Coincidentally or not? The two spas are operated by the same organization and are located only meters apart, but they offer completely different experiences and cater to completely different audiences.
I asked my hotel for a spa recommendation but they were well-trained by the Baden-Baden tourist information board and would only tell me that both spas were equally wonderful. So what is the best spa in Baden-Baden, Germany?
Friedrichsbad bills itself as a Roman-Irish bathhouse. The classically-inspired building dates back almost years, and the interior of the spa is an unusual combination of Neoclassical design there are lots of naked Greek- and Roman-style statues and what I would describe as Soviet medical utilitarianism even though Baden-Baden was never in East Germany.
Inside the building there are two sets of facilities laid out in a perfect mirror image of one another — this allows men and women to spa separately on Monday, Thursday and Saturday as of early and enjoy a coed spa experience on the other days of the week.
Why separate men and women? Friedrichsbad offers its guests a prescribed, time-restricted visit through exactly seventeen stages of spa-ing is that a word? Friedrichsbad was the first spa I visited in Baden-Baden. Overall, I found the experience quite underwhelming.
