Hôtel Le Maréchal, Colmar

Le Maréchal is the hotel for travellers who want to wake up in the Alsace of the picture books. It occupies an authentic 16th-century half-timbered Alsatian mansion on the Place des Six-Montagnes-Noires, right on the water in Colmar’s Little Venice, the canal quarter of flower-hung houses and flat-bottomed boats. Inside, the 30 rooms are full of character, with carved wooden beds, Oriental rugs and framed oil paintings, and many face the canal; some have separate seating areas and soaking tubs. The restaurant, À l’Échevin, cooks dishes based on Alsatian produce and has a terrace with a view, and in fine weather breakfast is served on the banks of the Lauch on what the hotel calls the finest terrace in Colmar’s Venice. Reception is open around the clock, pets are welcome, and the hotel has parking and a garage. It is now part of the Teritoria collection of independent hotels. In December it is perfectly placed: the children’s Christmas market sets up on the same square in Little Venice, and the other Colmar markets are a short walk away. Choose it as a base for Colmar and the southern Wine Route, or as a night away from Strasbourg.

Location and getting around: the hotel is at 4-6 Place des Six-Montagnes-Noires in Little Venice, at the southern edge of Colmar’s old town. The Unterlinden Museum, the cathedral square with Choco Story and the Museum of Alsatian Wines, and the market squares are all within a fifteen-minute walk. Colmar station is a short taxi ride or about twenty minutes on foot, with regional trains to Strasbourg in around half an hour. By car, the Wine Route villages of Eguisheim, Kaysersberg and Riquewihr are close by.

Rooms: rooms are traditional and romantic rather than modern; the canal-view rooms are the ones to ask for.

Who it suits: couples, wine lovers using Colmar as a base for the Wine Route, and Christmas market visitors who want to be in the most atmospheric corner of Colmar.

Good to know: parking and a garage are available, but access through the old town can be tricky, so ask for directions. Breakfast and dinner are best booked ahead in December. The Colmar Christmas markets begin on 23 November 2026, so book early for weekends.