Bavarian Inn, Resort and Brewing Company — Restaurant in Shepherdstown

My husband and I stayed at the Bavarian Inn for two nights in a Manor View Standard Room for a celebratory weekend. We had a wonderful time. We love the location and the architecture of the buildings. We are younger millennials so thought this review would be helpful for younger couples.

THE ROOM: We were a little disappointed when we first entered our room because we had seen some photos online of the room which seemed to have more of the traditional old world charm to them. We asked reception about it and learned that all the rooms were remodeled a few years ago. The rooms are really clean and smell really fresh. We loved the bed and the shower. The rooms have a generic modern look now and don't really scream "Germany" as we had hoped. However we had a great night sleep and appreciate the cleanliness. I know in some older reviews people complained about the rooms feeling outdated before. I think there is a way to still incorporate the German old world charm while still making updates and changes. Disney has found a way to make modern rooms that still hold onto the charm of the cultures they are inspired by. Message to the Inn: We love the room but recommend having up to date photos on your website with each room type in a way that is easy for all visitors to access.

THE RESTAURANT: We enjoyed two dinners, a breakfast and a grab and go breakfast. Overall the food was very tasty and filling. It is not overly spiced, not greasy, and not overly rich. We are pretty sure we saw the owners working the restaurant themselves, which was nice to see!

Dinner 1: We were recommended to make a reservation if we wanted dinner when we checked in at 4:00 PM so we made ours for 7:00 PM in the Potomac room. We were brought to our table by the window and LOVED the calm pretty instrumental music, the lovely windows, the warm soft lighting, the uniforms of the staff and the elegance of the room. There was a slight chill from the window but not enough to overthink it. I recommend reading through the menu beforehand and googling any terms you do not understand so that you have a better understanding of what you are going to order. RATINGS OF OUR ORDER: Appetizer: A Beer flight 4/5, Bavarian Pretzel Stuffed with Crab 3.5/5, Garden Salad 4.5/5 Jaegerschnitzel 3/5, the Cider Braised Pork Shank 4.5/5 and the Black Forest Cake 4/5. The waiter was really nice, he was really busy with multiple tables but did his best to make sure all of our needs were met 5/5.

Breakfast 1: We were surprised to see that we were the only people in the restaurant. It was nice to have the place to ourselves. We were seated at a table by the window and got to experienced a GORGEAUS sunrise making its appearance above the hotel and mountains. My husband and I both ordered omelets with pan fried potato. The omelet was slightly smaller than I expected but was still filling and tasty. RATINGS OF OUR ORDER: Coffee 5/5, Chesapeake Omelet 5/5, Veggie Omelet 3/5.

Dinner 2: We were seated by the fireplace this time, which my husband was hoping for. RATINGS OF OUR ORDER: Bavarian Brothers’ Smash Burger with fries 4.5/5. Caesar salad 4/5, Apple strudel 2.5/5 (a little dry for my taste and the burrito crust wrap is a little excessive but still tasty). The waitress was exceptional.

Breakfast 2: The restaurant is closed on Mondays & Tuesdays until February but they had a nice grab & go meal for guests which had a variety of fruits, pastries, coffee, juice, yogurt and quiches. RATING: 3.5/5

PARKING: The parking is okay, its a little confusing when you first come in but its nice that they have designated areas according to where your room is located.

WEBSITE: Has most of the information you need for your stay. There are a lot of broken links so I would recommend the Inn ask their web designer to fix those. There could be more photos of the rooms and even of the food for visual people like myself. Making a reservation is fairly straightforward, but could be updated.

Overall I recommend a stay here. Its unique, close to a cute small town and close to...

Recent trip- final trip, our last visit was less than positive. Splurged and upgraded the room for this trip. I was not impressed other than the reserved parking. This is a value as you usually cannot find parking during certain hours. Rediculous. Should have spaces set aside for each unit. We also upgraded the room as the shower during previous stays was so small it was challenging for my 6 ft tall husband to shower within. We also wanted the reserved parking for reasons mentioned above. The pool was lovely, however, we were celebrating a couples weekend and the screaming children was not part of the deal for this particular trip. Doesn;t set a romantic tone. Additionally, it was quite busy. Cannot really partake and ironically never had prior as the pool was under renovation and other reasons. And unless you arrive early and stake your claim you're not finding a space. No matter what time of day/eve. Especially by the infiniti end of the pool. The rooms were also not the cleanest. We requested service when departing for the day along with additional towels, as there were only 2 in the room for 2 people. (Yes, women need more than 1 towel). We were gone all day and found upon our return that this never happened. We immediately advised of the issue and although they brought the towels over right away, there should have been no need. And I also could have just taken the towels with me as I walked back to the room at this point. The AC was not then best and it struggled to cool the room as well as reduce the humidity. So therefore the entire place to include the restaurant and gift shop have that musty smell. Part of the authentic charm? Agreed the idea of the area and the views are lovely. But the spider webs all over the balcony and near the door was quite unpleasant. We ordered food upon our arrival after settling in from the bar. The service was ok. But had to request refills of beverages and the mixed drink that I ordered was the worst I have ever had. Appetizer was a crab pretzel. Large pretzel with a blob of a cheese mixture and crabmeat sprinkled atop. Sandwiches we over cooked. Where is Gordon Ramsey when you need him? My opinion, should have never made it out the kitchen. Edible, ok. Good, not very. Bread basket while we waited with smidges of butter squirted in shape of flower. Cute? However, such a min amount, so we requested more then gave up. To my knowledge, there is no butter shortage and for the prices, they can fill you full of bread and butter. Went to Outback the next day and that meal was much better quality. And wait, butter for the bread. A heaping tub of it. Yes, I could have sent it back. Asked for the manager. But shouldnt have to. These posts of "AAA Four Diamond Rating: The Bavarian Inn consistently receives high ratings from AAA for its quality and service." & Wedding Wire, are from 2018 if I am not mistaken. Regardless, I do not see this as a current status. Absolutely judge for yourself. This is only my opinion and it was such that it needed to be shared. Very disappointed and will not be returining. Hopefully my posted opinions will help future patrons have a much...

Our 3rd anniversary spent in the Royal Suite at the Bavarian Inn may have been, at one time, a luxurious and comfortable stay but the lack of maintenance and an extremely lazy janitorial/maid service made the experience bad.

Good news: The food in the restaurant was great, and our server (Autumn A) was very pleasant, courteous, and attentive. The food was hot, and coffee was fresh. (And I am not really a coffee fan but had 6 cups!) The scenery on the property and surrounding areas were picturesque, and the people genuinely nice and greeted you when ever you walked by.

Bad news: We wanted to make our anniversary occasion special and thus reserved the Royal Suite and pre-ordered a wine and cheese plate. However, instead of being brought fresh to our room upon arrival, it was instead put in the room at the check in-time of 4pm (we did not arrive until 7pm.) Needless to say, the ice in the bucket melted and the wine was not chilled anymore plus the cheese plate had molded fruit on it! We called for another plate, and it came with different cheese that was staunch in odor and smelled up the room.

The cleaning and maintenance staff needs to be reprimanded! First, for cleaning: 1) The tables were not cleaned. There were spots/splashes visible that when I wiped them with a hand towel and water, the spots came right up. This shows they didn't even bother to wipe them down, much less disinfect the room. 2) The shower was not cleaned AT ALL and still had soap WITH HAIR from the last guest in the dish! The shower floor had clear residue from the last person to take a shower as well as their hair. The shower door clearly shows residual splashes from someone taking a shower and leaving dirty, soapy deposits on the glass door. The floor in the bathroom also had someone elses hair. Our personal balcony had a glass tabletop and two chairs which CLEARLY had someones smeared fingerprints all over them. The last to mention, even though there is more, is the windows overlooking the Potomac River had flies that were smashed on them and NOT WIPED OFF from the INSIDE! THIS IS JUST GROSS, FLAT OUT.

As far as the maintenance of the room... The bed was not on legs! The frame, box springs, and mattress were on the FLOOR. This is the Royal Suite?! My wife has knee issues, and it was difficult to get in and out of a bed that was literally on the floor! The 2 chairs that were in the room were beat up so badly they could not be sat in. While one sank in the middle clearly broken, the other was in need of repair, and we didn't want to risk sitting in it. The desk scraped my hand as I accidentally brushed past it because it was literally falling apart on the corners with sharp trim from the desk protruding out from the edges. (Something that could easily be fixed with a quick trip to Home Depot was just simply neglected.) Luckily, I did not injure myself.

To have ordered the Royal Suite with all attributes for $800+ and been given this, and it was their 2nd best available room, was ridiculous. Thanks for a memorable...