The Place
Old parsonages, vicarages and rectories are the staple diet of a guide to charming smal hotels in Britain; in Germany they are distinctly rare – and in the case of Altes Pfarrhaus Beaumarais, at least, the German variety has little in common with the British. With 36 rooms, it is naturally not the last word in intimacy; and in terms of style, it is more severe and less home-like than a British visitor might expect.
The building was an aristocrat’s summer villa before being used as a vicarge. The proprietors describe it as late-baroque, but there is none of the exuberant decoration that the label usually implies. On the contrary, the house (converted to a hotel in 1985) is stylishly plain: outside, white shutters against cream walls; inside, again, predominantly cream-coloured walls and fabrics, and furnishings thats verge on the spare. This is particularly true of the spacious bedrooms – though even here there are just enough splashes of colour to make the decorative scheme seem clearly deliberate rather than negligent. The public areas are less restrained, with the occasional ornament, even. The dining room has a small modern conservatory extension; there is no dining-terrace, but a very appealing courtyard Biergarten.