Gasthof Gröbern am See

Really nice to see this hotel.

We left the Christmas buffet after an hour because the food was cold and little had been replenished. By 1 p.m. the buffet was nearly empty, and the room itself was freezing, with one space heater in the corner doing no good. A duck leg came out once, but it wasn’t crispy. The other dishes had been sitting cold in the display for over an hour, despite the owner saying he’d sort things out. Nothing changed. We’d booked our table well ahead, yet were put in the last room, which felt like a run-down swingers’ club and was completely uninviting. The owner offered dinner the following week as “compensation.” We told him the situation was unacceptable and that we’d pay only for our drinks, which is what we did. The service area was staffed by a student who seemed totally inexperienced. Several employees apologized and said the owner had taken far too many bookings, even after repeated warnings. As we left, we also found dumplings and other food being stored unrefrigerated in hotel rooms. Absolutely unacceptable, a complete dump.

Friendly service and a reasonable wait. The restaurant serves tasty, simple German home-style food, and the prices are good for what you get.

The table had been wiped down, which seemed promising, but it had a sour, rotten smell that put me off my food. I suspect the cloth used wasn’t fresh. I’d been keen to try the local “Schnitzel - Kraftwerk,” but after one coffee, which cost 4 euros, I left. The restaurant is pretty rustic. That may suit some people, though the laminated paper menus made it feel like a canteen to me. Prices are about the same as in Berlin, and I can’t imagine that going over well in a big city. I wouldn’t recommend it. I ate by the lake afterward, where it was clean, tidy, quick, and high quality. It was pricey too, but not that different in cost.