Sustainable renovation on historical footprints – Not quite new, but still quite unique
Part fairytale, part history and always impressive – hotels and holiday homes in historic buildings have a very special charm. Our Green Pearls® partner hotels also love the history of their properties. Therefore, they place great importance on preserving the historical roots and combining them with modern and contemporary standards. A short journey through time to the fascinating origins of the hotels shows how wonderful the sustainable renovation of the buildings has been.
Spanish farm POU DE GLAÇ with an icy past
Our journey takes us back to the 17th/18th century, to an estate in the Spanish hinterland of the Costa Brava, situated directly on the Rec d’Estany stream. The old flour mill, the barn, the vault and the ice fountain are bustling with activity. For several centuries, this was used as a natural refrigerator with the help of stored natural ice, which enabled the landowner’s family to enjoy a higher standard of living.
The owner of the grounds around the heritage-listed ice fountain (Pou de Glac) played by the old mill and the idyllic stream herself as a child. This personal connection is noticeable in the many loving details that have been considered during the transformation of the site into eco-friendly, sustainable holiday homes. The natural materials, especially wood and natural stone, contrast beautifully with the exposed steel and cement as well as the modern furnishings. A flawless blend of old and new architecture. The POU DE GLAÇ – ECO TOURISM holiday homes at this beautiful and sustainable place of well-being have only been available for booking for a few weeks.
Historical ambience meets modern luxury at Schlosshotel Blankenburg
The journey continues in the Harz Mountains, in the middle of the 19th century. We stop at the former barracks of Duke Wilhelm’s “Herzoglich Braunschweigische Leibbataillon” in Blankenburg, where Wilhelm’s soldiers stayed from 1860. Until the end of the Second World War, the castle barracks repeatedly served as a training centre for recruits and as accommodation for various military units. After the withdrawal of the Soviet military administration in 1946, the barracks were converted for residential purposes.
In 2009, the conversion of the historic building into a four-star hotel began. The challenge: to balance monument protection and the modern vision of an organic hotel. The thermal renovation of the building shell along with the new roof and basement insulation form the basic framework for the thoroughly sustainable focus of the hotel, which has even introduced its own system for environmental management. Despite complete energetic renovation, the historic spirit of the building envelopes you as soon as you enter the Schlosshotel Blankenburg with its high ceilings, large windows and classic furnishings. Modern bathrooms, a wellness area with sauna landscape, relaxation and treatment rooms as well as a completely new building housing the reception and the restaurant have been added. The six-legged friends also find a home after the renovation in the new insect hotel on the grounds.
Princely history at the Naturresort Schindelbruch
It is only a short trip from Blankenburg to Stolberg, but we are now heading back to 1928 – the year in which the Princes of Stolberg Stolberg decided to build the “Schindelbruch Hunting Lodge” above the small village of the same name in the southern Harz. In GDR times, the house was turned into a holiday home and, after the fall of the Wall, into the “Harzhotel im Schindelbruch”. In 2003, the gradual renovation and expansion of today’s Schlosshotel began.
Owner and managing director Dr. Clemens Ritter von Kempski brought his personal interest in sustainable issues to the table from the very beginning and realised his vision of operating the hotel in an eco-friendly way. Now, it is time to travel to the recent past of the nature resort, because in 2013 the “Pearl of Schindelbruch and favourite place of the wellness guests” opened – the bathhouse. The resort’s newest jewel is the Landresidenz, which was completed in spring 2021. After the renovation, the nature resort received several awards for the intelligent saving of resources and its excellent quality management.
