Hôtel Des Vosges

The next day, they texted my wife something like, “Oh yeah, we forgot about you.” We’d arrived with 15 hungry children to find the restaurant closed, and when we called, they said they knew nothing about our reservation. A man from the village fortunately connected us with a pizza place in another town. I’d arranged this well ahead for a group of friends. I knew 25 people would take some planning, so I started two months in advance, with a long email exchange and a phone call to confirm the details. After the owner’s reply blaming me, I’m sharing the full sequence. A simple apology saying they were sorry and valued their customers would have been enough. I first emailed on June 10th about a canal boat trip in Alsace with four other families. We expected to be in Lutzelburg on August 15th and asked if they could host 10 adults and 14 children, ages 2 to 15, for dinner. I suggested a set menu might be easier than ordering a la carte. They replied that day, thanking me for choosing them and welcoming us for dinner on Tuesday, August 15th. They mentioned children’s menus, local specialties for adults, and service starting at 6:30 pm. I replied on the 12th that I’d check with my friends before finalizing, and asked about prices. On the 21st I confirmed everyone was happy with the offer and asked to finalize. I also corrected the count: 25 people, 10 adults and 15 children. When I heard nothing, I followed up on the 26th to check that we were set, then wrote “Trying again” on July 6th. Still no reply, so I called and left a voicemail. They called me back that day. I had a very pleasant conversation with a staff member, and we went over the date, time, number of people, and set menu versus a la carte. We ended with “see you in a month.” My advice to the owner is to apologize for what happened and leave it there, rather than blaming me for their mistake.

The duck with red fruit sauce and spätzli is still listed on the menu, but we were told the sauce was no longer being served because they’d run out. We only noticed it was missing once we started eating. The waiter seemed confused, checked with the kitchen, then came back with that explanation. Without the sauce, the dish really wasn’t worth the price.

Everyone in our party found something they liked on the menu, and the atmosphere was very nice. The staff were kind.

It’s pricey for what you get. It’s the only place in town now that the restaurant across the bridge has gone out of business.