Get a behind-the-scenes look into how Nellie worked with a family of 5 to craft an easy, luxurious, and relaxing trip to the German Alps.
Destination:
The German Alps
Who we were planning for:
Family of 5 (parents and three ages 8, 5, and 3)
How long of a trip:
7 days in country
What we knew going into the planning process
- The mom is a super busy tech CEO who wanted an easy vacation that would give her and her equally busy husband some deserved R&R
- They wanted to go somewhere that had great activities and programming for their young kids (in English)
- They wanted to go somewhere that was a direct flight from SFO—no layovers, no changing planes
"Now that Nellie made travel so easy, I don't ever want to do any planning myself!"
- Sara Mauskopf, CEO of Winnie.com
How we worked with them to create an unforgettable trip
When we got the call from our client, we knew her situation all too well. As a CEO of a fast-growing edtech company and mom of three young kids, she needed a trip that gave her much-needed R&R, time for connecting with her husband, and an hour or two each day to put fires out at work.
We loved working with the client on this trip because the truth is, when you want fewer activities and experiences on a trip, it’s even more important that everything else—location, accommodations, transportation, etc.—is impeccably curated. And that’s our superpower. In fact, we’re actually getting more and more requests to plan trips like these, a trend that the Wall Street Journal has taken note of in a recent article about post-post-pandemic travel, with people switching from a “we’ve been cooped up and want to see everything!” mindset to a “we just want to ‘drop and flop’” vacation approach.
Our traveler told us on the first call that they wanted to go to Europe for sure and was thinking of Spain, where they could laze about by the pool while the kids did a Spanish immersion camp. While that vision is, indeed, delightful, we knew from experience that a trip to southern Europe in the summer could be really hot (temperatures are now often over 100°F in July and August), and our traveler was really not interested in spending their vacation sweltering in the heat.
We suggested they head north to cooler climates, and the German Alps checked all the boxes: gorgeous scenery, endless activities for the kids, and a direct flight. And in case the parents actually wanted to do more than relax at the resort, we picked a stunning location that offers tons of easily accessed nature activities they could dip into whenever they wanted—hiking, biking, paragliding.
Because the family would be using their hotel as a real home base for their vacation, we spent a lot of our planning time finding the perfect one. And did we find pure gold with Schloss Elmau, a 5-star luxury resort just south of Munich.
While there are plenty of other gorgeous resorts in the Alps, we chose this one specifically because it combined beauty, flawless service, and one of the best and most comprehensive programs for kids. The family could drop the kids off for a full day at the resort’s Kids Club, where they’d enjoy supervised story time, crafting, exploring nature, running around on the playground, and delicious meals right in the hotel. Schloss Elmau also has more structured programs for kids, like soccer camps with coaches from the top German League, science labs, yoga classes, and more—all delivered in both German and English.
It is truly a one-of-a-kind resort and was just perfect for this family.
What else makes this a Nellie trip?
- We provide white-glove service, buttoning up every single detail of this trip to ensure the family can travel completely carefree.
- Because we do everything, we reduced the client’s time investment in planning the trip from 40-50 hours to 3.
- We’re carefully balancing all of their priorities—luxury, R&R, kids-only activities—to create a trip that they’ll remember for years to come.
- We’re helping the family avoid the pain of a “vacation gone wrong” by steering them away from a potentially hot and miserable trip to southern Europe.
- Our close network of European luxury travel experts means we are able to find the exact right location and accommodations quickly.
- To give the family a touch of cultural immersion, we booked their return to Munich on a train so they could enjoy the breathtaking scenery and travel like a local.