Chatelain for a weekend – A very special accomodation

I was browsing already too long through pages of tasteless hotels, guesthouses and holiday homes: Either they were of the category “frumpy and slightly tacky – stuck in the 70s” or of the category “tried to be modern – reached characterless”…

… And then I found this place: Schloss Hofstetten. And it was clear from the very first moment that I’ve found IT! Although I don’t know anymore on which winding paths of search I discovered. But if you can only roughly imagine the other options I’ve been coming across, you might understand my happiness. All of the before said it had/was NOT: Not dowdy, but with lots of history. No failed modernity, but classy interaction of old and discreet simple modernity. No exchangeable furnishing, but love for the detail and lots of character!

I am absolutely aware of the fact that I am perhaps a bit overambitious when it comes to holiday accomodation – the search for “the perfect one” can be very tiring – for me, but also for him 😉 But I can’t help, but always end up in this kind of perfectionism. To my defence I have to say, that we both regularly profit from this quirk.

Over the years I’ve collected a number of pages I like to turn to as a (overregional) starting point when looking for holiday accomodation. So, if you’re tending towards the same freakyness like me – or want to become a freak 🙂 – here are my much appreciated pages:
Urlaubsarchitektur/holiday architecture (I love, love, love this page!)
somewhere unique
Welcome Beyond
The Pretty Hotels Blog
Designtripper
The blogs of Pauline from Petite Passport and Stephanie from 70percentpure are also worth a visit.

But back to Schloss Hofstetten: The castle lies in the middle of the Altmühltal, hidden in a small village behind a surrounding hedge. The owners have only lately started to rent the first floor as holiday apartments – our luck.

In talks and a long guided tour through the whole complex we learned about all the ups and downs, rights and wrongs when renovating and restoring a castle from (probably) the 12th century for over 40 years. We got lots of interesting insights … but also lost some still existing romantic-naive images of being castellan and chatelaine.

Nevertheless, as guests for a few days we felt very privileged to have the chance to stay at this special place and immerse ourselfs fully into it. It’s a quiet and remote place in its best sense (Although the little village around has all you need). It’s a place to just be, sit in one of the several sitting corners, smell the elderflowers, watch the swifts and the blue sky.

You can listen to the sounds of the centuries when walking on the creaking parquet flooring, can trace the layers of history of the building from its thick walls, enjoy the morning sun that comes through the windows while trinking a cup of tea. Time-out!

Besides the holiday apartments there are also some other rooms in the castle for rent, for example the library which is accredited to be used as registry office for civil marriages, a banquet room,…

…and last but not least the Remise, which can be rented for festivites like the wedding that took place right  after our stay.

 Placed in the middle of an impressive natural landscape this baroque pearl really is a beautiful, relaxing place if you’re looking for some time off. … and I found the needle in the haystack!