Pension Haus Diefenbach

The staff were always smiling and went out of their way to help. The rustic hotel was clean and quiet in the evening. In our room, we could hear chairs scraping in the breakfast room, the bathroom was small, and both beds creaked at night. The room could do with an update.

The host was kind, and the location made it easy to reach places around Eifel. With my road bike and walking shoes, I had a very active weekend. But I wouldn't book here again or recommend staying. The room's smell was so bad, somewhere between wet dog and decades of sweat in the carpet, that I considered leaving on the first night. After spraying perfume, I eventually got used to it enough to sleep. I thought about raising it, but saw Booking.com reviews saying other rooms had the same issue, so it seemed pointless. Late at night I spotted a very visible bloodstain on the back of my pillowcase. Housekeeping should have seen it while preparing the room. The host dealt with it quickly the next morning, but I'd already slept on it for a night. At €59 a night for a one-person budget room, including breakfast, I didn't find it especially cheap. Thinking of that smell still makes me feel a little sick. I don't believe the owners can't smell it, and it's bothersome that nothing is being done. The positives couldn't make up for how uncomfortable the smell made my stay.

I still can't understand how anyone could give this place one or two stars. My little single room was just right for a solo stay, and the place was spotless, in a lovely country setting, with nice people. Breakfast was the second best I had in 30 days in Germany, which is high praise, especially since they laid it out just for me as the only guest. It cost only 5 euros, and the single room was about 45 euros. There's a lovely dining room, though I didn't really get to enjoy it since going into town, about 5 km away, was a bit inconvenient. From Wednesday to Saturday they put out a nice-looking buffet for guests. I was there on the off nights, Sunday and Monday. For me, it's unbeatable, and not just for the price. What's not to like?

We got the option to eat here through our pension house, which didn't serve dinner and had a collaboration with this restaurant. It was lucky we could come, since the town was so quiet and restaurants were hard to find. The buffet was tasty and reasonably priced. I enjoyed the food so much that I forgot to take more pictures.