Both of my parents are from neighboring small towns in Germany (Haiger and Fronhausen, to be exact, not that this means anything to 99.9999999% of people) about an hour from Frankfurt. So for the trip to Germany with my parents, our first stop was to visit relatives, including my aunt, cousins, etc.
Continue reading: Review: Hotel Bartmanns Haus Dillenburg, Germany
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Looks like a typical family run hotel in most small German towns…..clean and functional. Was the AC the fan next to the desk? Wouldn’t put it past the Germans to call that AC.
Did the room have these awful feather filled square German cushions that Germany is known for? When you place your head on these, the feathers "flee" in every direction so that you are basically resting on a piece of cloth. I grew up with them in Germany and "fondly" remember them.
That type of lock where you have to use the same key to lock from the inside is not uncommon in smaller hotels in Germany. We stayed at the Goldener Hirsch in Bayreuth a couple of weeks ago. It is a similarly sized (40 rooms), family run hotel, and they have the same locks.
Thanks for yet another excellent review. However, this place looks more like 2/5 than 4/5 in my book 🙂
Love this review! It's nice to hear about small independent hotels sometimes, and this one seems really enjoyable
I would be very happy to stay at this place. I often stay in similar small independent hotels all over France, Italy and Germany. I’d give it 4/5. Have enjoyed all your reviews on the Germany trip with the three amigos.
I can't believe this hotel makes me feel more excited than any big hotel out there.
I know, right? It’s been great hearing about the trip - what a great family they all are! #thethreeamigos #diedreifreunde
That corner of Germany looks much more appealing than I anticipated given that it's not exactly on the beaten path. And you have lucked out with the weather!
I love the small little hotels in Germany! They are just so comfortable and you get a better sense of the town or city where they are. My husband and I often stay in these types of establishments when we are over visiting.
Like how they provide housekeeping every day without asking for it. Don't remember the last time I got housekeeping automatically in a chain hotel in the US.
Looks like a nice family run hotel.
It's greatest amenity is charm. And that outweighs everything in my opinion. Love it.
As someone whose family is from Burbach, I can attest to the beauty of Dillenburg. So many lovely towns like this in this part of Germany.
Nice report on small town Germany. I appreciate that the buffet items were hygienically enclosed. I make this point simply because a lot of hotels, esp the larger chains have the food fully exposed with no covers or lids! It only takes ONE buzzing fly to spread at least sixty-five known diseases to humans, including typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, poliomyelitis, yaws, anthrax, tularemia, leprosy, and tuberculosis.
It is a delight to read this kind of report. First, it's lovely to hear about your family. Second, I for one tend to stay at local hotels in Europe more than I stay at the big name brands. So its nice to see a report about a place like this. I recognize its not practical for you to do that. Most folks come to this valuable page for advice on how to make the best use of their award points. But it is nice to sometimes remind folks that there are other options that shouldn't be ignored. Thanks.
Curious, did you grow up in Germany and then your family moved to the US, or you were born in the US and "raised german" with frequent visits? You mentioned before that your husband is now also almost fluent in german, are you planning to carry on the "tradition" with Miles?
I always find it fascinating when people who you experience and see exclusively as this english-speaking persons suddenly speak a different native language. It's often the case in Hollywood for example, where suddenly you find out that Sandra Bullock or recently (black) Phil from the show Last Man on Earth speak native-level german or are german.
What a charming review to read.
I enjoy your reviews of independent or boutique hotels. I appreciate you focus primarily on aspirational points redemptions, but for a change of pace, I'd rather read about hotels like these than yet another Four Seasons.
I have found many hotels in Germany or Austria, even in large cities like Vienna, to be very reasonably priced. Where in the U.S. would you get a clean, functional room with a decent breakfast for $100 these days? The only hotels over there that can get expensive are in the mountain tourist areas, where $300+ is not uncommon (and many don't even have a/c).
It's pretty standard to offer daily housekeeping in Europe. I've so far only experienced two hotels (Holmes Hotel in London and a small independent property at Isle of Man) that didn't, but even at those, all you had to do was put a sign on the door and your room was cleaned.
I'd love to hear about them. I was looking into a stay in Vienna next week and the rates were around 200€ at least at most chains.
Surprising a non-biased review for once! I do agree for your purpose the hotel was good and perhaps better than expected.
I absolutely adored this review of both the hotel and the surrounding areas; and I must say that the breakfast looked fabulously gorgeous - my idea of a perfect morning spread!
Thanks for the great review. I stay there when I visit my hometown Dillenburg. Great place and great food. Please tell your Dad hi from me.
Some of my best travel experiences have been in small, independent hotels like these. One of my all time favourite travel memories is in a hotel like this in Paris, which was run by an older gentleman from Normandy. Whenever I passed through the lobby and ran into him we always had these great conversations with each other. He also had a great sense of humour.