It is not next door for us, Fontana Resort in Bad Nieuweschans. However, we don't mind driving a bit. Certainly not if we have the chance to escape the daily hustle and bustle together again. I therefore gladly accepted the invitation to visit Fontana Nieuweschans. Below you can read how our wellness visit went.
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Twice a year Frank and I try to take some time for each other. Away from the daily stress, away from the children. Relaxing and catching up together, for hours. Often in the form of a day in the sauna and sometimes we make it an entire weekend. Although the latter has unfortunately not happened so often in recent years.
Fortunately, it happened again last week. Relax with an overnight stay in the oldest health resort in the Netherlands, Fontana Nieuweschans.
Don't read our review completely but go directly to the Fontana Resort website?
When you arrive, Fontana Resort Bad Nieuweschans does not look very spectacular, but as soon as you enter the door towards the reception you will be pleasantly surprised. The entrance is a lot more spacious than the outside suggests and the reception is very friendly.
We arrive a little later in the day (because of the planned lessons to get a motorcycle license) and have chosen to sit at the table first so that we can discover the Fontana Nieuweschans complex at our leisure afterwards. Check in and take the bag to the hotel room and then enjoy a bite to eat in the restaurant.
This restaurant is very well regarded, it even has a listing in the Lekker Gids with 500 best restaurants. And there is nothing too much to say about that.
What is immediately noticeable is that in addition to the wine list, there is also a water menu on the table. What's up with that? We chat with our waiter and discover that this restaurant is called 'Waters of the World' for a reason. Of course I choose a separate mineral water with our dinner, a variant from Scotland.
We decide not to make a quick bite of it, but to really take the time to have a nice dinner together. I feel a sigh escape because of the delicious prosecco beforehand and the luxurious look of our starter. I eat marinated salmon with seaweed salad as a starter and grilled tournedos as a main course. I have never eaten the latter as tender as here.
Nice detail: you do not choose the meat or fish for your main course, but you start with the choice of vegetables. In my case:caramelized beetroot and beetroot cream with gently cooked chicory, onion quiche and organic risotto.
And while we're at it, I don't want to withhold dessert from you either 😉 .
Good. Good food is important to me, even if you go to the sauna, and that is a must here. But how do you like the resort itself? I'm going to tell you more about that now.
But first I would like to point out that the photos that were taken with the approval of the management were taken before the opening of the sauna and the thermal baths. Not that you think I walked around there with my camera among all the visitors, no… I got up extra early especially for you 😉 .
First of all, it is good to know that Fontana Resort Bad Nieuweschans consists of a sauna part and a thermal bath part. Swimwear is compulsory in the thermal baths, but swimwear is not allowed in the sauna. It may sound a bit complex, but I'm going to explain how we experienced that.
The entire wellness resort has a lot to offer. And you can also experience all those 'parts' of Fontana Nieuweschans separately if you want. In other words:you can choose to only visit the thermal baths and the steam bath house, but you can also choose to visit thermal baths and sauna.
The rates differ and by using wristbands you may or may not have access to the sauna complex. In both cases you can spend a whole day there, there are relaxation areas available and there is a fantastic catering facility. So do not think that you are so 'done' with just a visit to the thermal baths.
There are two large thermal baths available in this part of Fontana Nieuweschans, which are filled with beneficial mineral water. It is not for nothing that this is often used by people with health problems. The first bath has a temperature of 36° C.
The minerals such as salt, magnesium, iodine and bromide ensure that the muscles and joints are relieved and the pain is soothed. In addition, they have a disinfecting, calming effect and they promote energy metabolism and thyroid activation.
The mineral water is extracted from a well that is 600 meters deep and because of the high concentrations of minerals mixed with fresh water for use.
The second thermal bath has recently been added (with water temperature of 34°C) which is located on the edge of the bathrobe park is located. The large thermal bath is not only beautiful in shape, but also overlooks the enormous park where you can stroll around. The mega neck shower that hangs there is not only nice but also looks spectacular.
In the thermal part there is also an extensive steam bath house where you can not only sit in the steam of the mineral water, but where this mineral water can also be used in streams down your shoulders. Delicious!
The sauna area of Fontana Nieuweschans can only be entered if you have indicated at the entrance that you also want to enter the sauna. You will then receive a different wristband with which you can also go to the saunas, the indoor swimming pool, separate relaxation areas and the separate catering facility.
A 'must' for us, since I go for the saunas, but as I said… you can also spend a wonderful day relaxing in the thermal baths.
There is a variety of saunas that unfortunately we have not been able to try all of them. As a result of the fact that we arrived late on Friday and had to go home again on Saturday at 4 pm (pity!). Our favorites are always the outdoor saunas. I love being able to go outside directly from the heat.
The panorama sauna is a nice and tasty sauna, although I personally think it is a shame that you only have seating there because of the type of benches that are in it. Or you have to lie in the window (where I am sitting now 😉 ), but I don't feel comfortable doing that.
There is a large outdoor sauna where infusions take place regularly. Automatic infusions (also handy) and manual infusions for the extra experience. If you like infusions -just like me- really recommended.
The relaxation areas I talked about above are plentiful and I personally think that is a big plus. Relaxing and sleeping is just as important during my sauna visit as going into the saunas.
The only moment I allow myself to take a nap during the day is ... in a wellness resort 😉 . There is also no shortage of sunbeds. And let's face it… these kinds of relaxation areas make you happy, don't you?
With regard to the catering establishments, we have tried 2 places. The restaurant (on the evening we arrived and during breakfast the next morning) and the sauna lodge. We skipped the brasserie because you sit too 'upright' at the table there.
I like to relax in a chair while enjoying a snack or a drink during my sauna visit. Preferably with my feet on Frank's lap, but of course he isn't always waiting for that.
The sauna lodge is the golden mean for me. You can sit relaxed in a cozy 'intimate' private corner and that means you could sit there for hours chatting. Fantastic.
The tapas they serve there are also highly recommended. A lot of attention is paid to the presentation of the whole and the taste does not lie. No pictures of the food unfortunately because we enjoyed the tapas here during opening hours.
The name already suggests, in the bathrobe park you basically walk in your bathrobe. Access to the park is from the thermal area and from a number of hotel rooms (like ours) you look out over the beautiful park and you could start your morning walk right away.
Too bad you can't access it directly from the sauna area, but have to walk around the thermal baths. This choice has undoubtedly arisen in order to let everyone here walk in swimwear / bathrobe and not just in his or her bare ass. That would probably be less pleasant for thermal baths visitors.
Park is the right name for this outdoor area. It's huge when I compare it to the outdoor areas of other saunas we've been to. You can take a seat on all kinds of secluded benches or chairs and look out over the ponds while musing. You can relax in hammocks, but also play a game of chess if you want.
The fine herb garden that is part of the park is fully used by the chefs.
During our visit we also had a wellness treatment. This time a Thalasso pampering where we not only received a wonderful body treatment with algae cream, but were also wrapped in an infrared blanket.
First of all, the cream is massaged in wonderfully, and then I am wrapped up little by little. It may look a bit akward, but it's so delicious! The infrared blanket creates a deep effect on the muscles, joints and organs. And that you relax completely. The latter is a fact and I prove it again by falling asleep after 5 minutes. I can barely smile into the camera 😉 .
Time flies naturally when you're asleep and before I know it there's a knock on the door and the end of my wellness treatment is approaching. Fortunately I still have a fantastic extensive foot reflex zone massage and I am slowly returning to the world of the living. What a great experience and what a boost I could use after the past few weeks in which I had to say goodbye to my dear daddy.
Before we went to Fontana Nieuweschans, I was full of tension and after one day and night I was fully recharged. Ready to face the day-to-day business again.
I think I can be clear about that. It is a very extensive complex which has something to offer for everyone. Despite the fact that the wellness resort is so large, the visitor numbers are not huge, or at least ... you as a visitor do not notice that, that's what I mean. There is more than enough space to come to yourself and you certainly don't have to sit on each other's lip.
The food is fantastic, all areas that we have seen are extremely clean and the hotel rooms are also perfectly fine.
We did not experience the change of wearing/not wearing swimwear as annoying. If you don't feel like it, then it's actually not even necessary. You can stay in the sauna part and still use the mineral water by going into the thermal bath in the sauna part. You would only put on your swimwear again for a possible treatment.
Too bad for us that Groningen is not around the corner and we have to drive 2.5 hours to use the facilities in Fontana Nieuweschans. Now it is only for us to do it with an overnight stay. But otherwise we would certainly spend more time here just for a day in the sauna.
Have you ever been to this wellness resort? And what did you think of it?
