Stayed Feb 2009

The Schlafcompany Hotel isn't really a hotel as such but more of a hostel, as a hostel it's probably ok but we booked it for our 2 night stay in Bremen thinking it was a 2 star hotel. It was advertised as such on the website where we booked it, so I suppose we can be forgiven for thinking that!  The first thing that hit us after we had been greeted by the scruffy hotel owner was the smell of cigarette smoke, the second was just how basic this place was, I'll never understand hotel rating systems - there's no way in our opinion that this should have even come close to a 2 star hotel.

The rooms were cleanish, but very basic and they also had a strong smell of stale tobacco, I was lucky because I at least had a bedside table and a small wardrobe, the other 3 rooms we booked had only beds. There was just one overworked toilet / shower for the whole of our floor - and possibly the floor above as well.  We never actually found another one but we think there must have been one somewhere, but when I got up in the night to use it there was someone else coming down to use it from the floor above so we don't know for sure. 

There are about 7 rooms on the floor we stayed on and we don't know how many on the floor above. There was a tiny sink in each of our 4 rooms but none of us actually managed to get any hot water run out of the taps.  In fact due to the toilet arrangements and the smell from the sinks, it was suspected that those had been used by some previous guests as a urinal......and for that it gets a barf!

The position of the hotel to the old town however was very good, a brisk 10 minute walk saw us in the old town square. This however was the hotel's only saving grace and would not be attraction enough to make me or my travelling companions want to ever return there to stay. For a few Euros more there must be better than this in Bremen.  Fortunately there are a lot of coffee shops and cafes nearby where you can go grab some breakfast. They do breakfasts for a few Euro at the hotel but nothing would induce me to put anything in my mouth that had been cooked here

Parking for motorcycles isn't very secure with it being on a bit of waste land opposite the entrance and on full view of the main road. It should also be made known that none of the staff we had dealings with here spoke any English, so if there are any complaints you'll get nowhere if you don't speak German. 

Biker Friendly  

Stayed here
June 2004

                                                  
Probably  one of the  nicest  hotels anyone  could  wish  to stay in.  When we stayed here  we were given a suite for the 4 of us, the standard of which was excellent. 

The staff were incredible.  Nothing was too much trouble for them.  The hotel is a bit out of the town centre but there's nothing much in Emmendingen anyway, apart from a few drunks and "past their sell by date" hookers that hang around the town square.  The surrounding area here is very nice though - in a short distance you'll be into the black forest where there are some fantastic biking roads

We ate and drank at the hotel, the food was superb and the service was carried out with typical German efficiency. Parking for the bikes was good, out of view of prying eyes in the car park at the rear of the building where we could see the from the room.   A highly recommended hotel. 

Biker Friendly 

Stayed here 
Aug 2005  

Another excellent German hotel.  Situated on a lake and incorporating a leisure complex. Nice lakeside walks,  good bars and great food in the hotel.  Stupendously clean, well decorated rooms and good bike parking.  Being in the heart of the German Saarland area, not too many UK tourists visit here so don't expect them top speak good English,  because they dont!  All the same, a highly recommended hotel if you're passing through the area.   

Very Biker Friendly 

 Stayed here
July 2006 

Wochners Hotel Sternen is yet another great German hotel. We couldn't fault any aspect of this place except for the flies in the dining room which were a bit off-putting, especially the buffet at breakfast which had the little swines crawling all over it!  We had a superb, spacious suite of rooms here which comprised of a dining area / lounge (handy for eating in if you don't fancy any of the local              restaurants) with a 3 seater table, a corner settee, a large TV and a balcony.  

There's a good sized bedroom, and a HUGE bathroom with bath and separate walk in shower. The whole suite was prepared in both decor and cleanliness to a very high Standard .  The view of Lake Schluchsee from the balcony was lovely. The hotel a has 3 floors all served by a lift.  The staff here, mostly young girls are friendly polite & extremely amiable .

We ate here on 2 occasions during our stay and the food was good, but we were once again plagued by those flies!  Next door to the hotel is a great little bar, also part of the hotel, and run by a very friendly German barman who speaks no 
English whatsoever, but will go out of his way to make sure you enjoy your drink - he even has a beer menu!  

There is a secure car park opposite and lock up garages are available if you book in advance. Absolutely no problem with bikers staying here, and a lot do - you're in th eheart of the black forest here with some tremendous roads on the doorstep. In fact Ingrid the Receptionist / Owner will give bikers a booklet containing some of the best biking routes for days out in the Black Forest, all reachable from here. A first class hotel and highly recommended,  would have made top marks if it wasn't for those damned flies.    

Biker Friendly 

Stayed Aug 2006  

Stange hotel this, situated high on a forested outcrop about 3 miles outside of and overlooking the city of Trier.  The hotel makes a lot of the view from here and the position it enjoys, but to be honest their description makes it sound a lot more grand than it actually is, even the view over Trier isn't (for your money) that inspiring!   

The drive up the long private roadway to the hotel promises a lot, in fact upon reaching  the hotel the sight of what looks more like a small  French Chateau than a German hotel is greeted with anticipation of what lies inside!   That's where the disappointment begins.  It's nothing specific but the place is just totally lacking in character,  there's no ambience here,  guests are booked in with usual German efficiency and told where to find their room and sent off to find it, in our case on the lower level beneath the reception area.

The room was very small and not particularly nice, in fact it was quite dark and dismal, and the bathroom was particularly pokey.  The room was reasonably 
clean but not up to usual German standards and we did find a couple of beetles crawling around the following morning.  

The Kockelsberg is a few miles out of Trier so it was either drive into town for a meal, get cab, or eat there. We'd already driven a massive distance to get here so chose the latter.  The food was ok and the restaurant nice enough, but again nothing that made us want to linger after dinner, instead we went for a walk and realised there's absolutely nothing to do here in the evening. There's no bar, but 
when we went back in and tried to get  a drink, I don't think the staff were too enamoured by us sitting near the dining guests, so we were shoved  unceremoniously into an empty part of the restaurant at the end!  We had one drink and felt uncomfortable there so we returned to our room and spent the rest of the night watching bad German TV - complete with David Hasselhof, why is he so huge in Germany, maybe they have no musical taste!!  

This hotel desperately needs a bar - there's lots of room here to make one!  The staff were forcibly polite, giving the impression that they were just going through the motions and reading from a script.  Most of them spoke English so  communication wasn't  a problem.  

Car / bike parking is secure enough, but when I enquired if they had any  objections to bikers staying here the receptionist replied, " Certainly - we'll take anyone's money here".  I think that just about summed this hotel up perfectly
 

Stayed here 
Aug 2007

Biker friendly

We arrived at the  pre-booked Hotel Restaurant Daucher in the suburbs of Nuremberg late afternoon, and there didn't appear to be anywhere to park. The street was chocka block with parked cars so my wife went in to ask what the arrangements were. A few moments later she appeared at the side of the hotel telling me to drive up the side of the hotel across what looked like a patio area with tables, chairs and umbrellas strewn about everywhere. I managed to get the car up there and into the tight little car park at the rear of the hotel, we then went inside to the reception rang the bell and waited ........and waited.........and waited. 

Finally we rang again and waited, we could hear voices and laughing in the back but nobody appeared, so we rang yet again - and waited ......and waited.  By now after driving over 450 miles I was tired and a bit short on patience, needed the toilet, a shower and something to eat - yet here I was waiting for a ridiculous amount of time at a hotel reception whilst they shared some obviously hilarious joke in the back and continued to ignore the fact they had guests waiting.  

At this point I hammered hell out of the bell in frustration - that got him (the owner) out! He accused us of trying to break his bell and was rude to my wife so we ready to leave - I didn't like the guy. Then he turned all hurt and apologetic, saying he was only joking and managed to persuade us to stay. We only agreed because to be honest we couldn't be bothered looking for somewhere else. 

He showed us to our room which stunk of fag smoke, he allows smoking in all rooms apparently, we slept all night with the window wide open and still woke with croaky throats! The room was ok apart from the smell, and the toilet was clean.  

There's nowhere else to eat in the area so we had no choice but to have dinner in the hotel. We went down to the bar, and he came out of nowhere - all bowing and scraping, showing us the best beers etc. going totally over the top like some German version of Basil Fawlty. 

We had a drink and went through to the restaurant to order our meal. The menu was all in German so we just ordered anything - we were hungry. I haven't a clue what were eating but it was excellent, the guy has a first class chef at this hotel - the food cannot be faulted. Pity about the smelly room and ill mannered owner. If he could fix those two things this place would be great. As it is I'd come back here to eat anytime but never to stay. 

Stayed July 2009

Biker Friendy

Waldshut is a very "Twee" little town on the banks of the Rhine. It's an old town, the origins of which I'm not sure of, but these days it appears to be aimed squarely at the tourist industry.

The central main street street is pleasant and pedestrianised, and somewhere near the middle you'll find the Waldshuter Hof. As with most German hotels this one is spotlessly clean and staff are friendly and helpful. After staying previously  at a chain hotel, landing here made a pleasant change. There's nothing wrong with a decent chain hotel of course, it's just that they do lack a certain character.  The Waldshuter has character in spades, right down to it's rickety little lift.

During the evening there are lots of little bars nearby, and places to eat. We spent just one night here, but I'd come back again if ever we were passing through this area.

Not much parking near the hotel though so we paid a bit extra and left the bikes in a secure underground car park a short walk away, where the hotel has spaces for guests.

Wondering around the east end of town we stumbled on an area of drunks around a booth that they take booze bottles back to - obviously to get a bit of money. There was no trouble but some people may feel threatened by them, so it may be an idea to keep away from here as it gets later in the evening, they don't seem to stray into the other parts of town though. We've seen this before in this part of Germany up in Emmendingen a few years back.            

Not friendly
with anyone !

Stayed June 2004 

             
Our stay at this place is well documented elsewhere on the website.  At least it kept us amused,  which is just as well because it was dire.  Not totally recommended as a biker hotel unless you're into S&M and East German lesbian shot putters! Also because there's nowhere that safe to leave the bikes.  

For a full rundown on this hotel see page 2 of our Euro 2004 tour.