Schaalsee Biosphere Reserve Vacations from $1,109

I don’t normally comment on check-in as it is standard, but the young woman who checked us in was so welcoming. She seemed genuinely interested in the places we had visited on our holiday. She was also helpful in explaining everything about the hotel and its proximity to the old town. I did not take her name but she told us she came from Namibia. The hotel swimming pool is quite small and the changing room floor rather wet, but it made a change after a week of travelling. If you need glasses to read anything, take them with you to the pool as the code numbers on the lockers are tiny. Not for the first time on this holiday, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hotel restaurant. The new menu featured asparagus. This was cooked beautifully but the quantity was huge! I had salmon and my wife had schnitzel, both of which were good. (In contrast, the following evening we were at another Holiday Inn which had a very boring menu, traditional English pub fare.) We had chosen the hotel because it seemed close to the Old Town. It is. 5 minutes’ walk from the old gate. The room was good, if a little noisy as we were close to the lift and everyone felt the need to say goodnight to their friends loudly.

Welcoming stay at a renovated hotel. Friendly staff and large newly appointed room with balcony and sea view across the street. Very close to Niendorf harbour. Overall excellent stay and would certainly come again.

Excellent

As my husband was an architect he was delighted to find himself in Walter Gropius’ summer residence. We were in the annex, immediately overlooking the parked cars -would have preferred a sea view or even just a higher level. Room a very good size, storage space excellent Bathroom excellent. Loved that I saw a red squirrel running down the tree trunk next to our breakfast table. Breakfast service very good