You might have heard of Kassel before since every five years this German town hosts the travel fair Documenta. Other than that, even Germans don`t know too much about this place. Since the summer of 2020, however, Kassel has made it on the Pretty Hotels map: Not far from the Bad Wilhemshöhe mountain park and nestled in the hills and trees we found Das Hilla. A beautiful restored villa, in the middle of the forest and nature.
THE IDEA
The house, built in 1913, has been lovingly renovated over the past few years by a quartet of four women. They transformed it into a chic guesthouse with eleven beautiful rooms. The owners and hosts – all purveyors of good design and healthy food — wanted to create a place that feels like a second home in a rural setting.
The whole house looks like one big vacation. Not to mention the garden! There, among the fruit trees, you just want to laze in a chair all day, cappuccino in one hand, a good book in the other and listen to the birds chirping. Once the temperatures drop you make yourself comfortable in front of one of the fireplaces, together with the other guests.
THE ROOMS
All 11 rooms are designed differently. Light walls and colors, lots of space, creaky parquet floors. From time to time the bathrooms are shared here. The ladies did not want to destroy the villa with the additional installation of bathrooms. And basically the idea of the house is to bring people together again (after the confinement).
RETREATS
Throughout the year, retreats will be offered at Das Hilla and guests are guided through the day with selected programs. Starting with some meditation in the morning, forest bathing in the afternoon and of course lots of yoga. Motto? Everything is possible.
CULINARY
In terms of cuisine, Das Hilla offers its guests an all-inclusive carefree package. In a perfect vacation home, you would walk into the kitchen and ideally find a plate of fresh fruit or a homemade cake from grandma waiting for you. That’s pretty much how you will find it at Das Hilla. In the morning, there’s freshly baked sourdough bread with homemade almond paste, and in the evening, a plate of colorful assorted vegetables from the kitchen garden. When it comes to the ingredients, they pay attention to the quality and origin of the food. Cook Lara, however, conjures up exclusively vegetarian dishes in the historic kitchen. She has teamed up with small farmers and suppliers from the surrounding area to create food that is as regional and seasonal as possible. Everything is grown organically. The primal carrot, which still lived in the field in the morning, is fresh on the plate in the evening.
IDEAL FOR
All millennials who — also for the sake of the environment — prefer to vacation at home, and want to find a second home with healthy food, lots of nature and like-minded people.
Price range
The room comes for 100 Euros per night (for one or for two). In addition, there`s the all inclusive package for 75 Euros per day including all meals, coffee and snacks.
Booking & Contacts
Das Hilla
Zeche-Marie-Weg 30
34132 Kassel