smallfrye

I have spent hours planning a Germany, Switzerland, Salzburg trip and I'm stuck. I still need to book one night's accommodation. Everything else is done! Thanks to information on this website, I feel like we have a really good itinerary, although maybe too aggressive. Look for my trip report in September and we'll let you know how much of it we accomplished.

We would like to stay in a castle hotel somewhere in the Koln - Koblenz area. I have looked at several that look intriguing but either they are not available or they don't have family rooms. We are a family of four (children 4 and 6) and our budget will be in the neighborhood of 200 Euros. This will be the last night of our vacation, September 1st.

One the 1st we will doing Berg Eltz and the Nurburgring, on the 2nd we will be doing Castle Augustusburg and Falkenlust near Bruhl. So we would like to be within an hour or so of either one of those locations.

Any suggestions / personal experiences? If the description on the internet says max 2 people in the room, does that count the children too?

quokka

Most hotels offer adding an extra bed for small children to a double room. Since you'll need two, this may be more difficult.
Contact the hotels that look intriguing to you and ask them directly, no matter what their websites say. Phone them. I'm sure they'll be able to offer a solution.

Another option: If you're happy with plain accommodation, check out the youth hostels, which offer family rooms. There is one inside the fortress at Koblenz, another in the castle at Bacharach.

Russ

Castle-hostels - great idea. Kids enjoy seeing other kids, which they can do in such places.

My family of three stayed in the Diez castle-hostel last year - unlike many castles it was easy to reach on foot from town (right in the middle, really) and newly renovated, with comfortable rooms and beds, ensuite bath facilities, very very sharp; castle is imposing from the exterior - see pic.

http://web3.h595781.serverkompetenz....1&client=1

smallfrye

Thanks much. I have requested availability at a few castle hostels, including Diez. I am awaiting their reply with fingers crossed. I work at Marriott so, normally when we travel, we stay at their hotels. This trip I was hoping to do something different, including splurging on a couple of castle hotels.

We do have a variety of types of accommodations booked. To cover our 12 nights we have a pension, a small family-run hotel, a Renaissance (yes, a Marriott brand), a castle hotel, an overnight ferry (not looking forward to that) and a Marriott. I was hoping for a luxurious castle hotel on our final night but due to my late booking requests it looks like it's either going to be a hostel or military accommodations. One day I'll learn to start planning my trips earlier.

When we get back I'll post a trip report. Thanks again.

Bob_KY

We stayed in a castle hotel in Kaub, 45KM from Koblenz.
http://myweb.cableone.net/rradliff/g...gutenfels.html

As this reviewer says, not a 4 star, but your kids would love it I think. The room I stayed in could have easily slept 6.

smallfrye

Thanks Bob_KY. The pictures on your link and pictures on the www.rhinecastles.com website look beautiful. Unfortunately, Burg Gutenfels was sold at the end of 2006 and no longer operates as a hotel.

Bob_KY

I had no idea it was sold, that's interesting. It was sort of a strange place, you really felt like you had gone back in time. There was almost no staff around ,except the lady at the front desk who accused my brother of stealing a post card (yes, we're paying 200 euros for a room, but we will steal a 20 cent postcard). It did have beautiful views of the Rhine. I hope you can find a similar place.