Schloss Lieser — Hotel in Bernkastel-Kues

The castle is beautiful with nice furnishings, but this property definitely has a long ways to go on service. We arrived around 10pm on Friday night and were promptly greeted by no one at all. It was not clear even which door to enter to get to reception, until we realized you have to walk up a grand outdoor staircase. There were also “no parking” signs literally everywhere, making it unclear where to park to drop off luggage.

There’s no bellhop, and even at the front desk they didn’t look up until I said hello. Although there were glasses and wine all around, no welcome drink was offered, so it was unclear what they were there for. Check in was efficient, but overall a cold welcome, with no offer of assistance with luggage or even mention of the luggage cart on the ground level entrance.

Other poor service examples during our stay: WiFi wouldn’t connect, when I asked the front desk for the portal web site they said just try again and there was no portal page. This was of course incorrect, I googled it and the page is “Marriott WiFi.com”. -The front desk didn’t know the prices for any service in their own spa, and quoted above what the actual prices were. -On the day of check out, housekeeping knocked at 10:45am even though we had requested a late (4pm) check out due to Titanium status. Front desk said only one room could have late check out, the other had to be vacated by 1:30pm. The service at breakfast was ok, but on Sunday they were very focused on setting up for a “brunch” they charge for and were hurrying around setting up instead of providing service to PAYING guests staying at the hotel. Spa appointment booked for 4pm, but no one showed up until 4:25pm. The door handle to our room was basically falling out of its mount and had to be very carefully opened and closed to not break it. When we reported to the desk they simply wrote it down and made no attempt at apologizing for the inconvenience. The water in the shower was either scalding hot or freezing cold. Finding a comfortable middle required minute movements and a lot of trial and error. We were concerned about our kids getting burned by the hot water tbh. The front desk was generally dismissive of any requests or questions, and did not smile once when we interacted with them. They offer a “day spa” to non-guests for a fee, so the indoor pool was surprisingly packed with people who did not appear to be guests on Saturday afternoon.

Definitely not a 5 star property, and disappointing given the high price paid in offseason. I would only recommend if you really love the idea of staying in a castle, as the property itself is well appointed and has some nice amenities. Kudos to the friendly bartender, he was the only pleasant employee we encountered and provided...

4.5 Overview: absolutely stunning castle, both exterior and interior with good service, great restaurant, weak breakfast, and great location.

We got a river view room, which was worth it especially during the rainy season as we spent a lot of time in the room. The furnishings in room and throughout the property were beautiful. The library is adorable as are the other rooms and corners throughout the property.

• A very short drive to Bernkastel-Kues, a larger village/town in the area with plenty of shopping and restaurants, and boat trips leaving often throughout the day.

• WiFi was without any problems and we could stream via the tv perfectly.

• Bathroom was clean and beautiful, included soaps were great, water pressure was good. Basics are provided but no random extras like in bigger resort style hotels (ex. Toothbrush, comb, shower cap etc) which was fine for us as we prefer less waste.

• Spa area was nice and clean, and offered pretty much everything one would need. Steam room was unfortunately not working.

• Parking was great as there are two options; underground in the property at 18€ a night and just across the street in full view of the hotel for 6€ a day, or around 9€ for two nights/almost three days like we did. It felt very safe due to location and visibility from the hotel.

• One issue was that the safe in our room was not working, and seemed unable to fix it at the time; obviously very annoying as we had a lot of valuables/electronics. However everything felt safe and since this seemed like a one-off issue, I didn’t lower the rating. They didn’t offer anything but we already had the upgraded room so it wasn’t a big deal.

Food • I found the breakfast was pretty weak, and coffee was really disappointing for me. While it is a smaller hotel and a huge buffet isn’t expected, usually there is something interesting/cute/special to make up for it. Here we found it to be a very basic selection which at the time did not include a single milk alternative that we could see. Tea was nice and the best part were the pancakes and waffles, otherwise it was anything you can find at lower star hotels.

• However, the dinner at the Puricelli was excellent! The meat was divine. The only thing was that we found the vegetables on the side of the mains were pretty sad but it didn’t matter because the meat was just so good. From the current menu we highly recommend the carpaccio, the veal cheeks and dry aged steak. The tagliolini were also lovely.

As we were here and in the region to take photos, Schloss Lieser was an excellent choice overall and we would return; though we might not bother paying for included...

Upon check-in, we were given Room 400, which was of very poor quality. Despite raising our concerns with both the front desk and Hotels.com, the hotel refused to change our room, citing overbooking as the reason. However, we later discovered from Hotels.com that rooms were available on the Marriott site, which suggests that the overbooking claim was inaccurate.

The room's window is quite small, providing a view only when standing directly in front of it, which hardly qualifies as a "Mosel view." When we requested a room change, the only option offered was a downgrade to a lower category room, as the hotel claimed to be fully booked in the category we had reserved.

This room is supposed to be a higher category, with a Mosel view, following rooms with no view and vineyard view options. However, describing this room as having a Mosel view is misleading. Based on the photos, it would be more accurately classified as a side-view room.

The most disappointing aspect was the front desk's response to our concerns. Their indifferent approach to resolving the issue reflects poorly on the hotel's customer service.

Additionally, the air conditioning was not functioning properly, and combined with heavy winter duvets, it made for a very uncomfortable night. The air conditioning unit also produced a loud noise, further disrupting our sleep.

The hotel has two buildings facing the Mosel, each with three floors, yet we were placed in this substandard room on the fourth floor, which was supposed to offer a Mosel view.

Other issues with the room include awkward layout choices, such as a seating area up a few stairs that feels cramped and dark due to the small window. There was also a noticeable damp smell, suggesting the room has not been adequately maintained, and a portable heater was provided, likely to address this issue.

The writing desk is poorly located in a dimly lit corner, and the loud crackling noise from the air conditioning made it impossible to sleep with it on.

Overall, this room falls significantly below expected standards and should be reclassified, perhaps as a "partial view with a very small window." Additionally, the hotel staff should adopt a more attentive and proactive approach to addressing...