Kurhotel Im Park - Bad Schinznach — Hotel in Brugg

I booked Kurhotel Im Park through Booking.com for what was advertised as a spa/wellness hotel with thermal baths. In reality, I arrived at what is unmistakably a rehabilitation clinic.

When I walked into the lobby, my first thought was that I must have entered the wrong address in Maps — I even said this to the receptionist. That’s how far the reality was from the description. • Nearly everyone onsite was a patient in rehab, nursing staff, or a visitor. I did not encounter a single other leisure guest. • Central signage at the main elevator pointed to physiotherapy, neuropsychology, and social services. • Nursing staff in uniforms moved through the lobby and common areas. • Wheelchairs were parked in hallways, reinforcing the clinical atmosphere.

While this may be an excellent environment for people in rehabilitation, it is entirely inappropriate to market as a leisure/spa hotel without clear disclosure that it primarily serves a rehab and senior population.

For me, it was especially triggering: this trip was a celebration of recovery from multiple major surgeries over the past 18 months, and my father had also been hospitalized and in rehab after being hit by a car. I would never have chosen to spend a birthday splurge in an environment so closely tied to those difficult experiences.

On top of that, I paid over $300 for one night and spa access — which I neither stayed for nor used. The manager refused cancellation, even though I had booked only two hours before arrival. And now, instead of enjoying my last days of vacation in Europe, I’m forced to spend them trying to get Booking.com or the hotel to do the right thing.

Guests deserve transparency. This is not a leisure hotel — it is a rehabilitation clinic, and advertising it otherwise...

Pleasantly isolated and surrounded by forest and the Aare-River. Impressive old building. While the Public area looks elegantly nice and freshly redone, in (some of the) hotel rooms renovation didn’t made it beyond the wooden floor. Beds, furniture and bathroom are outdated and look morbidly golden-70ties. In the bathroom it’s all plastic and you might have doubts about cleanliness (see pictures). No minibar and no room service (“we have fix dinner times”, gives you a nursing home feeling).Some of the rooms are just next to patient rooms which reinforces that NH-impression.||||The good points: friendly staff, quiet area and free bike rental.||||All in all: interesting time-travel some 40 years back but at least for the unrenovated rooms clearly not...

Schinznach Bad has a long history as a spa. We spent two nights in this hotel just to make a break in the X-mas stress. The welcome was warm and uncomplicated, the staff friendly and exceptionally attentive, careful, and mindful. We liked the split between aquarena for fun and sport open for families and the calm spa open for adults only. The dinner in the restaurant near by was delicious, the beds were fine for a sensitive back, there was plenty room. The only negative point: We missed a kettle to make a cup of coffee or tea...