Over the weekend we decided to do a quick trip from Berlin to Dresden, which is about two hours from Berlin (either by car or train). We decided to stay at the 94-room Gewandhaus Dresden, which is a Marriott Autograph Collection property, and generally regarded as one of the best hotels in the city.
Booking Gewandhaus Dresden
Gewandhaus Dresden is a Category 3 Marriott Bonvoy property, meaning that a free night ranges in cost anywhere from 15,000 points per night (off-peak) to 20,000 points per night (peak).
Marriott was running a promo where all hotels were pricing at the off-peak rate, so we paid just 15,000 points for a one night stay. I value Bonvoy points at ~0.7 cents each, so to me that was like paying ~$105 for a night, which compared favorably to the paid rate of 170 EUR (~$200).
Gewandhaus Dresden review
Our stay here was quick and this is a city hotel, so I’ll keep this review relatively short. Let’s take a look at the lobby area of the hotel, our room, the breakfast restaurant, the pool & gym, and the service.
Gewandhaus Dresden lobby
Gewandhaus Dresden is super charming — it’s right in the heart of Dresden, and the exterior doesn’t at all look like a property you’d expect to be managed by a global hotel group, which is always a good sign. 😉
The hotel has quite a history dating back to 1770, though it has served as a hotel since 1967.
Gewandhaus Dresden exterior
Gewandhaus Dresden entrance
Inside the entrance to the lobby and to the right was something that doubled as both the check-in desk and the bar.
Gewandhaus Dresden check-in desk & bar
Across from that was the lobby bar seating, which felt much more generic, and like it could be in any Marriott or Sheraton lobby, though it was still relatively cute.
Gewandhaus Dresden lobby
Gewandhaus Dresden lobby
Gewandhaus Dresden lobby
Past the main part of the lobby was a gorgeous atrium of sorts, which spanned all four floors of the hotel.
Gewandhaus Dresden atrium
Gewandhaus Dresden atrium
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room
We were assigned room 228, a superior room on the second floor. The hotel only has three suites, and after that the superior room is the next best room type. I was extremely impressed, since you don’t usually expect much from something marketed as a “superior room,” but it also felt more like a junior suite.
Before even talking about the rooms, I have to mention that I loved the hallway design.
Gewandhaus Dresden hallway
Gewandhaus Dresden hallway
Anyway, our room was just outside the elevator and to the right.
Gewandhaus Dresden room exterior
The room featured a long entryway with a closet just inside the entrance and to the left.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room entryway
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room entryway
This closet had a Nespresso machine and a mini-fridge.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room coffee machine
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room in-room fridge
The rest of the room was at the end of the entryway and to the right.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room
The room featured an “L” shaped desk in the very corner.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room desk
Then there was a sitting area with a loveseat and chair.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room sitting area
On the table was a sweet welcome amenity.
Gewandhaus Dresden welcome amenity
Then there was a king size bed. As is the norm in Germany, there were two separate comforters. While the mattress itself was quite comfortable, there were only two large pillows (and they weren’t even large).
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room king size bed
The bathroom was back towards the entrance, and featured a sink, shower/tub combo, and toilet.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room bathroom
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room bathroom
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room bathroom
Toiletries were from Rituals, and were in reusable bottles.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room toiletries
While Gewandhaus is right on the border of the Dresden Altstadt and only a few minutes walk from most major attractions, the hotel doesn’t have all that much in the way of views, as it just faces a major street.
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room view
Gewandhaus Dresden superior room view
There was wifi throughout the hotel, though I was having issues with wifi towards the far end of the room, from bed. It wasn’t a huge deal since I could tether, but I’ve had better wifi.
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast
Breakfast at Gewandhaus was served from 7AM until 12PM in Meatery Bar & Restaurant, which is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant. This restaurant is described as an “elegant steakrestaurant,” though I think I have a slightly different definition of elegant than this place, because even with white tablecloths I just can’t picture it…
Gewandhaus Dresden Meatery Bar & Restaurant
Gewandhaus Dresden Meatery Bar & Restaurant
Gewandhaus Dresden Meatery Bar & Restaurant
Rather annoyingly the hotel recommends making reservations for breakfast. Personally one of the things that I like most about staying in hotels is not having to worry about the little details, and among those is not having to decide the night before at what time I want to go for breakfast.
This wasn’t an issue, except for the fact that most of the good tables had “reserved” signs on them, even though they stayed empty the entire time we were there…
Breakfast here usually costs 25EUR per person, though thanks to my Marriott elite status I could select breakfast as my welcome amenity for free. Drinks, egg dishes, and pancakes, could be ordered off a menu, which read as follows:
The cappuccino was unfortunately one of those machine ones, though the filter coffee was quite good.
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast cappuccino
Other than that, the hotel had a totally normal buffet. Coronawho?
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
The buffet itself was quite good (if you can get over the fact that there was one to begin with), especially by German standards, with fruit, yogurt, cereal, cold cuts, eggs, and much more.
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast buffet
I decided to order a veggie omelet, which was tasty.
Gewandhaus Dresden breakfast
Gewandhaus Dresden pool & gym
On the basement level Gewandhaus has a pool and gym, which are open daily from 6AM until 11PM. The pool was cute, though I don’t have the same fascination with pools that many Germans seem to have (though I get it, I’m also from Florida, so…).
Gewandhaus Dresden pool
Gewandhaus Dresden pool
The gym, by comparison, was extremely basic, with just three machines for cardio, and then free weights.
Gewandhaus Dresden gym
Gewandhaus Dresden gym
Gewandhaus Dresden gym
Gewandhaus Dresden service
Service at Gewandhaus was underwhelming.
One evening we decided to order drinks before dinner in the lobby bar. There’s an impressively long cocktail list, which makes you think that they’d be able to make most things. Ford tried to order a negroni (which isn’t exactly complicated), to which the server responded “I’m just the waiter, I’m not the bartender, can you order something from the list?” That’s not even accounting for it taking 10 minutes to get someone to take our order, and then another 15 minutes before our drinks were brought out.
Then there was the breakfast situation. While the breakfast servers were friendly, the breakfast restaurant was way understaffed, and it took forever to get any sort of service. Then there was the situation with them reserving tables.
Admittedly we weren’t at a resort for a week, but overall my impression of service at the hotel wasn’t great.
Impressions of Dresden
Dresden is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. It’s also a city with a lot of history, as it was heavily bombed in 1945, meaning that much of the city has been rebuilt since then. The city is interesting to see and has so much history, so it’s definitely worth a visit.
That being said, I think a couple of nights here does the trick, and I feel like we even saw most of the highlights in a full day.
Dresden, Germany
Dresden, Germany
Dresden, Germany
Dresden, Germany
Dresden, Germany
Coronavirus precautions in Dresden
I really need to get around to writing a post about my perceptions of coronavirus in hospitality in Germany, because boy has it shifted in recent weeks. As far as our time in Dresden goes:
- Many employees and guests at the hotel were wearing masks, though other than that there were virtually no precautions; there was a buffet, and I didn’t even see any hand sanitizer stations, or anything
- Outside of the hotel you full-on wouldn’t have thought coronavirus was a thing; restaurant servers weren’t wearing masks, there was no hand sanitizer anywhere, there were parties of 20 inside restaurants celebrating birthdays and getting very drunk, etc.
Obviously we still took our own precautions, but it was surprising to observe…
Bottom line
At just 15,000 Bonvoy points per night, Gewandhaus Dresden was an exceptional value. The hotel has a great location, our room was gorgeous, and breakfast was solid as well (strange as a full-on buffet may be nowadays).
This does seem to be the best option in Dresden, so I’d return if I found myself back in the city. I’d note that the other good hotel in the city is Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski. We briefly checked out the lobby, and it felt very outdated.
If you’ve been to Dresden and/or stayed at Gewandhaus, what was your experience like?
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