Berlin restaurants; hotel recommendations in Adelboden, Berlin, Oberammergau, Baden-Baden, Rothenburg, Munich and Rottweil.
Advocating Adelboden
Allow me to recommend highly a town and hotel which my wife and I have visited which is truly a hidden treasure. The town is Adelboden in the Berner Oberland of Switzerland. It's up the valley from Frutigen. This town has great accommodations and a lovely main street. In the summer it is ideal for hiking at all levels of difficulty. It has numerous lifts, gondolas, cable cars and most natives speak English.
The hotel that we highly recommend is the Waldhaus-Huldi (tel. +41/033/731531). When we've stayed there we have rarely met any Americans. Most guests are British, French or Germans. The Gygax-Nikles family is the most accommodating host and the food is exquisite.
This town/hotel just hasn't been discovered by Americans. I would hope that Gemütlichkeit would check out the area and the hotel. But don't push it too hard - we don't want to lose our room in the Waldhaus where the best rooms are. Request the room that Burt and Karen Johnson use, they'll know! We were last there on 9-11-01. The compassion shown us was incredible! This is our most favorite place in the Alps.
Burt and Karen Johnson
East Berlin, CT
Berlin Restaurants
I just returned from a pleasant five nights in Berlin at the Art Nouveau with the Schlenzkas. It was a return visit to this lovely little hotel. I was in town to attend a conference at the Estrel Center which was about a 45-minute commute. The extra distance was worth the trouble.
Not all was rosy. On a chilly and rainy Sunday evening I wandered across the street to Leibniz-Klause Restaurant and ordered Putenbrust Malaysia. It was an o.k. meal as the weather was foul and the restaurant was close. The experience ended on a very sour note as I became sick a few hours later. On subsequent evenings I saw tour buses - a sure sign to stay away.
The Schlenzkas steered me to two new restaurants which I would rate as excellent values:
Grüne Ente
This charming restaurant serves nouveau German food in a modern and light fashion. The prices were very moderate and the "offen" wine was excellent
• Dahlmannstrasse 20 (off the Ku'damm near Adenauer Platz), tel. 31 01 65 15
Puvogel
This is a small six-table place that serves excellent continental/German food in a very nice atmosphere complete with oriental rugs. It is chef-owned and his wife, who has excellent English skills, takes care of the front of the house. I had an excellent beef dish with a nice salad with a glass of wine all for 20 EUR ($19) What a value! I got the impression that the real stars just came from the ocean as they had lots of fish dishes on the menu that evening.
• Pestalozzistr. 8 (north of Kantstrasse near Schlutterstrasse), tel 313 43 64
Both these places were less than I would pay in Des Moines
Severin Johnson
Des Moines IA
Germany Hotels Recommended
We have just returned from almost a month in Germany and Austria. We spent the first four and the last four nights at the Acanthus Hotel in Munich and highly recommend it. The staff was very friendly and helpful (in fact one of the desk staff is an American from Oregon), the location is excellent, the buffet great - just a very pleasant experience. When we returned for the last four nights, we were greeted as old friends and asked about our trip during the previous three weeks. They even kept a t-shirt that our 12- year-old grandson had left. The rooms are excellent - though a bit small if there are three in a room. Thanks for recommending this hotel.
We would also like to recommend the Ringhotel Johanniterbad (tel. +49/0741/530700, fax 41273, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) in Rottweil. This is an interesting town and not at all touristy. The hotel desk staff speaks English and were very helpful to us. In fact, one of them helped us track down a cousin's phone number. The food in their dining room was some of the best of the trip. Even with three people, the room and bath were large enough for us. We would definitely return to this hotel.
A staff member and my cousin recommended that we visit Burg Hohenzollern. The tour was in German (English tours for groups only) but we were able to easily follow because of the guide and also an English history was available. This is definitely a three- or four-star treat. In fact, our grandson liked it much more than Neuschwanstein, which has become too touristy.
We also recommend Harburg Castle and Wallerstein Castle (excellent tours in English). Both are near Dinkelsbuhl and well worth a stop.
Joan Goeden
Riverside CA
More German Hotels
Here is some info on places stayed during our recent trip to Germany:
Oberammergau
Hotel Friedenshöhe, König-Ludwig Strasse 31. This is just a great guest house run by the Eric Schmid family, who are wonderful people and make you feel so at home. It is in a quiet location, with a beautiful view of Koffel Mountain, just minutes from town. Rates are very reasonable. Bookings can be breakfast-only or half-board (excellent food we might add.) We have stayed here before and will always put it number one on our list for Oberammergau. Excellent English spoken.
Baden-Baden
Hotel Am Markt Marktplatz 18. Run by the Bogner family. This is on a quiet cobbled square where Baden-Baden old town meets the famous Friedrichsbad (Roman-Irish Bath). This is a small, well-kept hotel. The restaurant is for residents only and closed for dinner on Sundays and Wednesdays. The food was excellent. Excellent English spoken.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Hotel Spitzweg, Paradeisgasse 2. Run by Klaus Hocher and built in 1536. In 1984 it was restored and turned into a small hotel. Rooms with breakfast are reasonably priced. Centrally located inside the wall. Klaus is a wonderful host and speaks excellent English. Rothenburg is very charming and we would go back.
Lindau/Bodensee
Hotel Brugger Bei der Heidenmauer 11, Erwin & Berta Brugger. A lovely, reasonably-priced hotel. Lindau is on Lake Constance and Hotel Brugger is minutes from the town activity.
Fred & Marion Unger
Maple Glen PA
