Wintertime at Spreewald. Contributed by Jens Hoffmann.
The year break 2013/2014 is different, we stayed over Christmas at home and enjoyed some quality family time.
Why fly out to Thailand, Maldives, Cancun, the good is so close. Why not travel to the “Venice of the East”?
Let´s go, lets meet the Sorbs, Germany’s most enduring ethnic minority, they’ve lived in a crescent of land in modern Brandenburg since the sixth century. The Spreewald is a watery mosaic of channels, meadows, fields and forests fed by the river Spree, and easily accessible from Berlin. Key town is Lubben, where a lot of travel and boat tours starts. Looking for a couple of days rest and with a little research trip we make our way to the beach house Lubben called the Strandhaus Lubben in the Spreewald. 70 minutes from Berlin by car, the hotel is located on a small island near the historic city of Lubben. Also the natural area Spree lagoon is just a few minutes. The 4star hotel “Strandhaus Spreewald” is located on a little island.
From here you can book directly boat trips on the Spree. There is also a beautiful swimming lagoon, which I will visit in summer. The location offers creeks, lakes and forest. Its nicknamed “Venice of the East” and the scenery and its channels are quite similar to Venice in Italy. Our children enjoyed the children’s playgrounds and you can play mini golf instead of a proper 18-hole game on a real course just in front of the hotel.
We checked in a deluxe double room, next to the huge double bed and beautiful bathroom was a large terrace, with a view over the river Spree and the “Spreewald” forest. It was great.
Just in front of the hotel you can do boat trips like in Venice/Italy and in summer the sandy beach is ideal for sunbathing. But be aware of the mosquitoes. The Strandhaus Spreewald hotel has a nice spa with sauna and a big relaxation area.
The whole Spa is beautifully designed in a cosy Scandinavian style. The hotels restaurant called “Strandcafe”, it offers a nice breakfast buffet and we will try the hotels restaurant for the usual F&B test next time. The interior of the hotel is stylish and modern, lots of wood, Scandinavian inspired design, the housekeeping works perfectly. The highlight of the hotel is a presidential suite with spa and four balconies.
Unfortunately it was booked, but there will be a follow-up visit to the Spreewald in summer. Even without any beach experience we felt in good hands at the hotel. Especially at night we had a good time having the spa area completly to ourselves. So, we will come back, in the spring or summer. Its worth it to check in.
A bit more snow at the morning.
Good-bye Lubben.
