FD1971

Had a stay at the Elephant earlier this week. Upgraded to Junior Suite overlooking the famous Markt.

Porcelain elephant as special gift still available.

Still one of the most beautiful hotel staircases around, do not take the elevator, although it is also a beautiful piece of Art Deco

In typical Arabella fashion, nothing else to write home about aside from standard upgrade and standard Platinum amenity, but at least in Weimar that is easy to swollow, if you walk by the Nationaltheater or Hoffmann's Buchhandlung founded in 1710 not to mention art work by Le Corbusier.

Breakfast buffet still very nice with regional specialities and very attentive and classy service. Eggs made to order as usual in addition to the buffet.

Anna Amalia Michelin star rated restaurant is open, 4 courses starting at Euro 59, but you can also order from the menu starting in the 20's

chad75

Had a four night stay here a couple of weeks ago. Obviously Starwood has a branding problem with the "luxury collection" range and need a "historic" or "classic" range.

Weimar is fairly compact - but still the location is superb. Under 7 euro taxi from the station. If you really wanted to you could take a bus to goetheplatz and walk - but to save 5 euro not really worth it. Luggage free you could also just walk down from the station (30-40 mins strolling).

Booked the cheapest room which was barely over 70 euro, and requested a view over the Markt. Was upgraded to a junior suite (room 328) with my view request. Basically two floors directly above the balcony.

The hotel really excels on taking advantage of its history - the public areas are just magnificent - agree that you should really take the stairs. Also the staff are great - the handing in the key thing is a chore - and I often didn't bother so I apologise to them for that.

The room itself was very average with a sort of bauhaus take on art deco but I wasn't really feeling it. I liked the cabinets and the sink vanity but otherwise fairly underwhelmed. Had a king bed which was two twins very poorly pushed together with a sizeable gap. The tiny sized CRT TV is not only useless but detracts from the entire room - they should take a risk and have it removed from some rooms - I would happily take a room without it.

Also had a problem getting my room warm - so basically constantly tinkered with the radiators which was annoying. Finally the internet was useless - so ended up paying to use the t-mobile hotspot instead.

Don't get the impression that this is a bad hotel - it isn't, it just has fairly basic rooms. Frankly they could give me a bunk bed and a shower down the hall and I'd still like it - it really is that charming.

I get the impression Weimar (and Thüringen) don't get that many non German visitors and those sneaky Germans want to keep it to themselves - but honestly just go - it is a great part of Germany.

The Anna Amalia Restaurant was closed during my stay.


Photo set

Forstbetrieb

All rooms have now new tv's^

jaejaez

Thanks for the great review!

Forstbetrieb

WiFi is now available in all rooms. Seems to be for free ( at least in my room ).

And the are working on a renovation concept.

Forstbetrieb

New instant award list, called Instand Awards Souvenir:

Porcelain Elephant 1000 Starpoints
" Elephant " Tie available in red und blue 4125 Starpoints
Polo Shirt available in various colours and sizes 3500 Starpoints
4 " ONE FOR ALL " Wine Glasses 3750 Starpoints
Base Cap 1375 Starpoints
Kids Base Cap 750 Starpoints


BTW: The " MUSTERZIMMER " is ready. ^^^

Hartmann

I am looking at staying here with my wife in December (visiting the Erfurt Christmas Market). How hard is this hotel to reach from the train station? It looks like a little bit of a walk and I don't want to slog through the snow if they happen to get bad weather.

It looks like a small train station, is it easy to grab a cab?

FD1971

Weimar as a train stop is undergoing some changes, but they still have hourly service from Leipzig and Frankfurt and roughly 2-3 additional trains going/coming from Erfurt resulting in the fact that there are on average 5-10cabs waiting directly in front of the station, even for the late trains arriving around mid-night.

If you walk, you go down Carl August Allee, which is relatively steep, so under cold and icy conditions with some cobble stones to come at the end of the alley, maybe not the safest walk, but still very scenic with mansions on the side and the Buchenwald Platz and Lenin memorial. In summer, it is a very nice walk, at least down the hill, the alley is lined by old trees providing lots of shade.

A cab should cost you around 8 Euro, takes 6 or 7 minutes and is the way to go in winter, in summer without any suitcases one should walk, will take 20-30 minutes depending on your route and speed.

Aside from that, the renovations are ungoing, the suites are still very nice, breakfast and service in the restaurant is outstanding and the new lunch service provided by their Michelin starred Anna Amalia restaurant turned out be a nice addition as well.

Hartmann

Fantastic information! Thank you very much for posting about the route to and from the train station! ^

skrosvik

Staying here right now, 3 nights, 67 EUR per night...

Getting to Weimar is bit of a trek, but it is totally worth it. What a beautiful and charming city. Arrived to the train station, took a cab from there to the hotel, since the station is a bit outside the main centre. Did cost less than 7 EUR actually.

Was greeted by two lovely ladies upon arrival - really nice and accomodating. As a platinum member I was upgraded to the Lillie Palmer suite (shown on SPG several days in advance).

The suite is kinda old, but it is very well kept. I love the bed with the built-in-radio (sooooo 80s). When entering the room there is a long hall with plenty of storage space. The living room have some chairs and a sofa, a desk and some kind of library with lots of old books. There is also a CD/Cassette player, hahahaha...who bring cd's with them these days? And WTH brings cassette's with them? The living room have three large windows with a view over the hotel garden. It is possible to open these windows The separate bedroom have two twin beds, closets and a tv. The bathroom is divided into two - one cubible for the toilet and the main part with the shower/tub combination.

The common areas of the hotel are well kept. I loved the Elephanten Keller and the bar - nice places to have a bite or a drink. Good atmosphere with lots of people. Seems to be an institution in Weimar with lots of locals visiting the F&B outlets. The prices are reasonable as well. So is the roomservice menu.

The breakfast is very good, served downstairs in the restaurant. A good value compared to the 500 points, especially when staying several nights.

The location is great. Right in the middle of town - on the main square. There is a cosy wintermarket right outside the front door.

The only big minus here is that the hotel does not have it's own gym. They give you a voucher for a gym 7 minutes walking distance from the hotel. I find it strange that they don't even have a small gym in the basement or something....

A very nice hotel. Will definately return. Great location, great room, great staff and very reasonable prices!

TallestHotelInJapan

This is an amazing price! Well done!


Welcome to the DDR

Forstbetrieb

Former GDR / DDR...

skrosvik

Hahaha, thanks! The cd-player came in quite handy actually - as I bought a Hansi Hinterseer complication at Saturn Talking about Saturn, they still sell Walkman and Discman there, so I guess there is still a market for that in Germany.

The built-in-radio in the bed is quite handy as well, hehe...listening to wonderful German music when snoozing into sleep, last night I had Munchener Freiheit, Thomas Anders and Milva in a row before I fell into unconciousness. Then again I do love German pop music.

This hotel does not participate in Starwood's Green Choice programme

adventureadam

There's also bus service from the front of the train station down to the Opera House, then a short walk through the ped zone to the hotel, if 7 euros is too much for a cab

FD1971

Basically, you have three options taking the bus No.5 down from the railway station.

Leaving the bus at Goetheplatz and walk through the ped zone passing the Nationaltheater en route to the Markt with the city hall and Elephant.
At Goetheplatz, you find the fitness center right above the main post office with has a co-operation with the Elephant. It is a 7 minute walk according to Google with some cobblestones.

Getting out at the next station, Gropiusplatz and walk right behind the Nationaltheater and Schillerstrasse to the Markt, 6 minute walk, still some cobblestones.

Leaving the bus at Wielandplatz, walking past Frauenplan to the Markt and Elephant, 4 minute, a lot of cobblestones, 350m. On the Frauenplan, you also find the restaurant ´Zum weissen Schwan´, which is affiliated with the Elephant.

Not sure though, if you get the 20% SPG dining discount, you receive at Elephantenkeller at the Schwan as well.

IIRC, the bus fare is Euro 2.50. Walking though Weimar is comparable to Vienna or Bruges, well worth it, but with a suitcase after arrival, I would still take the cab. Even really good suitcases should offer from the old pavements.

The big downside of the standard suites x18, Lilly Palmer, Graf Kessler and Alfred Ahner is the missing view of the Markt, however the view over the garden and restaurant is nice as well, but better in summer. If you want to leave windows open in summer, there is no airco, the cobblestone street next to the hotel can become pretty noisy, but it is more or less only a service road with limited access.

Breakfast is indeed well worth it, especially the made to order egg dishes, the Egg Benedict with salmon and caviar is splendid. Service is top notch, the staff working in the morning is also working in the restaurant in the evening, so basically you get Michelin 1 star service levels during both seatings. ^

Indeed, a rather big disadvantage. Walking or running though Goethepark, past the summer hourse of Goethe, and up to Schloss Belvedere is an option, roughly 4km one way.