Hotel Hochsauerland 2010

The breakfast was good, the electric car charging was free, and the pool and spa were a lovely way to relax. We booked this hotel for a ski week near winterburg, and the facilities are generally good, but for a family of three we didn't feel they justified the price of more than 300 euro per night. The biggest problem was housekeeping during our four-night stay: our room wasn't cleaned, the towels weren't changed, and the garbage wasn't emptied at all. I had to chase the cleaner on the floors for two days in a row. He didn't want to do it and gave different excuses. On the fourth day, my husband asked reception to arrange cleaning. They made a note, but nothing happened until 15pm, when I went back to ask for fresh towels and the garbage to be emptied. The man at reception said they only clean on the fifth day. Really? At this price, a 3/4 star hotel only cleans on day five because we booked four nights? What's the point of cleaning after guests have left? After we discussed it, he sent the cleaning service manager to change the towel. I asked whether going four days without cleaning until the fifth day was normal, and she honestly said no. She said rooms are usually cleaned on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, so ours should have been done the previous Friday. After looking into it, she brought the cleaner and a piece of paper marked to show that our room had been cleaned Friday. That wasn't true. We hadn't seen anyone come in, and I'd been in the room resting all day. The cleaner said he'd come while we were asleep and only cleaned the bathroom, but that was another lie. Nothing had been done. When I asked when he'd entered, he didn't answer. The female manager said she didn't know who was right. This was the first time in my life I'd had to argue with a hotel about why cleaning matters, whether it had happened, and who was telling the truth. I can understand a cleaner sometimes skipping a task, but zero cleaning in four nights is unacceptable. The false record and repeated lies showed no integrity. It also points to poor management: three people gave three different accounts of how often or when rooms are cleaned, they could probably tell who was lying but did nothing, and the cleaners weren't trained properly. On our checkout Sunday, after 11:20am, one of them opened each door on the fifth floor with a key without knocking first. I was shocked to see that in the corridor. How are guests supposed to feel safe? It made our holiday uncomfortable, even though we tried to focus on the positives.