A lighter feeling that lasts.

Right on our doorstep lies the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Pfälzerwald-Northern Vosges: red sandstone cliffs, ancient castles, paths leading in every direction. If you set off early, you’ll hear nothing but your own footsteps for the first kilometre and often only realise, when you turn back, how long you’ve been thinking of nothing at all. That’s all a walk in the forest needs to offer.

Quiet rooms, the scent of the forest wafting in through the tilted window, and a day when nothing depends on the time. At breakfast, many guests tell us that they’ve slept through the night for the first time in weeks. Of all the things you take away from a few days here, that’s the one that lasts the longest.

Activity that gives you energy rather than draining it: a walk across the rocks, a few laps in the natural swimming pond, or yoga in the light-filled room with a sprung floor, or outside by the pond when the weather’s fine. You can decide what to do in the morning over your coffee. And if you don’t get round to doing anything at all one day, that’s more than fine.

Warmth, water, and time without a single task: from the heated infinity pool, open all year round, you can gaze out over the forest; in the panoramic sauna, warmth becomes a little event in itself; and in the relaxation oases, an afternoon slips by without a thing happening. That’s exactly what it’s all about: recovery needs time when nothing is planned.

Here, indulgence doesn’t have to balance anything out or make up for anything. There’s seasonal cuisine, local wines, matured raw-milk cheeses from Alsatian maître affineur Antony, and evenings on the panoramic terrace where nobody checks the time. You don’t have to justify what tastes good.