I've completed my first stay here and I have to admit it was quite underwhelming.

We arrived late and I was hoping to grab a bite at Elephantenkeller, but the waiter told me the kitchen was closed even though it wasn't even 21:30 yet (the restaurant is open until 23h).

We got upgraded from Classic Room to Grand Deluxe Room, but frankly, there really isn't much about the room that I'd deem "grand deluxe", not even if it were a Four Points, let alone a Luxury Collection property. It was a bit roomier than standard rooms and that was it. No walk-in shower, no coffee machine, and a horribly old, heavy hairdryer. To make things worse, the carpeting was in a dreadful state, stained and worn throughout.

Service was hit-and-miss as well - the staff was very pleasant in all interactions, but housekeeping never bothered to replace either the complimentary water bottles or the bathrobes.

I sent an e-mail to the hotel giving them bona-fide feedback, but it took them almost a week to respond, and the response I got from the GM's assistant was the most formulaic I have ever received - standard cut-and-paste (I could tell by the different fonts!) coupled with very awkward original content, such as "I'm happy that you enjoyed your stay"(?) and "I'm sorry that we failed to satisfy your high standards" (???), ending with "many thanks for your remarks" and leaving it at that.

All in all, the location is brilliant, but the hotel owes its Luxury Collection branding to its historical importance rather than product and service standards. Not that there's much choice in Weimar for SPG loyalists, but for the price they normally charge, I think I'd skip it for a traditional German Gasthof.