Der Ruhe Blatz Motel

My dog found a chew toy in the room, and that pretty much summed up how unclean it seemed. The room smelled like it hadn’t been cleaned, so I wiped down the counters, tables, and TV remote myself. When I mentioned the odor to the front desk lady, she said it was the off season and the room hadn’t been used in a while. Shipshewana, Indiana has events year round at different places, and if a room has been sitting unused, it should be freshened before guests arrive. The TV didn’t work either. The rooms need updating and better housekeeping. Now the site won’t let me post my review.

We liked the location and enjoyed exploring the area, and the room itself was fine. Still, if you’re hoping for an Amish experience, I don’t think this is that place anymore. I believe ownership changed, and it now feels like an ordinary motel. Breakfast was crowded enough that we had to wait for seats, and most of the food was processed; the coffee wasn’t good. We ate elsewhere. To be fair, that’s often how motel and hotel breakfasts are.

The rooms were very clean, but felt dated, with mismatched furniture and tacky striped carpeting. Breakfast was the worst I’ve seen: eight cereals, frozen muffins, white bread for toast, a waffle maker, no decaf coffee, and the eggs had run out. The sausage gravy was awful and there were no biscuits. I’m diabetic, so the lack of decaf was a problem.

It’s a pretty bare-bones place, but it worked fine for us. The rooms were clean and the people were nice.