Riessersee Hotel — Hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Let’s start by saying that you cannot please everybody. |I came here with my family, and we booked two rooms, one for the kids and the loft-style one for the wife and me. This review is based on this experience. I am not sponsored nor incentivized by the hotel. |Although there were some outside parking spots, I chose to go underneath the hotel out of sheer curiosity. I’ve enjoyed that quite a bit. I could send the kids to the parking house if they forgot a jacket, or headphones inside the car.| |There are three major highlights of this place: the first is the view. The hotel faces a mountain wall where you can see the morning sun stretch itself all over it. You can see the town sprawled right at the base of this enormous mountain wall. This is an objective way to review where you are in life and make you think of things bigger than yourself. If you are not into that kind of thing, I can understand. ||The second is the layout of the hotel. Bear with me on this one, seeing that I am not an architect but a customer. The rooms are not stacked on top of each other like a high-rise. Instead, they are arranged in a fashion where you go to a different department for the pool, then you head to a different department for the parking, and another one for your room. I found it very interesting because navigating inside feels like an adventure. The hotels have at least five elevators. I was baffled to see so many elevators in a hotel in Germany. If walking is not your thing, take the Aufzug. ||Last thing, this one my family enjoyed quite a bit and that is the restaurant. It is a buffet style for the morning and a reservation in the afternoon. The part worth mentioning here is the delivery and seamliness of the crew operating those restaurants (there are two of them). I am not talking about customer service but intent on ensuring you enjoy your time while eating there. A whole bunch of young people are well-trained in what they do. ||Of course, some honorable mentions are the pool, the sauna (three styles), the gym, the EV parking, the lake behind the hotel, the hiking path behind the hotel, the game room at the lobby, the dress code, the bar, and lastly the undeniable peace and quiet. I am fortunate to be able to stay there with my family. Nevertheless, we all know there are things in life one simply cannot...

My family and I have been coming to The Riessersee Hotel for about 30 Years, way back when it was a Marriott property. We immediately, we fell in love with the hotel and the See Restaurant next to the lake and with a view of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest Alpine mountain. The entire property was simply astounding for its view, its quality, its staff. But a few years after coming from the USA, and after Marriott dropped out, we began to notice to notice a dramatic decline in management and overall quality. Staff changed on an almost daily basis, things did not work. Nevertheless, we continued to come for a week or so, why, I can't explain. After not traveling for 2020 because of Covid, I came back to the Riessersee Hotel in 2021 and was, quite frankly, astounded how a new management company had transformed the hotel and See Restaurant into an overwhelmingly competent resort. Everything has been brought up to five star quality: staff, rooms, dining, cleanliness, and on and on. I simply could not believe how they had brought virtually every element in a resort to amazing perfection. If you think I'm just blowing hot air into a balloon, you're quite mistaken. I own a car rental company for North Americans touring Europe. If I mislead my customers, then I lose their faith. 2022 bring The Passion Spiel to Oberammergau, just 30 minutes away, Linderhoff Palace and Ettal are even closer. The jewel of Germany, Schloss Neuschwanstein is about 45-60 minutes away. And it's no accident that the US Military built their premier resort for military families less than a mile from The Riessersee Hotel. Oops. I almost forget the fact that the town of Mittenwald is 25 minutes from The Riessersee. It is one of the most beautilful Alpine towns in Europe with an Alt Stadt (Old City) that will knock...

The first twin room we got had very strong moldy and doggy smell but the staff was very helpful and changed our room. However we couldn’t get a higher floor and instead got double room on the ground floor and bathtub was clogged so it took very long time after shower for the water to drain. It took some time to get this sorted out because we were initially given an upgrade to a bigger room but then were told there was some mistakes and had to go back to reception and get another room. Luckily we were still at the elevator and didn’t need to move our stuff twice. Room’s sound proof could have been better.

Dogs are super welcome at this hotel and they provide blanket, water and food bowls and poop bags. Poop bag stations are everywhere around the hotel and also on the trails. Everyone is super friendly and helpful at the hotel. Breakfast is exceptional! A lot of options and fresh fruits. Dogs are not allowed in the breakfast buffet area but you can take your food and go to the other area to sit with your dog or simply leave the dog in the room. They allow that too, which is very thoughtful unlike some other hotels that do not allow dogs staying alone in the room. Parking can be a problem if you don’t want to pay for underground parking especially when you come back late as free outdoor parking is limited during peak season. Riessersee lake is literally next to the hotel and with great view and great hiking trails for morning walk. It also has interesting history of the Winter Olympics. Location is superb if you have a car. Very quiet and away from city up in the mountain and in the nature, but only 5 min drive to go to Garmisch city center. We will definitely...