Hotel & Restaurant Alpenstuben — Hotel in Schwangau

I recently visited Alpenstuben restaurant with my family on a tour, expecting the fast and kind service we had heard about. Unfortunately, our experience was upsetting and confusing: something we didn’t expect from a restaurant in a popular tourist destination.

Service
An older Caucasian waiter with glasses on a string directed us to a table in full sun. When my daughter politely asked for a different empty table to avoid the heat, he seemed annoyed. He allowed it, but then dropped the menus onto the table in a way that felt dismissive and unwelcoming. Drinks
Within about three minutes of sitting down, the waiter came to take drink orders. When told we needed more time, he remained standing over us, repeating the question in English - as if we didn’t understand. I ordered a beer to give the others time, but when they decided not to order, his condescending reply- “No drinks? Just one beer?” - made it seem as if each person was required to order something.

To make matters worse, the beer arrived warm and was unpleasant - the last thing that German beer was described as.

Food I’m not a food critic, but the food was bland, cold, and nearly inedible. I can see the chief’s clear attempt to salvage this by adding olive oil, cheese, and salt: but it still tasted like cold play-dough.

Tipping After the meal, the waiter repeatedly asked for a tip while withholding my change. I said “no tip” several times, but he continued until I gave in under time pressure. I later learned that tipping in Germany is customary but not compulsory : generally 5–10% for good service, and not at all if the service is poor. Being pressured for a tip felt disrespectful and unnecessary.

I also noticed him treating other international guests with the same dismissive manner.

Reading other google reviews on this waiter/ restaurant, claiming someone “can’t be racist” because they aren’t German is false - anyone can treat others unfairly and evoke feelings of racism, regardless of nationality.

Great things about the restaurant
The restroom was very clean, spacious, and free to use for paying customers.

The location was perfect - close to the carriage pick up point and nearby souvenirs stores.

Suggestions for Management Staff Training - Encourage patience and cultural awareness, especially when serving international guests unfamiliar with local customs. Clear Tipping Policy - Include a short note on the menu or bill that tipping is voluntary, with a guideline (e.g., “5–10% if satisfied”). This prevents confusion and avoids guests feeling pressured. Drinks Ordering Process - Let guests read the drinks menu first and make it clear when you’ll return. A simple “I’ll be back in a few minutes for your drink order” would make customers feel respected rather than rushed.

Given Alpenstuben’s multicultural environment, staff should approach international visitors with understanding, not impatience or defensiveness.

I hope this feedback helps both the restaurant and...

We stayed 2 nights (double room with balcony) from 3 April to 4 April 2017 (off-peak season).

Overall: 3.5/5 – Decent hotel option in Hohenschwangau but do manage your expectation as you are in the country-side. Hotel Alpenstuben is basically an odd-mix of an indoor-restaurant, 2 souvenir shops, 2 food-stands and a small outdoor beer garden on the ground floor and 2 floors of hotel on top.

Cleanliness: 5/5 – Very clean room, WC/bathroom and open-air balcony! Well done!

Accessibility: 3.5/5 - 3 minute up-hill walk from main bus stop of Hohenschwangau, though you need to take a 7-10 minute bus ride from Füssen train station (~ EUR5 for 2 adults). Major drawback: Hotel Alpenstuben does not offer Schwangau card, which give guests free bus rides in Schwangau region, including Hohenschwangau where Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles are located. So you need to pay for costly bus rides to Füssen and nearby sights like Tegelbergbahn (cable car), Forgensee (lake cruise) etc, when walking is not an option for elderly or young children. We will rent a car in our next visit.

Comfort: 3/5 – Decent-size room with open-air balcony but WC/bathroom is tiny (literally a “standing shower-box”); small cupboard, few storage area or places to hang stuff; complimentary small bed for our son (danke schön!) Good view of Neuschwanstein castle from the balcony; NO elevators, so good luck with bulky luggage in this 3 storey hotel! Good Wifi but limited to 100MB per room (which we used up pretty quickly by morning of 2nd day).

Food: 3/5 – Breakfast buffet included; reasonable variety and quality; asked nicely for hot chocolate. Complimentary bottle of water in the room (danke schön!).

Hospitality: 3/5 – English-speaking owner/staff are mostly friendly before and during our stay. Major drawback: nobody answers reception phone after cleaning ladies get off work around 4-5pm, so need to call restaurant for help (e.g., need to go down to ground floor to personally pick up extra towers etc)

Ambience: 3/5 – Reception area is pretty small and accessible either through restaurant or back-entrance (passing through the beer garden and storage area). Restaurant and room are cosy, looks like a typically German country-side taverns/hotel. Could be noisy during the day with passing tourists or restaurant guest but not an issue for us as we are mostly out. No horse-poo smell, which affects nearby Hotel Müller...

We enjoyed our 2-night stay at Hotel Alpenstube. Briefly, the location is excellent, staff friendly, good breakfast buffet, convenient in-house restaurant, the rooms clean and comfortable and we enjoyed great views of Schloss Neuschwanstein from our balcony. Assigned parking space just across the street.||There was convenient parking in a lot across the street. We informed the attendant that we were staying at the Alpenstube and made sure to place the parking stub easily visible.||Upon entry we entered into the restaurant and Tthe reception was at the kitchen/bar across the dining room. Check-in was efficient, the staff friendly. We had a corner room facing east with a fantastic view of Schloss Neuschwanstein. The room was clean and our bed comfortable; we slept very well after days spent hiking around the area. Fortunately Hohenschwangau is quiet in the evening - in the fall, at least - after all the day-trippers have left. The breakfast buffet had a good selection of food, more than enough variety for 2 mornings. ||We had no issue getting a table for dinner though the restaurant was quite full on the 2nd evening.||We had bought the timed-entry tickets for Schloss Neuschwanstein ahead of time but the official ticket office was a short walk down the road in front of the hotel, turning right along Alpseestrasse. ||If you keep going past the ticket office you will be at the eponymous Lake Alpsee (nice stroll around the lake) as well close to the original Schwanstein castle now known as Schloss Hohenschwangau, a vision of yellow on a hill overlooking both lake and village.||Schloss Neuschwanstein (“New” Schwanstein) can be accessed on foot from Hotel Alpenstube; the trailhead to steep hike up the hillside is directly across the street, just one of many routes that take you to the feeder road of Neuschwansteinstrasse leading to the gates...