4 Stars for a great spa facility with plenty of activities for families, but thankfully also an…read moreadults section for me to get away from happy children (I'm a monster).
As a caveat, I've not been to a facility like this before so my experience is of a first timer. I was staying in the attached hotel and excited to get my relaxation on and disconnect from everything. When you stay in the hotel you are granted access to Keidel through an underground tunnel (which means you get to walk over in your robe).
There is a section of the facility that is for families and includes a large indoor/outdoor pool with jets and lots of lounge seating. I spent about 30 seconds there before high-tailing it to the sauna section (again, not a fan of kids).
The sauna section is also a no-clothing section. As an American with American sensitivities to nudity (eek! Nipples are scary!), I was apprehensive (see: terrified). We entered the locker room where there are places to change into your robe. They also had a set of gender-specific showers, though they don't have any doors, just dividers. Queue immediate hives and the onset of hyperventilation.
You then walk into the common area that has a few separate saunas, a steam room (beautifully tiled), a cold ice plunge, some seats with foot baths, several open shower heads for quick co-ed rinses between sauna sessions, and the entrance to a pool that extends outside. Once outside you'll see there are additional saunas, a natural lake (for more cold plunges), and a quiet sitting area to lounge.
We happened to visit when there was a light snowfall outside and it was actually quite magical to be floating in a heated pool while snow drifted down around us. What struck me the most though was how quickly I got used to the nudity. Unlike nude beaches back home, folks weren't gawking or staring at one another (I won't mention the other unpleasant activities I've seen at American nude beaches, but suffice to say our prude culture leads to some sickos). No, here groups of girlfriends were laughing and chatting while using the communal showers and walking around in their birthday suits. Yes, I still kept a robe on anytime I wasn't in a sauna or skinny dipping in the pool, but there was no judgement whatsoever and who knows, maybe next time I'll forgo the robe altogether.
All in all, we spent several hours decompressing and doing our sauna routine and left feeling totally relaxed and a heck of a lot less bashful. The facility did feel a bit more therapeutic and not super luxurious (like a spa back home) but I'm a fan and we've already planned our trip back 2 years after our first visit.
