Romantik Hotel Stryckhaus — Hotel in Willingen (Upland)

We chose this hotel as an Anniversary break.||The Romantik chain seems to "do what is says on the tin" well. It sets out to provide luxury relaxing breaks.||The Strykhaus is in Stryk, about 20 mins walk from Willingen||The good side of the break was that the hotel is very calm and peaceful and the food was good. The basic double room we booked was of a very generous size with a lounge area and a small balcony. The location was good for hiking.||The negatives were that there was very little information for those who cannot speak German. I have stayed in hotels in four of the five continents and rarely had this problem. This is a 4* hotel chain after all.||In our case the receptionist was on the telephone as we arrived and kept us waiting for ten minutes before checking us in.||The information on what evening meal options were available was poor. We thought there was only one expensive carte (only in German), when actually there was an excellent buffet option also.||Even the bottle of water in the hotel was chargeable, in contrast to just every other hotel I have stayed at.||The hotel advertised its extensive wellness suite. If we had gone to the hotel for this we would have been very annoyed to find that apart from the pool and sauna, it was closed for re-decoration. This should have been made known...

Following the road signs with the hope that a “Romantik” hotel would be a treat after a run of adequate but unspectacular 3-star accommodation, our anticipation grew as we drove up the winding streets just outside of Willingen, Germany, to the Hotel Stryckhaus. The setting is lovely in a forest, and there are glimpses of the mountainous landscape through the trees. The various receptionists were OK but not great. We did however enjoy sitting outside in the lovely gardens with afternoon coffee and cake.||||Our room was large and quiet but also faded and old; the décor in general of the hotel is from an earlier era. Renovating a hotel is certainly not an inexpensive undertaking, but the Stryckhaus would really benefit from a facelift. ||||The indoor/outdoor pool is nice to paddle around in and early morning tea is available for guests to take at the pool, which however like the rest of the hotel has seen better days. There is also a small sauna area. The underground hall from the main building to the pool area was not very inviting, plus it was confusing to find the actual pool – better signposting would be of great help.||||There is ample free parking and the breakfast consisted of a large, inviting buffet, which we enjoyed. Unfortunately we can’t say that we would return...

We were there with 2 couples from Friday to Sunday. ||The hotel has a large parking lot. However (as there was 30 cm snow) it was rather difficult to reach the reception coming from the parking. ||Very friendly lady at the reception. We booked two standard rooms (in the "Gästehaus" underground connected with a tunnel) but there was a huge difference in the rooms. One had a very nice bath room (renovated ?) and was OK. The other room was outdated. ||We paid however the same price (185 € per night, which is not cheap. ||The beds are of bad quality (mattresses were too short and the pillows too hard. ||The swimming pool is a bit outdated (very dark). In the room there were enough towels and a bathrobe to take along to the wellness. ||The breakfast is very very good. The dinner in the evening (choice between a la carte or buffet) was very good, and the staff was really very friendly. ||The situation of the hotel is more than OK. The ski jump is 5 min, where you can take a little train to the Ettelsberg, where different walks start. ||So all by all it is not a bad hotel, but it needs here and there some investments (rooms, swimming pool....) However I give it a 4 because of its very good breakfast, the kitchen and the friendly staff. Otherwise it...