Hotel berhampiran Helltalsteich, Ellrich

Unser Aufenthalt im Regiohotel am Brocken war super! Wir kamen am Abend am Hotel an, wo wir auch schon an der Rezeption erwartet und herzlich empfangen wurden. Am Zimmer gab es nichts zu bemängeln, das Frühstück war auch gut. Lediglich die Parkplatzsituation um das Hotel herum war ein bisschen nervig, weil es keine eingezeichneten Parkflächen gibt und manch ein anderer Hotelgast meint, dann so großzügig parken zu können, dass andere Gäste dann Platzprobleme bekommen (könnten). Aber: Hat schlussendlich trotzdem alles gut funktioniert :-) Wir kommen gerne wieder und haben uns dort gut und sicher aufgehoben gefühlt.

Excellent hotel ideally located on the central market square, of which we had great views from our spacious junior suite (it can be a bit noisy when they are setting things up outside early morning). Breakfasts are fabulous, with a particularly good selection of mueslis and cheeses, and a large slab of creamy butter tabled each morning. Coffee arrives instantly at your table, and service is speedy and efficient. We dined twice in the hotel's restaurant in the evening, and found it to be high quality, with interesting local produce (pott-suss was really tasty) and, slightly surprisingly, very good German red wine. Barman Andy was one of the best we've encountered - fast, lively and friendly, with a good menory for previous choices, and the ability to produce great cocktails, whether on the menu or not. Most of the staff spoke good English, which took the stress away from relying on my schoolboy German. Only criticism is that we'd have appreciated a bit of help getting our luggage to our room , as it was a long way from reception and involved corridor steps (though there is a lift fortunately). Wernigerode is a good base for the Harz region: we managed to ascend der Brocken (one of us actually walking!), rode the Brockenbahn and the Bimmelbahn, and took a trouble-free bus ride to Quedlinburg, a World Heritage site which is well worth a visit.

We stayed here as part of a group. The hotel was very busy with both regional and international companies. We were amazed by the size of the dining room which was expanded nightly via adjoining room partitions to accommodate the masses. Our room was large and comfy with a built-in luggage rack and plenty closet space. What is certainly weird, and maybe this is a German thing, but my husband loved the instant cappuccino packs provided in the room, but these were never refilled. In fact, our mugs were left dirty and we had to wash them ourselves. No milk or creamer are provided, so you've got to take a little jug from the restaurant. No coffee or tea supplies were refilled during our time. Others in our group had the same experience. The front office service was hit or miss and generally I found them more engrossed in their tasks like balancing their floats than to attend to customers'. A front office agent should be forward facing I feel at all times, as otherwise you're looking at the staff from the side and trying to get their attention. The buffet was quite good as we enjoyed breakfasts and lunches daily. I wish the fish was done in different styles but I liked the variety nightly for dinner and lots of vegetable options. The dessert could have been was more innovative than mousse, mousse and mousse in different flavours with icecream. Some bread pudding, proper cake, a trifle or creme caramel, meringue, etc. would have been welcomed, especially by the international guests. I mean even German desserts like Apple strudel, Lebkuchen, Plum cake or other regional sweet would have been nice. Location is halfway between the railway station and the center of town and the little red land train to the castle starts & stops just behind the hotel so this is very ideal. We enjoyed the bar in the evenings. The bartender Salvatore was a delightful character; friendly and efficient despite not speaking a word of English. We would definitely stay here on a future trip.