Our visit to Valea Verde Retreat Transylvania was a quick decision, in a special week for both of us. We wished to celebrate it in a different way. In a different place. In a calm one, an oasis of silence to reset our mind and soul.

Valea Verde is a charming place in the heart of my dear Transylvania, meant to rejuvenate and relax our ever tired spirits. The retreat is perfect no matter if you wish a romantic getaway with fine dining and wine pairing or a family destination or just a perfect location to observe our cultural heritage in the heart of nature.

The retreat is managed by the German couple Jonas and Ulrike, who spent many years renovating and bringing back to life gorgeous Saxon houses in Transylvania, in particular in the village of Cund.

Accommodation in beautiful apartments and rural holiday homes

We started our week decided to book a night at the retreat, in one of their units: either in the apartments from inside the retreat, either in one of their holiday homes in Cund. It wasn’t meant to be though. Not because the retreat was fully booked, but because we felt it was useless to spend a night in a location so close of home (45 minutes drive from our city, Tg. Mures). This is what happens when you live so close to everything that’s beautiful in Transylvania.

Let’s not leave this stand in our way of telling you more about the accommodation units in the retreat. All their units are decorated in a traditional, rustic style, with a note of elegance, delicacy and comfort. They are located either inside the retreat, either in Cund, at about 3-400 metres of Valea Verde Retreat. One can notice the feminine influence of Ulrike in the interior design of the units.

Obviously, if you’d like to book a night here, you should call in advance to make sure apartments or holiday homes are still available.

The gazebo close to the artificial lake can be booked for small family events or even corporate ones. Just in front of the lake, there are long chairs where you can enjoy bits of sun and relaxation. Some of them are right under the shadow of the trees, of which cute white lanterns are hanging, the ones that confer a bit of romance and intimacy in the warm summer evenings.

Passion for fine dining

If everything related to accommodation knows Ulrike’s touch, the kitchen becomes a man’s world.  The masculine side of the business, Jonas, gives a great attention to the menus, to the food preparation but also to plating.

In this aspect, the resort is a bit atypical. Even though we had read on their website, prior to visiting them, that they offer 2 or 3-course menus, at a fixed price per person, we still felt a subtle wave of disappointment once we arrived there. They had communicated us a fixed menu for that day – a cream of carrot soup, chicken with carrots and tiramisu. At the price of 25 EUR per person. We accepted as we were super curious about this experience.

Apparently, they are quite flexible also. So if you don’t fancy the menu of the day, they can prepare you anything else as per your choice, so you can feel absolutely spoiled.

The portions were fine (even if here, it really depends on who you’re actually asking: initially, the portions felt really small, but after 2 main courses and a dessert, I felt pretty full; however, if you ask a man, they will definitely tell you the portions are too small) and tasty, and the plating of the cream-carrot soup was original.

If you book an accommodation in the retreat, the lunch and dinner menus are different. They can even include truffle pasta, for which the location is super famous and even venison for the special occasions.

Valea Verde is also organizing, especially in the autumn, wine pairing events, with a fine selection of local and international wines.

Come to Valea Verde Retreat Transylvania!

Valea Verde Retreat is, obviously, a different kind of business in the Romanian hospitality industry. The detail-oriented, to everything that’s elegant, fine and delicious can be noticed in the accommodation units, in the culinary associations but in wine pairing as well. Without a doubt, the Schäfers’ efforts to give this place a different vibe is to be appreciated.

Nevertheless, it seems to us that Valea Verde Retreat Transylvania is addressing mostly the foreigner tourist, much more receptive to fine dining and wine pairing experiences, especially at the prices demanded by the retreat. The foreigner tourist is much more inclined and much more inspired of everything that’s rustic and traditional across Europe, which is why every summer and every year, they are actually hunting these experiences and are willing to pay premium for them.

We, at Veni Vidi Amo!, are happy to see more and more culinary destinations in Romania, but we must also agree with the Romanians reviewing Valea Verde on platforms like TripAdvisor. A great chance of combining fine dining with Romanian traditional gastronomy was missed here, which, in our humble opinion, would probably make the place more palatable for the Romanian tourist who is willing to pay a bit more for a different kind of experience. OK, Romanian traditional gastronomy is anything but fine dining, but if you would expect someone to combine the two, it would have to be a genius chef from this sort of an establishment.

On the other hand, we also understand the owners’ perspective, suggested by the fact that the website is exclusively in English, that the retreat is thought to be mainly for the foreigner tourist, rather than the Romanian one.

Cover image source: Valea Verde Retreat