After my girlfriend and I went to London during my family-free time last time, this time it was all about wellness. At least in terms of themes; we can never sit still long enough to explore the surrounding area at some point. We wanted to arrive by car and drive for no more than 2.5 hours. While searching for suitable accommodation, I came across Villa Hügel, a boutique hotel with a wellness area in the south of Trier. While the hotel also offers family rooms, the spa area is primarily reserved for adults. We made the almost 200 km drive without any major traffic, but due to the many kilometers of country road, we did end up behind a few slower trucks. We were lucky and snagged one of the few parking spaces on the street right next to the hotel upon arrival.
A small stroll around the city
The hotel itself has a handful of free parking spaces and a paid underground garage. Since our room wasn’t ready yet, after the usual check-in paperwork and dropping off our luggage, we decided to take a walk into the city center. From the hotel, it takes about 10 minutes to get to the center and about 20 minutes to the Porta Nigra. On the way there, you’ll come across all sorts of archaeological sites and Roman buildings. In the center itself, you’ll find the usual suspects: retail and fast-food chains, housed in some very beautiful old buildings. The main tourist highlights are the cathedral and the Porta Nigra. Two hours later, we were convinced we’d seen every relevant corner of Trier and made our way back to the hotel.
Our double room was ready by then, and our luggage had already been brought there. The receptionist showed us a little tour of the building and then to our sleeping quarters on the second floor of the old building. The rooms at Villa Hügel don’t have numbers, but city names—so, fittingly, we stayed in the “Cologne” room. The room and bathroom were quite old-fashioned, but super clean. There wasn’t a single piece of lint to be found anywhere; everything had been arranged with attention to detail. And even the curtains were folded correctly again by room service the next day.
The hotel and its culinary highlights
We booked a double room with a luxury half-board package, which included breakfast, tea time, and a three-course evening meal in the hotel’s restaurant. Tea time, during which you can choose not only from a variety of teas, but also coffee specialties and a slice of delicious cake, is served between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. This was just what we needed after the drive and the long walk. Refreshed, we headed to the spa area: spread across four floors (somewhat angular thanks to the individual annexes), you’ll find an infinity pool with a view of Trier, a small indoor pool, a sauna area with infrared cabins, and various seating and lounging options. Considering the theoretical number of guests, the number of loungers seemed quite small, although we found space everywhere (although not always next to each other). A little later, we changed for dinner, curious to see what the highly rated restaurant, which is also open to non-hotel guests, had in store for us. And we weren’t disappointed on either evening: the booked three-course menu could be combined with two starters, two main courses, and a dessert – a true feast for the palate! We had a nightcap at the small but charming bar and then happily fell into bed.
The next morning, thanks to the extended breakfast hours (until 12:00 PM on weekends!), we sat down to our meals in peace and quiet. And what can I say?! The selection and quality of the food easily makes it into my top 3 breakfast favorites. In addition to the standard fare, everything was offered, from champagne and sparkling wine, freshly made waffles and fresh baked goods, antipasti and various smoked fish, to various types of honey and jam, roast beef and game cold cuts. A variety of egg dishes could also be freshly prepared. A dream! And so plentiful that you could easily make it to tea time without lunch.
Off to Luxembourg
After a hearty breakfast, we were naturally already restless and drove to Luxembourg City, a 40-minute drive away. To my shame, I realized I actually knew absolutely nothing about this small country, let alone its capital. But we just drove off. We found a very central parking garage and set off from there using Google Maps. However, we’d never experienced anything like this before: Google Maps displayed sights in the wrong places, we constantly didn’t get where we wanted, and we almost missed the lower town. That was a strange and completely new experience, as the city’s highlights themselves weren’t particularly well signposted. Nevertheless, we really liked this small and very clean town. In the upper town, in addition to the cathedral, you’ll find the main shopping streets, including Galeries Lafayette and Ladurée. If you, like us, don’t want to walk, you can take the elevator next to the St. Esprit parking garage down to the lower town by the river, where you’ll find many small cafés and restaurants right on the water, as well as the Natural History Museum. Since we wanted to start the afternoon with tea time back at the hotel and end it all in the wellness area, we headed back after two hours.
Once there, after tea and cake, we enjoyed the peace and quiet in the adjoining room by the infinity pool before being enchanted by dinner. As in all areas of the hotel, not only was the food in the restaurant superb, but the service was also absolutely top-notch: always on the ball and thoughtful, very courteous, motivated, and friendly. And that “despite” a relatively young staff, at least half of whom were still in training. Chapeau!
After another night and a second magnificent breakfast, we (unfortunately) headed home again, but I’m already looking forward to the next time!
With that in mind: Alla dann!
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