I just did a one night stay (still here); I had to drive from FRA late Monday to catch a flight out of TXL late Wednesday, after getting my plans screwed up by an Air France flight cancellation, so I figured I'd make the best of it. One-way car rentals within Germany are fairly inexpensive if you pick the right company (National/Enterprise or Hertz), since they don't charge one-way fees within the country.

WOW. I regret not visiting Weimar earlier. Beautifully preserved downtown, as well as great museums to Goethe, Schiller, and the Bauhaus movement, among others. Everything is very walkable. It's definitely better if you have some level of German language knowledge, but fortunately I can read a small amount of German, and I love Goethe.

The hotel itself is in the best location in the city, right off the market square. Apparently it has been a hotel/guest house for hundreds of years, but the current incarnation is more recent (1938), but still classic.

Huge parking area (EUR 15/night); great breakfast. Decent Internet (solid wifi signal; 3x1Mbps bandwidth)

Flawless SPG recognition (I made a reservation around 2200h on Monday; arrived 0900 Tuesday and there was one of the 4 suites waiting for me for early checkin -- "Lilly Palmer Suite", http://www.hotelelephantweimar.com/e...i-palmer-suite). Platinum breakfast in a nice garden space outside with both a top-quality buffet and hot dishes.

There are two downsides: no air conditioning (which isn't a problem today, except that there's construction nearby which when the windows are opened is rather loud), and it appears some of the restaurants are only certain days of the week; Tuesday night is particularly bleak. I booked another stay for a Saturday in 2 weeks when I'm next in town so I should be able to try Anna Amalia for dinner.