Dossier 01 · Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Baden: the grande dame
A Kurhaus of 1824 with a gaming room modelled on French palaces, and the grand hotel that reopened in late 2025 after a two-year renovation. The most formal of the six, and the one that rewards dressing up.
- 21+minimum age, original ID
- €5table entry · slots free
- 2 KeysMichelin Keys, 2026
- From 3 h 07Munich by direct train (sample)
Photo: Fabian Wiktor / Unsplash
Our verdict
Who it is for
Choose Baden-Baden when the evening is the point: a jacket, a Michelin-recognised hotel, a gaming room that looks like a palace.
It is the house that most resembles the postcard. Men need a jacket at the tables (the casino lends one for €10, and a tie is welcome), guests must be 21 and show their original ID, and entry to the table games is €5 while the slot hall is free. Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa holds two Michelin Keys, a spa built around the Villa Stéphanie, and a bar scene ranging from a piano-led Oleander Bar to a Roaring-Twenties grill.
Know before you book: the hotel does not publish a dress code for its own restaurants, a walking time to the casino or exact check-in hours, so ask when you reserve. The casino's hotel-package partners are Roomers and Maison Messmer, not Brenners.
The casino
Casino Baden-Baden occupies the Kurhaus at Kaiserallee 1, built in 1821–24 to Weinbrenner's plans. German Wikipedia dates the gambling bank to 16 June 1812, in a former Jesuit college, with the move into the Kurhaus following in 1824; the casino's own history page gives no year. Play ended on 31 October 1872, ahead of the imperial ban that took effect on 1 January 1873, and resumed on 3 October 1933. The gaming rooms of the 1850s were furnished in lavish French taste, and German Wikipedia describes the Roter Saal as modelled on Fontainebleau and Versailles.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Age and ID | 21 (Baden-Württemberg law). Original passport or ID card; a phone photo is refused. |
| Entry | Classic games €5 per person; slots currently free. |
| Dress | Classic games: neat clothing; men need long trousers and a jacket (shirt and tie welcome). Not allowed: sports or functional shoes, open shoes, multicoloured printed casual shirts; for women, no leisure or sportswear and no flip-flops. Slot hall: neat casual. A loan jacket is €10 at reception. The English page says "suit jacket or tuxedo", which is stricter than the German. |
| Hours | Roulette Sun–Thu 15:00–02:00, Fri–Sat 15:00–03:00. Blackjack and Ultimate Texas Hold'em Sun 15:00–02:00, Mon–Thu 17:00–02:00, Fri–Sat 17:00–03:00. Slots Sun–Thu 11:00–02:00, Fri–Sat 11:00–03:00. Poker (no-limit hold'em cash) Sun–Thu from 19:00. |
| Games | Over 130 slot machines; blackjack stakes €5–1,000 on up to 4 tables Sun–Thu and 9 on Fri and Sat; two poker tables with blinds of 2/4 (minimum buy-in €100) and 5/10 (€250), reserved the same day. |
| Closed in 2026 | 1, 15, 18 and 22 November; 24 and 25 December. |
| Tours | Morning tours at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 and 13:00 (13:00 in English): adult €10, ages 6–16 €4, with no ID check and no entry restrictions. Days are not stated. A tour during play (15:30–19:00, about 40 minutes, €150 for up to 20 people plus €5 entry each) needs ID, age 21+ and a jacket. |
| Smoking | General ban, with designated smoking areas in the slot and classic areas. |
Rooms & spa
Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa on Schillerstraße reopened in late 2025 after a two-year renovation (the hotel's own history page says "2025 (late)"; press reports date it to October to December). Michelin counts 106 rooms; the hotel describes 27 individually designed room concepts across Rooms, Suites, Signature Suites and a Parkvilla, and does not publish a room total or a count per type.
From the hotel's room pages (18 of the 27 concepts were listed): Single 23 m²; Superior Town 30; Superior Park 35; Superior Stéphanie 40; Deluxe Park 45; Junior Suite 55; Prestige Junior Suite 70; Premier Suite 75; Stéphanie Spa Suite 110 (private sauna and steam room, listed from €2,400, period not stated); Corner Suite 110; three two-bedroom suites of 150 (up to six guests); and the 600 m² Parkvilla for up to 20, booked by e-mail. The renovation added fifth-floor family rooms with more connecting doors and used 65,000 local slate tiles, with Countess Bergit Douglas (MM-Design) as creative director.
The spa
The spa in the Villa Stéphanie opened in 2015. The pool is open daily 7:00–22:00, the saunas and plunge pool 9:00–22:00 and the gym 7:00–22:00, with a "splash hour" 16:00–17:00. Facilities include a Finnish and a bio sauna, steam room and cold plunge; treatments use Augustinus Bader. A medical team led by Dr Harry König runs 7- to 14-day programmes. The hotel does not publish a floor area; an older third-party factsheet cited 500 m² for the sauna level, which we could not confirm for the renovated house. Day guests: the Ausava Club is a membership (€3,500 or €6,000 a year); day-guest terms are not published.
Families and pets
The Kids Club "Alois' Nest" takes children aged 3 to 12 with 24 hours' notice, and babysitting is available. Dogs are welcome in rooms with a dog sitter (Michelin notes a fee). The hotel states wheelchair access, parking, valet and EV charging.
The hotel's history
Anton Alois Brenner bought the house at auction on 21 October 1872; Rudolf-August Oetker bought it in 1941; and on 15 February 1962 Franco-German treaty talks were held there.
Alternatives
The Steigenberger Icon Europäischer Hof (Kaiserallee 2, 124 rooms, two Michelin Keys, reopened 2025) stands next to the Kurhaus. Roomers (Autograph Collection, 130 rooms) has a rooftop pool and is one of the casino's hotel-package partners.
The kitchen
Executive chef Sebastian Haverkemper runs every kitchen in the hotel. The Wintergarten is the hotel's daily lunch-and-dinner restaurant (Michelin "Selected", regional with French accents), Fritz & Felix is a Roaring-Twenties grill with a Galician charcoal grill, and afternoon tea is €59 daily. Across town, Le Jardin de France and Maltes hidden kitchen each hold a Michelin star, and the casino has its own grill that opens at 15:00.
Getting there
Baden-Baden station is about 7 km from the centre. Buses 201, 201E, 244, 218, 213 and X45 run to Leopoldsplatz, and taxis wait at the Kurhaus. Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airport (FKB) is about 17 km away, roughly 25 minutes by road; Eurowings, Ryanair, Wizz Air and TUI are among the carriers. By car, leave the A5 at Baden-Baden. The city gives about 165 km from Frankfurt, 110 km from Stuttgart and about 45 minutes from Strasbourg.
| From | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Karlsruhe Hbf | Train | 16–19 min, no change |
| Frankfurt Hbf | Direct train | About 1 h 27 (fastest sample) |
| Stuttgart Hbf | Train, at least one change | About 1 h 15 (fastest sample) |
| Munich Hbf | Direct train | 3 h 07 – 3 h 13, about one a day; other routes 3 h 17 – 3 h 57 |
Times are from Deutsche Bahn timetable samples, not guaranteed schedules. Check bahn.de for your date.
48 hours in Baden-Baden
- Friday 14:30
Afternoon tea
Served daily 14:30–16:30 for €59 (€75 with Bollinger), with scones, finger sandwiches and petits fours.
- Friday 18:00
Dinner at Fritz & Felix or the Wintergarten
The grill serves Thursday to Monday 18:00–22:00. The Wintergarten dines 18:00–21:30. Reserve at [email protected] or +49 7221 900 890.
- Friday 21:00
Casino Baden-Baden
Roulette from 15:00, blackjack from 17:00 Monday to Thursday. Bring original photo ID and a jacket; the entrance is €5 for table games.
- Morning
Guided tour of the Kurhaus
Tours run at 10, 11, 12 and 13:00 for €10, and the 13:00 tour is in English. Tours run in the morning, before the tables open at 15:00; the operating days are not published, so confirm before you plan around one.
- Saturday 12:00
Lichtentaler Allee
The 2.3 km park avenue is worth a slow walk; Rive Gauche, on the Allee, has a conservatory and terrace.
- Saturday 17:00
Spa, then the Oleander Bar
The pool is open to 22:00. The Oleander Bar opens daily 11:00–23:00, with a piano in the evenings.
- Sunday
Festspielhaus or a long breakfast
The Festspielhaus runs concerts and festivals through the year (see below). Check its calendar before you book.
What's on
Official dates, verified 20 October 2026. The casino calendar is sparse; the Festspielhaus carries most of the season.
- 24 Oct 2026
Jazzrausch Bigband, Festspielhaus
Concert at the Festspielhaus.
- 29 Oct 2026
Sepp Maier show, Casino Baden-Baden
Evening show at 20:00, the only date on the casino's calendar at time of checking.
- 7 – 15 Nov 2026
La Grande Gare, Festspielhaus
Festival at the Festspielhaus.
- 19 Nov 2026
Black Forest dinner, Brenners
Four courses from €115.
- 26 Nov 2026 – 6 Jan 2027
Christmas market, Kurgarten
In front of the Kurhaus, daily 11:00–21:00.
- 11 – 20 Dec 2026
Winterfestspiele
Swan Lake (11–13 Dec), The Magic Flute (18 and 20 Dec), Christmas Oratorio (19 Dec).
- 20 – 29 Mar 2027
Osterfestspiele
Fidelio with Joana Mallwitz.
- 5 – 17 May 2027
Pfingstfestspiele
Presale opened 20 Oct 2026 at 9:00.
- 10 – 18 Jul 2027
La Capitale d'Été
Summer festival at the Festspielhaus.
- 23 Sep – 3 Oct 2027
John Neumeier festival
Dance festival.
How it compares
Choose Baden-Baden if…
- you want the full formal casino experience, jacket included
- a grand-hotel spa and a serious bar scene matter
- you plan to go to the Festspielhaus
- you like the idea of the Black Forest on the doorstep
Against the Bavarian lakes, Baden-Baden is the older institution and the more formal house; against Hesse, it asks more of its guests, in age, in dress and in the €5 table entry.
Questions
Do men need a jacket at Casino Baden-Baden?
Yes. A jacket is required in the classic rooms, and a rental jacket costs €10. A tie is welcome but not required.
What is the minimum age?
21, with an original ID (not a copy).
How much does entry cost?
€5 for the table games. The slot hall is free.
Can I tour the casino?
Yes. Tours run at 10, 11, 12 and 13:00 (the 13:00 tour is in English) for €10. Days of the week are not stated; confirm before you go.
Is the casino open every day?
It is closed on 1, 15, 18 and 22 November and on 24 and 25 December 2026.
Does Brenners offer a casino package?
The casino lists Roomers and Maison Messmer as its hotel-package partners. We found no Brenners package.
When did Brenners reopen?
In late 2025 after a two-year renovation; the hotel does not give a single reopening date.
Sources
Facts checked 2026-10-20. Confirm opening hours and prices with the venue before you travel.
Casino Baden-Baden: Einlassbestimmungen · Casino Baden-Baden: hours and prices · Casino Baden-Baden: tours · Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa · Hotel history · Michelin Guide: Brenners · Baden-Baden tourism: getting there · Festspielhaus · Christmas market