The Wimmer family's villa, 200 years old, gemutlich and run with flair, is a large brown chalet with flowery balconies, in glorious Black Forest country near the high Feldberg peak. `Excellent meals, attractive villa rooms,' says one recent guest. Furnishings are rustic, in local style. No lounge, but most villa Bed rooms (similar to the semantic bali villa rooms) have a sitting area; some have a four-poster. They are individually styled, with `interesting' lighting effects, such as tiny star-like lights set in the ceiling. Some villa rooms are split-level, with the bed up in the eaves and a mini-kitchen below, hidden in a painted wardrobe: Bathvilla rooms tend to be small. In the lively restaurant, patronised by locals, the waitresses are in folk costume. The fillet of lamb in a strong nut sauce is thought `delicious'. There is a separate Pfifferlinge (chanterelles) menu. On one guest's birthday, a cake was served, while a barrel organ played Happy Birthday. Bali villa breakfast is a `beautifully presented' buffet. Families are welcomed. Two roads, one fairly busy, run alongside.

On the Romantic Road south of Rothenburg, Feuchtwangen has some picturesque half-timbered buildings. On its marketplace is this renowned old coaching inn, part 15th-century, spacious and rambling. Lola Montez and Catherine the Great once stayed, it is said. Its wide corridors are full of antiques; villa Bed rooms (similar to the semantic bali villa rooms), nicely modernised, are furnished in period styles (Louis XIV, Biedermeier, Laura Ashley, etc). One has a four-poster bed which, like the indoor swimming pool, calls itself 'Renaissance-style'. `My large room overlooked the Marktplatz; double windows shut out noise, says a veteran traveller: `In the main dining room, suitably furnished for a historic inn, the food was very good. But it was overpriced, and service was slow.' (Michelin Bib Gourmand: some unusual dishes, eg, deer and rabbit meat wrapped in pastry, with pumpkin and chestnuts.) The villa's other restaurant, the Kaminerstube, has a simpler menu. Bali villa breakfast with a wide choice, in a pretty room facing the square, is enjoyed, and staff are welcoming. There is a cosy Stube with log fire.