Hotel Restaurant Schute

After driving for 14 hours, stops included, from Norway through Sweden and Denmark and into Germany, I suddenly felt very unwell. I was dizzy and could barely stand, so we urgently needed somewhere I could lie down and rest. We went to this hotel and asked the receptionist to check whether they had a room. He didn’t look at the room schedule, and gave us a disapproving look at my girlfriend’s tattoos and piercings before saying there was nothing available. We asked him again to please check if anything could be done, but he firmly refused without checking. By then, it felt obvious that we’d been profiled. Back at the car, panic was setting in too. My girlfriend took my phone and called a B&B about ten minutes away. The woman there welcomed us warmly, explained the basics of the room, and let us rest for the rest of the evening and night. She said we could worry about payment later. It was called Bed and Cloppenburg. I’d tell people to drive those extra ten minutes and stay there instead of coming here.

I booked this hotel from Denmark and planned to arrive around 23.00, but road repairs and heavy traffic made me half an hour late. There was nobody at the hotel when I arrived, only a male voice over the intercom. I tried the doorbell a few times with no response, then a sleepy voice said the place was closed and showed no interest in helping. I told him I’d booked ahead, but all I got back was a few repeated phrases: “closed” and “I don’t know.” I’ve never had service this appalling. Calling it a German Fawlty Towers feels about right. They could look up words like “service” and “geniality” at the local bookshop. I’d take Basil and Fawlty Towers any day. Never go, never even consider it.

The service is always good, and the hotel has recently been upgraded and redecorated. We stopped there for our first night on a 2000km trip from the Hirtshals ferry in northern Denmark to France’s west coast.

The setting is picturesque, and the atmosphere should suit just about anyone. It’s a welcoming place for company meetings, with excellent service and very good food. I recommend it 👍😉