Hotel Elephant Weimar, Autograph Collection — Hotel in Weimar

BACKGROUND:

The stay took place as part of a tour of Germany. The Elephant Hotel in Weimar was one of the "better" and "more expensive" hotels on the trip. Accordingly, the expectations were high.

We are Marriott bonvoy members. Unfortunately, we had bad experiences at other hotels in the group on the trip in terms of recognition as a status guest. We would have also very much liked to upgrade to Suites, which unfortunately is not possible at this hotel. Therefore, we contacted the hotel a few days before our arrival and informed them about this issue. We were answered that they would note an upgrade to a Junior Suite AFTER AVAILABILITY.

THE LOCATION: The house is centrally located on the market square. It probably doesn't get any better than that.

THE HOTEL: We had imagined the hotel to be much smaller. What looks so cute from the street stretches far back into many hallways and rooms.

The house is nicely renovated. However, the spark could not jump with us. There is something about the hotel that we didn't like. But we can't say what. Maybe the lighting? We found this to be consistently poor and not well done. More on that in a moment.

THE STAFF: The staff was friendly. Period. There is nothing more to say. Neither shined nor is there anything negative to report.

THE GYM AND SAUNA: Are both a joke! The gym consists of two small rooms with low ceilings and less than a handful of machines. We could not look at the sauna, it was closed. For a hotel with this claim absolutely not sufficient!

BREAKFAST: The presentation is a bit disjointed, this is due to the space. There is a good selection, although it is not outstanding. Unfortunately, the buffet is replenished very hesitantly. What good are X types of milk when almost all the bottles are empty? Egg dishes can be ordered from a card at the table. At first, one wonders why the Egg Benedict costs 7 euros extra? All ingredients are available separately, only in a different form also at the buffet, or also in the menu. Or is the Hollandaise sauce mixed with gold dust?

The service at breakfast was simply bad. Or let's call it "selectively friendly". Example: guests at the neighboring table (only 1 meter away from us) arrived at the same time. After a few moments, an employee came and asked if coffee was desired. A few moments later, another one with the same question. Nobody asked us the whole time. So it is a matter of luck whether you can order an egg dish or not. It's also not very nice to sit next to a dirty table from which the guests got up a quarter of an hour ago. All of this is rather reminiscent of a low budget hotel.

THE ROOM: Of course, nothing came of our upgrade to a junior suite. Instead, we were upgraded to a Deluxe room on the top floor with a slope and a view of the parking lot. It is clear to us that one has no right to an upgrade, certainly not to a junior suite. But then you should not as a hotel a few days before the stay, so when a trend of hotel occupancy is already apparent, explicitly hold out the prospect of one! Unfortunately, this was also not addressed with a word at check-in.

There was a "nice" 0815 letter from the GM in the room. As in almost every hotel nowadays. Nothing else. Honestly, and this only between the GM and us as a small tip: We would have been very happy about a small "Sorry, did not work out" on the room. So we were always brooding, in our garret.

The room was otherwise clean and in good condition. The furnishings were, let's call it, unmotivated. Closets like you would find in a low budget hotel. A bed that was very comfortable. A desk with a chair, an armchair and a lamp. On top of that, an (empty) minibar and a coffee maker that we couldn't get to work and don't know how it should have been used to make the tea bags that were ready.

And: the lighting in the room was absolutely insufficient. Even if you turned up all the lights, it was still too dark in the evening. Sit around the armchair and read? Not possible, no light! At the desk? No light! And also only one bedside lamp on...

We stayed here for one night during our drive around this particular area of the former GDR. The hotel fronts the Market square, but we entered into the parking lot which is around the corner on the north side of the hotel. Check in was very quick, the clerk spoke excellent English and was very friendly and pleasant. Due to our SGP platinum status, we were upgraded to a suite at the back of the hotel - # 218 (thank you very much). It was very nice, clean and spacious. The Art Deco or Bauhaus style may appeal to some people more than others. However, upon entry, the room was very stuffy and warm. I asked our accompanying staff member about the A/C. Here was my big surprise - she said that there was no air conditioning, but that she would immediately go get a fan. I was a little shocked, as I had briefly checked out the hotel before booking. Since it is a member of the luxury group and in it's own web site states: " Naturally all rooms incorporate modern technology, such as cable TV, pay-per-view channels, and ISDN connections. Most of the rooms also feature access to our wireless LAN." I assumed it had A/C. I just did not do enough research to find out that there is NO AIR CONDITIONING. We have stayed at Historic boutique hotels (Venice and Istanbul among many others) whose architecture or cost of incorporating central A/C is prohibitive - but they have wonderful, modern, very powerful, self contained units (the likes of which I have never seen in the US) mounted over the doors or in the upper wall corners --- or have a great portable A/C unit (like in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia) that would have been a blessing to have here. Anyhow, we left the windows open and it eventually got down to a tolerable temperature. Other positives - (1) The hotel is in a wonderful location that fronts the market square. From other reviews, it seems that the rooms that face the square have a great view, especially in the Christmas season, but can also be quite noisy. (2) as SPG platinum, we received a complimentary buffet breakfast - thank you again! (3) Very comfortable bed (4) At night, quiet and peaceful in our room (5) Self parking lot very convenient and was 15 euros ( which is below average for what we were charged on our trip for hotel parking). (6) I enjoyed the historic tradition and ambiance of the hotel while some people may think certain aspects are a little outdated. Besides the lack of air conditioning, I thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. However, I would not return in the summer or at any other time when there are expected high temperatures until they have some sort of air conditioning available. I remember many years ago, on our trips to Europe, many of the hotels only had A/C available in some rooms, which also were more expensive to book. You had to make certain that you got one of those rooms if you wanted A/C - and sometimes there was even an extra surcharge for the extra electricity used in those rooms with A/C. I would have gladly paid that for a portable A/C unit at the Elephant this time! But I would return at...

Goethe, Schiller, Bauhaus – you name it! ||Weimar is unique in the history of Germany, unfortunately also for the down sides of it, like Nazis and the SED-Regime.||However, Elephant Hotel has seen it all, which you can feel in every corner of this stylish and completely renovated 5 star hotel in cosy Weimar.||The interior and decoration speaks for itself. ||No need to hide behind Hotel Adlon in Berlin for example.||All colours, paintings, garden, lobby, well chosen, could not ask for more.||Have to check selective dates, as the hotel offers bargain prices sometimes you will not find in other 5 star hotels in Germany.||Breakfast buffet in the Michelin-Star decorated garden restaurant ANNA was outstanding!||Thanks to Anna Amalia, as she prepared the ground for everything Weimar now is!||Again, coming from Frankfurt, we have not been in such a nice and clean environment for the last years in Germany.||So what to complain about?||Well – you can question the standard room size, but again, for a bargain price in this historic spot you cannot really complain!||The only thing which was a bit annoying, and this is not only applicable for Elephant, but still seems to be an East Germany problem generally, is the service mentality.||If you want to experience it – visit this ice cream cafe on Weimarer Marktplatz :-)||In terms of Elephant it was more the confusing mini-bar approach.||We found a brochure in our room outlining fantastic mini-bar offers (mini-bar was empty by the way).||So we decided to benefit from the offer, of course!||Again due to the actual mini-bar was empty, we called the missing bottle via reception/ room service and found out it was nearly the double price than displayed on the flyer in our room.||However we found a solution next day with the receptionist – so again, no worries – but it leaves a minor negative aspect, to the overwhelming, overall Weimar/ Elephant experience.||Don‘t be afraid – We come back for Xmas market, this year :-) ||If Weimar, go...