Hacienda Rooms

This felt more like an Airbnb-style place than a hotel to me, though I booked through Booking.com. It has several rooms and suites and serves breakfast. Ours, suite #11, was comfortable and spacious, very clean, and clearly well maintained with attention to the details guests need. We paid a reduced rate that seemed fair, and after some very tiny rooms elsewhere on our trip, the extra space was welcome. It’s in a quiet, mostly residential area, so you can walk, but getting to restaurants or other businesses would be quite a trek. Most visitors would probably want a vehicle. The setup is largely self-service: you press a button on arrival, then someone off-site answers and gives instructions. That worked fine for me. There was a tablet in the room, but I couldn’t get it to show anything beyond my name. We woke early because the large windows seemed to have only translucent curtains. When I mentioned it to the owner, she showed me the exterior blinds, which pull down using a strap inside, as many houses in Germany have. Breakfast ends at 9:30, and you need to be in the dining area in time to finish by then. I didn’t see that cutoff online or in the room, though perhaps it was posted somewhere. The sign is inside, but the night before you’re only let in briefly by the electronic entry to collect your key, and I just followed the instructions rather than staying to read signs. After being scolded for arriving late, I’d lost my appetite and only ate a little bread and cereal.

I’ve stayed in hotels across Germany, Switzerland, Austria and more than 40 other countries, so I’m not an inexperienced traveler. If service doesn’t matter to you, you can skip this review. The hotel didn’t message us ahead of time to say no one would be there, for example at 3 pm, or explain that you’d speak to someone over a speaker, which wasn’t very clear. The room felt quite small, maybe 70% of a usual standard hotel room, and the wall of glass bothered me. Some things were provided but awkwardly designed, like the 1.7L kettle that couldn’t be filled under the washbasin. The “Fabulous breakfast (Fabelhaftes Frühstück)” was a letdown for me. I usually have scrambled eggs (Rührei), a boiled egg and fried sausage at a hotel breakfast, but here there were only boiled eggs. The first time I saw the owner, she asked if I knew I could only take one egg. I said I didn’t, since I hadn’t met any staff who could tell me. Apparently it was written beside the eggs. In more than 40 countries, I’ve never encountered a one-egg limit at a hotel buffet. I’d already touched two eggs during corona time, so I asked, “Daf ich 2 Eier habe oder nicht (can I have 2 eggs or not).” The owner unfriendly asked if paying an extra Euro was okay. Of course I’d pay, even if she’d asked for 10 Euro. When I paid the bill, the extra Euro didn’t seem to be included, which made it feel like she just wanted to embarrass me in front of the other guests. I’ve taken university-level English and German courses and understand what “Fabulous” (fabelhaft) means. There are no public toilets or indoor public area. If you want to stay past 11 am, this is a very bad choice.

I was happy with the accommodation when I stayed here in 2015, but after this experience I won’t return. I booked three weeks ahead for April 2018, giving them my home address and phone number to secure the reservation. About a week before the stay, the hotel emailed to say they couldn’t accommodate me. They gave no reason, and despite several emails asking why, I still haven’t received a reply.

This was my favorite stay of our Europe trip. It was clean and nicely decorated, and I liked it so much I asked my husband to remodel our bathroom to look similar. Great location, too.