hilton Honors and Small Luxury Hotels of the World have a partnership, and there’s an interesting hotel portfolio in Austria, like Hotel Schloss Seefels and Grossarler Hof
- Marriott Bonvoy and Design Hotels have a partnership, and there are also a couple of cool Austria properties, like the Stieg’nhaus in Mühlbach am Hochkönig (which looks absurdly charming), and the Cōmodo in Bad Gastein (which looks cute, and is very reasonably priced)
- The Relais & Châteaux Hotel Tennerhof in Kitzbühel belongs to Virtuoso, and has half board rates that are entirely reasonable
- From a points perspective, the Caro & Selig Tegernsee, Marriott Autograph Collection, is reasonably priced and seems to have a good location, but I’m not sure about the hotel as such, and ideally we’d like to go for something a bit smaller
- Or I guess to go a completely different direction, we could stay at the Conrad Hamburg, as Hamburg is a beautiful city with lots of parks and cool activities for kids, cities have lots of food options, and the hotel actually looks nice
I’m sure there are many other properties I’m missing, so if anyone has any thoughts on the above properties, or ideas for other hotels, I’d love to hear them. If I could create my dream hotel, it would be a small inn in the Alps with a dozen rooms, nice design, and not a whole lot else around, while still being kids friendly. Of course we’re flexible, though. 😉
Bottom line
We’re going to visit Germany in several weeks, and while most of our trip is planned, I still have a week or so in Germany where we need to decide where to stay. We’re also open to Austria, and the more we talk about it, the more we think something charming in the Alps would be the ideal option, rather than spending too much time in a city.
However, aside from my own experiences, I can’t say that I’ve heard a whole lot about specific properties that are worth seeking out. So if anyone has any ideas, I’d be very grateful (and then I’ll of course report back with my experience).