Nuremberg and hotel reservation services
 

Does anyone have experience with using sites such as Venere.com or Booking.com etc. These sites quote low rates and when I go to the hotel sites, they are not always comparable.
We would like a decent hotel in Nuremberg for no more than $100 per night. I need two double rooms. Guest houses out of city limits would be okay, but I am hard pressed to find sites for B&Bs or Inns for that area.

Use the booking system of Nürnberg tourist office, which will give you a much wider choice of hotels, b&b's etc.: http://tourismus.nuernberg.de/v04/pu...p;IDS=T2YuL6ed

Less that $100 nightly? That's going to be difficult but not impossible.

Try Hotel Pillhofer, just inside the walled city about a minute from the trainstation. Search Fodor's for "yk" and read his review in his trip report to that area.

MvK

No experience with those, but if you're absolutely sure of the trip and the dates, you might want to try hotel.de
Their prices are usually very good, but you pay on booking, and I'm pretty sure there is a no cancelation policy. Read the policy carefully before you complete the booking.

I've used hotels.de and in most cases, have not had to pay when booking. A credit card number is needed to guarantee the room, but in most cases it's not charged (for some ultra cheap rates, they do tell you that you will be charged in advance).
Will you have a car? And what dates do you have in mind?
For central Nberg, yk's suggestion of the Hotel Pillhofer seems the best option.
In the countryside near Nberg, we've stayed at zum Alten Forsthaus, a 700 year old stone inn that has been tastefully modernized. Attractive doubles with breakfast are about 75€ per night (great bathrooms, one even has a jacuzzi). It's used mostly by locals to put up friends and family visiting from out of town. Kalchreuth is a pretty, quiet village with a few nice restaurants and cafes. Has a great village fest in August that is a lot of fun.
http://www.landgasthof-meisel.de/501...9103/index.php

By the way, the family that run the inn are also the town's butcher, so if you or any in your party are vegetarian, this is NOT the choice for you...the main entrance to the breakfast area is through the butcher shop. Also note, they don't speak much English, but will be very encouraging of your German attempts.
The village beerfest this year is August 9-14, I think.

Thanks you all for the prompt feedback. I had looked at the Pillhofer per the recommendations but it appears that it is 5 floors and no elevator. (?) As my elderly parents will be with us, we cannot even consider having to climb more than one flight of stairs. Is anyone familiar with Arthotel City. They have quoted me a very good rate. 62 Euros a night with free parking- not including breakfast.http://www.arthotel-city.de/

We stayed at the Romantik Hotel am Josephsplatz in old town last summer. The rate was 90 euro/night - so over your $100 max, but not by far. And they have an elevator. Parking may be an issue - we didn't have a car, so I don't know what sort of facilities they have. Breakfast was included and the location was very central.

Many Nuremberg hotels are expensive and are booked far in advance. You might consider staying in Bamberg, Coberg, or Bayreuth and then commuting into Nuremberg. Each of those cities has its own charm.

My wife and I stayed at the Albrecht Duerer Hotel Garni (http://www.albrecht-duerer-hotel.de/index.htm) in 2002 and found it to be decent. It wasn't anything special, but was adequate for a place to stay for a couple of nights. (It's a "typcial" small German hotel.) They're currently listing rates at EUR 68 for a double.

Paul

The Bamberg suggestion is also good.

One of the things we liked about Kalchreuth was that crime was practically nonexistent. Walk through town during the day and you will see many houses with the keys in the OUTSIDE of the door...their houses are never locked during the day and they keep the keys on the outside as a reminder to take them with them if they're going somewhere.
Someone I knew living there said they locked their door only when they were going away on holiday.

I stayed at Gasthof Pillhofer - but as you've already found out, it has no elevator.

There are 2 hotels right next door, a "Hotel Victoria" and also IBIS. Don't know about the elevator situation on either one, but worth investigating.

You can also check out the Nuremberg tourism website - it has a hotel booking function.