Grand Hotel Heiligendamm

It’s not exactly tropical, but the Baltic is a sea all the same, and for the German aristocrats of the nineteenth century, Heiligendamm was the equivalent of a Cannes or a St. Tropez. In the intervening decades this paradise by the Baltic was rather overtaken by events; now, after a massive restoration project, Heiligendamm is back, with the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm leading the charge.

The style is all elegance, with the exteriors of the old white palaces lovingly restored, and the interiors are somewhere between contemporary luxury and the spirit of 1793. Suites are oversized and even the standard rooms are large, with views of the parkland and gardens or of the Baltic sea itself. And beneath the surface they’re as modern as they come, with under-floor heating in the well-equipped stone bathrooms and a full complement of high-tech gadgetry in the bedrooms.

Its heritage as a spa town is a big part of the attraction of the newly reborn Heiligendamm, and the Grand plays along with a massive wellness complex: not just massage and beauty treatments, but an indoor pool, a full fitness center, and hot-cold treatments ranging from a blistering Finnish sauna to a bracingly chilly Kneipp pool to a downright frigid ice room. Sure, it’s never balmy, even at the best of times, but those Northerners in the know leave the Riviera to the arrivistes and take their seaside holidays at Heiligendamm.