by If a perfect team hotel is the key to a successful international tournament, England could be in for a good month.
For the upcoming Euros, Gareth Southgate has booked his England team in the Weimarer Land Golfresort, in central Germany, for a rumored £800,000. The hotel is in line with its previous tournament choices in that it offers the holy triumvirate of privacy, recreation, and quality. But it falls down in one way.
Located near a remote town called Blankenhain, with a population of less than 7,000 and 90 minutes away from the nearest city, Leipzig, the Golfresort ticks the privacy box. One Tripadvisor reviewer described the hotel as “nested in a lush green forest” while another said “this is what we needed for relaxation, luxury and sport.”
On that note, the resort has three golf courses for the players to enjoy (Pickford, Walker and Kane among the keen putters): two 18-hole courses and one nine-hole course. The resort also offers guided walking tours, e-bike rentals, as well as team activities including raft-building, archery, and “team pitches” – something Southgate is likely to advise against until after the tournament.
When it comes to luxurious offerings, the Golfresort has an extensive spa menu (hot stone treatment €110 for John Stones, perhaps?), a choice of pools in the LindenSpa, and numerous restaurants to choose from. Although, as usual, the England camp will be traveling with their own catering team.
The only obstacle is the geographical location of the hotel. The Golfresort is a long drive from each of the three group stage stadiums, which are all clustered close together in the west of the country. As a result, the England team will not be driving to the Frankfurt match (the closest, around three hours) but are expected to fly from Erfurt-Weimar airport, just 40 minutes from the Golfresort, for the games in Cologne and Gelsenkirchen. The team will likely have to take more flights if they top group C.
This goes against UEFA’s sustainability recommendations for teams to drive to all matches where possible – indeed UEFA provided a list of recommended hotels, which England ignored – although this was all advisory, not mandatory.
That aside, the Golfresort looks like a great option. But England’s tour hotel selections haven’t always gone as planned (scroll to the bottom for a list of notable tournament hotels since 1998). In the modern era of football, we have seen England fans scandalize three-in-a-bed in an Italian hotel shared with the public, a Rio hotel with an unsavory past, and a hotel plagued by noise complaints in the city center of Krakow. .
Five notorious camp hotels England
World Cup 1990, Italy
It’s Molas, Sardinia
Until 1990 the four-star resort of Is Molas, located in the south of Sardinia, was a very respectable resort, perhaps best known for hosting the Italian Open in previous years. But that all changed when the England squad, with Paul Gascoigne in its ranks, checked in for the 1990 World Cup.
It is no coincidence that England ended up on the island, cut off from mainland Italy. Hooliganism was rife and the British government requested that all three of England’s group games be played in Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia, to minimize the number of England fans who could potentially descend and cause chaos.
However, the English tournament was not without its scandals. Molas has gained notoriety after British newspapers reported, incorrectly, a three-in-bed scandal involving a hotel worker. She later pleaded not guilty claiming that she would never have slept with a member of the squad because they were too ugly.
An attempt by Bryan Robson to meet a religious healer, one Olga Stringfellow, to cure the achilles problem was also flashed all over the press, although any progress was in vain when Robson ended up injuring his leg during an ambiguous incident after hours of belonged to Paul Gascoigne.
If you felt so compelled to relive the lore of England’s world cup team, all those years ago, Is Molas is still a high-end destination hotel, with views out to the Sardinian sea and the Sulcis hills in the distance.
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Cost per night: Doubles from around £150
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Rooms: 72
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Tournament stage: Reached the semi-finals, losing 4-3 on penalties to West Germany
World Cup 2002, Japan
Westin Hotel, Awaji Island
For centuries, the remote Japanese island of Awaji was famously the site of the legends of Izanagi and Izanami – the Adam and Eve of the Shinto religion – who were said to have formed a union there. But that was before Sven Goran Eriksson’s England squad arrived.
There was concern before the competition. Tsuna’s home was so quiet that most Japanese never heard of it. There were only 10 police officers there at the time, and giant screens had to be erected around the lone spongy football pitch which attracted the FA to reserve a place in the first place.
When the tournament arrived, the island gave a warm welcome to the English camp, with flags lining the roads saying “Welcome to Tsunatown!” and “England, do your best!” in Japanese and English, and Shinto priests recited prayers for England’s success, and local pre-school children even sang songs for the players.
There were no scandals at the Westin Awaji (today known as the Grand Nikko Awaji), although some photos emerged of an unbeaten Teddy Sheringham in training and David Beckham shaking after scoring a goal . However, the legacy continued for the Westin Awaji Island.
“We’re getting about 80 calls a day,” said the resort’s manager, shortly after the tournament ended. “Most want to sleep in the bed left by David Beckham.”
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Cost per night: Doubles from around £132
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Rooms: 200
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Stage of the tournament: Brazil eliminated in the quarter-finals, after Ronaldinho lobbed David Seaman
Euro 2012, Poland and Ukraine
Stary Hotel, Krakow
After allegations that the England squad had lost their minds at their isolated “Camp Capello” venue in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup (see below), the FA took a different tactic in 2012 and booked Roy Hodgson’s men in five men. star hotel in city center location.
They may not have had a choice. Krakow Deputy Mayor Magdalena Sroka said: “By booking early, the Italians and Dutch secured their first choice hotel and training base – unlike England.”
Still, the Hotel Stary was not a bad choice. telegraph Expert hotel reviewer Travel gave the hotel 9/10 after a 2018 visit, writing: “Rooms and suites have been delicately created inside this 19th-century palace, set within sight of the main market square. A gastronomic restaurant is set under vaulted ceilings and a sky bar and summer restaurant offer spectacular views from the roof.”
When he arrived, the team coach was struggling to negotiate the last loop before the hotel, only to greet hundreds of fans. Despite its tidy interior, the hotel was noisy at night, with the main square just around the corner and a nearby Hooters bar. There was also another noise complaint: a bugle, played every hour from the nearby St. Mary’s Church.
“Of course we will play [it] during the entire Euro tournament as well as usual – also through the night. It’s 24/7,” said Miss Sroka, ahead of the competition.
World Cup 2018, Russia
ForRestMix Sport & Relax Resort, Repino
Gareth Southgate personally chose this option in the sleepy Russian village of Repino, about an hour north of St Petersburg by car, where many of the city’s wealthy have homes.
The four-star hotel – with a particularly unwelcoming yellow and brown exterior – was not as high-profile as previous English international accommodation, with the media picking up on the fact that rooms cost less than a night at Britain’s Travelodge .
“It is a modest base but the Football Association and Southgate consider it suitable for their needs,” the BBC wrote at the time.
The complex included a training hall, which looked more like a school hall, and private lounges on the “executive floor” where the England players were booked. There was also a gym, 25 meter swimming pool, sauna, table tennis and Russian. pool, played on a longer board, with larger balls and smaller pockets.
There may not have been bells and whistles, but there was one aspect that the English organizers like: “The internet has become central to any World Cup environment,” former England physicist Gary Lewin said at the time.
World Cup 2022, Qatar
Souq Al-Wakra, Doha
When David Beckham and Gary Neville visited the Souq Al-Wakra hotel for an interview ahead of the 2022 tournament, Neville joked: “Who picked this?”
The hotel, four stars rather than five, was again more modest than what England players are used to: described by The Telegraph‘s Jeremy Wilson as: “It is as far as you could imagine from the high-rise opulence of some of Qatar’s huge growth.” Perhaps, given the political environment surrounding the tournament, it was a wise move on Southgate’s part to choose less. The standard rooms were small; and in the off-season, rooms go for less than £70 a night.
What the hotel offered was privacy – high walls and palm trees shield the main courtyard – and proximity to England’s training camp. Another bonus, perhaps from the point of view of Southgate and his management team, was that there was not a drop of alcohol to be found in the hotel.
