Super Slovakian Spas

Currently in Slovakia visiting two of its finest new hotels, Kempinski Hotel River Park and Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras – both with exceptional spas.

With limited flights between London and Bratislava, we took an early morning flight into Vienna and then drove the 45 minutes to Bratislava, the bustling Slovakian capital. We arrived in time for a delicious buffet lunch at Kempinski Hotel River Park, the city’s latest and most glamorous  5-star hotel.

My treatment in the Zion Spa was booked for 7pm, so after lunch we had time for a tour of a new local winery at Modra, outside Bratislava. Nigel, a Kiwi winemaker who helped set the winery up for its Slovakian owners, gave us an interesting tour and answered our many questions. We tasted the white wines first then moved onto the reds, which we sampled with nibbles of local cheeses and delicacies. We returned to the hotel feeling noticeably more cheerful!

My room on the 9th floor of this super new hotel looks across to the fast flowing River Danube and is just two levels down from the Zion spa on the top 11th floor. It was almost 7pm when we arrived  back after the wine tasting, so I quickly changed into swimsuit and robe and dashed up to the spa, only to be told that my treatment was actually at 7.30pm.  For once in my life, I had time to spare! One of the friendly spa receptionists took this photo in the spa with the River Danube as the background!

Since having my treatment (absolutely first class), we’ve had a walking tour of  Bratislava’s lovely old town, been chauffeured in a Rolls Royce and taken  a 4-hour train journey to Poprad (courtesy of Railbookers) to the High Tatras mountains. The journey was one of the highlights of the trip and quicker and less tiring than going by road. On my last trip to Slovakia,  I broke the long drive with visits to some of Slovakia’s thermal spas such as Piestany,  Trencianske Teplice and Rajeck Teplice. Travelling by train seemed effortless by comparison. The  carriages were modern, the restaurant car served good food and wine and the views became more spectacular.

We are now staying at The Grand Hotel Kempinski. The former hunting lodge and  sanatorium has been beautifully renovated into a five star leisure hotel with a fantastic spa.  It stand on the shores of Štrba tarn, a picturesque small lake surrounded by mountains and you couldn’t wish for a lovelier setting. When we visited, the mountain peaks had had their first sprinkling of snow – a reminder that the area is one of the Slovakia’s most prestigious and popular skiing areas.

The hotel was selected to host the very first Kempinski The Spa, a bespoke concept developed especially for Kempinski Hotels by Resense Spa and now opening up in several other Kempinski resorts.

I’ll be writing more about my spa experiences and visit to Slovakia in a forthcoming feature for Spa Wellbeing – so watch out for it soon!