Copyright by: Europa Park ©

Entering the parking area of the New England style hotel “Bell Rock” at the Europa Park was like entering a different era, especially once we parked and walked around the impressive exterior of the building.

We arrived at the hotel lobby, furnished with comfortable arm chairs, and glanced up the rustic interior staircase leading you to the other floors; right behind those we located the hotel bar “Spirit of St. Louis.”

Since we still had to check in, we headed to the reception on our right where time era, appropriately dressed staff welcomed us warmly. We were handed our room key, a chip card that also enabled access to the pool area and the saunas, more about those later in the article.

The elevator took us right to our floor and we found our room. The door opened and we entered what felt like a wellness room.  The nicely sized room featured a big king size bed along with bunk beds that looked like little boats (the New England style carrying on throughout the entire room).  Bathroom and restroom were separate providing plenty of privacy. The heavy, wooden screen could be pushed back to provide additional room to the shower.  I did not want to leave the large, luxurious shower, but we did want to explore the hotel and after all wanted to ride roller coasters! Roller Coasters? – Yes, you did read that right, after all the Bell Rock Hotel is one of five park owned hotels of Europa Park -  the biggest seasonal amusement park in the world!

We did test out the wellness area of the hotel first. The pool and sauna are located apart from each other, which turned out to be a good thing… keeping the noise level down in the sauna.

At first we went for a dip in the pool, set up as both an indoor and outdoor pool, connected only by a portal in the wall. A couple waterspouts gave it a little wellness feel. The nicely sized pool did invite us to swim some laps; again the area was set up in the maritime, New England style.

We snuggled up in our bathrobes, and walked down the hallway to the other side of the hotel. There we entered the official wellness area with its two saunas, steam bath, infra-red sauna, showers and wading tub. Additionally to all of that, the hotel also offers a resting room with tea bar and a lovely terrace to chill outside. The wellness area even offered a separate area for ladies, if desired. The whole set up felt very relaxing and clam.

It may be hard to believe, but the relaxing wellness program made us hungry. We headed upstairs and got changed to check out the hotel’s own restaurant “Harborside.” If you reserve a table ahead of time, the restaurant offers you different locations to choose from. If you are in the mood to spoil yourself and spend a little extra money, you should check out the Ammolite restaurant. It is the only amusement park hotel in the world that owns two Michelin Stars.

The dishes we ordered off the menu proved themselves with great quality and even bigger portions! – If you do desire a buffet style dinner, you can book that right at the restaurant, too!

To finish off the perfect evening, we opted for a visit in the earlier spotted bar “Spirit of St.Louis.” Designed to remind you of a pilot bar around the turn of the century, we settled on comfy leather chairs. The menu invited us with delicious snacks and dishes like burgers, salads and sandwiches. The cocktails were out of this world, and we decided this place is well worth a return visit. After a bit, we decided to head outside, passing by a little separate room for smokers. We set our cocktail glasses down on a wonderful table right on the docks and listened to the sound of the waves.

Docks? Waves? Here right in the Rust area? Yes, you read that correctly. To match the hotel with its New England charm, the architects matched the outside to fit the theme. Alongside a man-made lake with artificial waves, we found a proper New England Lighthouse that houses the hotels suites, a nice boardwalk and a beautiful water/fire effect show for that authentic old time charm.

Our day finally came to an end when our tired heads hit the pillows, and we were definitely dreaming about our soon to come breakfast.

After a good night’s rest, we found our way back to the restaurant. We were greeted by a huge breakfast buffet, which offered everything from an egg station, to bacon, pancakes, yogurts, fresh fruit and much more.

If you prefer a trip to Italy or Spain or want to stop at a knight’s castle or even a monastery, you should definitely check out the other four hotels owned by Europa Park. But our favorite has to be, without any doubt, the Bell Rock!

Copyright by: Europa Park ©