Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa

Brenners has stood on the Lichtentaler Allee since 1872, its cream façade facing the park and the little Oos stream that threads through Baden-Baden's spa quarter. The town built its reputation on taking the waters, and Brenners became the address where European society did so in comfort; today, as a founding house of the Oetker Collection, it keeps that tradition with a seriousness few hotels attempt.

The hotel's modern centrepiece is Villa Stéphanie, a dedicated spa house adjoining the main building, which pairs classical pampering with genuine medical and diagnostic programmes — dental, dermatology and preventative medicine among them — via the neighbouring Haus Julius. It is one of Europe's most complete wellness operations, wrapped in the manners of a nineteenth-century grand hotel rather than a clinic.

Interiors are richly traditional: antiques, oils and heavy silk in the salons, park views from the best rooms, and a wood-panelled restaurant scene that runs from refined contemporary tasting menus to proper afternoon tea. Beyond the door lie the Kurhaus casino, the Frieder Burda museum and the Black Forest's walking trails. Brenners is old-world Germany at its most cultivated, with a spa that outworks hotels half its age.