Archive for March 11, 2009
Secret Resorts in Germany — A Checklist to Find Them — Part 1 of 4
March 11, 2009, 7:26 am“Follow theses steps and you prevent disappointment”
Since years the Wellness Industry experiences an upswing. The Baby-boomer wants to stay young, healthy and happy. A Wellness vacation is for this often a step into the right direction. Why not just take the time of a two week ease and escape the everyday life? Clearly, it is very pleasant to be able to be spoiled and refuelled with new energy.
But what if the Secret Resorts, also considered as Wellness Hotels, do not obtain the desired effect? What if you get a lousy bathtub instead of a Wellness Park? Nothing deceives more than brochures, intelligently selected words and empty promises.
Smart is who goes here safe and ensures whether the focused hotel offers really everything you expect. Finally you want to refuel new energy not new stress, right?
This four part checklist is a step-by-step guidance of how you select and find the best Secret Resorts in Germany and experience the highest possible relaxation.
Step 1 – Environment
Some of those so called ‘Top Secret Resorts’ are located at main streets – with tons of traffic of cars and trucks. If so, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the ‘paradise’ within the hotel is. The silence, fresh air and thus the relaxation is ruined. Day in and day out you are annoyed that you pay lots of money for noise and dirt.
Naturally you do not see that in most brochures. In the brochures you find the most beautiful pictures of the respective hotel. If the hotel is located at a main street with lots of traffic, it will show you photos of the rear garden, in order to divert you from their disadvantage.
It is understandably heavy to carry and place the hotel on another place in the village or just around the corner. It was built on that place. Period. Therefore you get to see the best possible pictures, because they want to attract as many customers as possible.
The real TOP placed Secret Resorts don’t have to stand for that.
But for heavens sake how now do you find out whether the hotel is positioned at a strongly frequented road or not?
Ask for the layout plan!
Exactly, ask the tour operator (or the travel agent) for a layout plan. The Travel agent may look funny or even angry at you, but it doesn’t concern his but your own vacation and your own deep relaxation! Thus you have the right to go surely that the hotel was built on a quiet place/area.
What if the travel agent stays stubborn and doesn’t want to show or procure you a layout plan of the hotel area?
Then ask for the local map. If he does not have one (which is probable), it is definitely possible to get one from the prospective Secret Resorts. At least by fax!
Yes, in my whole career I have never seen it happen that a good visited wellness hotel has NOT a map for travel directions to itself.
Anyway, this city plan finally gives you detailed information on where exactly the hotel is located. You make sure however that the plan does not only show a mini cut-out, but also the large environment.
What if you just get a mini cut-out?
Frankly, every day I experience our ’service desert’ on earth and I am very annoyed about it. Do you know our service desert? By that I mean that only few understand something about customer service. Sometimes you see humans who react badly and disappointing, when you want something from them. Here I use gladly the quotation ‘attention, customer threatens with order!’ : -) And sometimes you must settle something on your own fist.
Anyway, ask for the entire address (street, city, URL) and do a research on the Internet by yourself! With the URL of the Secret Resorts you look with *impartial* eyes throughout the sites of the hotels to find the information you are looking for.
With street and city in your hand you go to an online route planner or city map. On the Internet there are free route planners. Some of them work international. When you selected yourself a few Secret Resorts in which you want to dip more deeply, go to these route planners and examine where exactly the hotels are. Make sure that you have the correct address and find the exact layout plan of the respective Secret Resorts.
It should not be directly at a through road. It is better, if it is at or in the proximity of a forest or at the outskirts of a town.
If you however have problems to find those maps and directions with your favourite route planner, go to www.smart-travel-germany.com/smart-travelogy-germ.html and sign up for my free Special Report. I show you step-by-step how you can use our German route planners and our travel information portal of German Rail (without any German language skill). You will have a quite comfortable way to find your most wanted Secret Resorts. And I am telling you, you will LOVE my videos 
Anyway, this was the first part of my checklist to find the Secret Resorts in Germany. In the next three parts I will go in details to the age, condition, wellness sector and the hotel classifications.
Enjoy your trip!
Marcus Hochstadt
Marcus Hochstadt travels extensively to countries, continents and Germany itself as a sales manager and entrepreneur since more than 14 years. He knows in almost each German city the points of real interest. Watch out for his free monthly Special Report with more valuable insider tips at http://www.smart-travel-germany.com/.
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(posted in the Hall Of Travel category)
Destinations in Southern Germany: The Romantic Road
March 11, 2009, 1:02 amThe Romantic Road follows an old trade route and leads from the city of Wrzburg (see a previous article of mine for a description) to the foothills of the Alps. Driving along the Romantic Raod, or part of it, gives you a chance to experience medieval towns, baroque palaces and King Ludwig’s castle.
You can see a map of the Romantic Road at http://www.romanticroad.com/.
After driving south from Wrzburg, your first stop should be the palace in the town of Weikersheim, with its marvelous baroque gardens. Further along the road, the town of Creglingen offers the Herrgottskirche, a church famous for its altar carved by Tilman Riemenschneider in the early 16th century.
The road then follows the Tauber river to Rothenburg (which I have described in an other ezinearticle). Take your time to walk around this charming town enclosed by a wall and towers. Among the main tourist attractions are the Crime Museum, St. Jacob’s Church (with another altar by Riemenschneider), Kthe Wohlfart’s Christmas Village, where you can buy Christmas-related items all year long, and the Doll and Toy Museum.
The town of Dinkelsbhl is similar to Rothenburg, as it has preserved its medieval character, though its is much less overrun by tourists. Further south, you reach Nrdlingen, a walled town dominated by the 270-foot steeple of St. George’s Church. Nrdlingen is famous for a geological feature, as it is situated in the center of a 15-mile wide meteor crater. You can learn about it in the Rieskratermuseum.
The city of Augsburg, which was founded by the Romans 2,000 years ago, is the largest city on the Romantic Road, so be prepared for some heavier traffic here. Among the highlights are the town hall, the cathedral and the Fuggerei, a settlement that the rich merchant family Fugger created for poor citizens in the 16th century.
Further south, as you begin approaching the foothills of the Alps, you should visit the Wies Church, a perfect example of the Rococo style. And finally, near the town of Fssen, the is Castle Neuschwanstein, built by Bavarian King Ludwig II in the late 19th century.
Pamela Bruce lives in Austin, TX. She is the owner of Love Beads Unlimited and sells the sterling silver and Swarovski crystal bead jewelry she designs and creates both in her eBay store (http://stores.ebay.com/LOVE-BEADS-UNLIMITED) and on her website at http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com, where you can also download the free e-book “A Consumer’s Guide to Buying Bead Jewelry Online”.
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(posted in the Hall Of Travel category)
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