“A silent night with safety issues”

On weekdays, this hotel is the domain of managers and CEO's, who take a few days away from the everyday stress of their work, and gather in the conference rooms to make plans for the future of their company, the upcoming reorganization or their strategic product line. But they're gone on Friday, s… more

On weekdays, this hotel is the domain of managers and CEO's, who take a few days away from the everyday stress of their work, and gather in the conference rooms to make plans for the future of their company, the upcoming reorganization or their strategic product line. But they're gone on Friday, so in the weekend tourists can book the rooms. The hotel is a castle from 1704. All the details of the grand architecture are still there, but it's got an atmosphere of faded glory. The rooms are functional and clean, with beds that are a bit on the hard side, but the place no longer reminds of the days the local aristocracy held their parties or went out on their horses to hunt for foxes, rabbits or pheasants. Open the grand windows of your room and you get a magnificent view of the park and woods that's part of the estate. And that's probably the main asset of this hotel - nature all around. On weekdays they will provide inspiration for the conferencing people, in the weekend it's great for a relaxing walk. At night you can listen to the silence. We're city folks, so we seldomly get to hear so little noise. The road is far away, and the only air traffic that gets over are birds. The only thing to break the euphoria of such a silent night is a certain sense of unsafety. Don't know what that tag was for, that came with the lock; we had assumed it was for the front door. But that door was not locked and it could not be locked so anyone could get in - with the only safety the lock on the door of the room. I wrote the management about this but got no reply. In the weekends, the restaurant is closed but in the morning they do serve a good breakfast from a buffet - but if you want eggs scrambled or sunny side up, just ask. Had the place been properly locked or guarded at night - I would have valued it much better.

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“Is it an hotel?”

A half mile long drive brings you to the imposing entrance gates with the rather grand looking property in full view. At this point grandeur ends . This is a huge building set in its own park with a semi-circular pond but inside it has a distinctly institutional feel. We were expecting an hotel but… more

A half mile long drive brings you to the imposing entrance gates with the rather grand looking property in full view. At this point grandeur ends . This is a huge building set in its own park with a semi-circular pond but inside it has a distinctly institutional feel. We were expecting an hotel but we found it has an alter ego as an educational centre. After ringing the reception bell, a chap arrived, informed us that the restaurant was not open at weekends (this being a Saturday) and told us our room was on the first floor, but there was no offer to show us the room or help with luggage. In fairness he did give us the name of a restaurant not too far away which we asked him to book for us and to arrange for a taxi. Our room was quite large with windows on two sides looking over the gardens. Furniture was basic in the extreme. Two cheap wooden bed bases pushed together, a cheap pine wardrobe, a table and chair, cheap bedside tables with lamps and that was it. The en suite was, to be kind, ‘compact’, no toiletries provided apart from some liquid soap and, as promised in their advertising blurb, toilet paper! One feature which proved somewhat tiresome was the canned music playing non-stop in the public areas. An ample breakfast was served buffet style with fruit juice, fruit, cereal, yoghurt, boiled eggs, cheese, cold meat, a selection of breads and rolls and on one morning, smoked salmon.

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“Ups and downs”

Like many of the other reviews, it is either fine or disappointing at the Schloss Gnadenthal. We booked in one night as we were just passing through on a weekend break. We booked and had no fewer than two confirmations from the hotel. However, when we arrived, they said that there was a "technical … more

Like many of the other reviews, it is either fine or disappointing at the Schloss Gnadenthal. We booked in one night as we were just passing through on a weekend break. We booked and had no fewer than two confirmations from the hotel. However, when we arrived, they said that there was a "technical fault" and we didn't have a reservation. They also said that they emailed us of the fact. I showed them my emails, and the lack of any notice from them. The hotel did, then, find us a room, though a small room with twin beds (we were there with our 7 year old son). They also gave us a discount, to their credit. The hotel is pleasant, though very basic, and the breakfast is ok. Food runs out very quickly, and is slowly replenished. We did, however, find that staff generally extremely friendly. The grounds also are really outstanding. However, our experience with a guaranteed reservation (guaranteed with a credit card as well), tainted our experience of the hotel. I must say that I wouldn't stay again, and I can't recommend a hotel that is so unreliable.

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