Schloss Elmau Retreat, Germany
Nov 3, 2018, 7:21 pm
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
adults only guests above 16 years
schloss-elmau.de/en/spa-hotel/badehaus-spa
adults only (above 16?)
schloss-elmau.de/en/spa-hotel/oriental-hamam
retreat guests above 14 years
schloss-elmau.de/en/spa-hotel/shantigiri-spa
47 room retreat - very small / aman scale
+ 115 room hotel = total 162 room , small for hotel
interesting exclusive-use options >
€1600 5.5 hours at night rooftop pool
€1200 5.5 hours at night hamam
€300 3 hours Spa Ferchenbach
schloss-elmau.de/en/spa-hotel/badehaus-spa
adults only (above 16?)
schloss-elmau.de/en/spa-hotel/oriental-hamam
retreat guests above 14 years
schloss-elmau.de/en/spa-hotel/shantigiri-spa
47 room retreat - very small / aman scale
+ 115 room hotel = total 162 room , small for hotel
interesting exclusive-use options >
€1600 5.5 hours at night rooftop pool
€1200 5.5 hours at night hamam
€300 3 hours Spa Ferchenbach
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Nov 3, 2018 at 7:34 pm
Nov 4, 2018, 3:59 am
#18
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jakarta
Programs: Krisflyer PPS, SPG, Hyatt GoldPassport, Shangri-la Golden Circle, British Airways ExecClub
Posts: 1,245
We are just finishing up five days here in a Summit Suite in the Retreat with our two children. This hotel is stunning. The setting in a high valley at the base of the Wetterstein mountain is magical. The bedroom of our suite is basically all glass on three sides with a full view of the Alps. We have been sleeping with all of our doors and windows open with the sounds of the Ferchenbach stream acting as our soundtrack.
Elmau is very kid friendly. There are kids everywhere, but plenty of places in the many, many spas and lounges for the adults to get away for some peace and quiet.
The food is very solid in all of the restaurants and brilliant in the Luce D'Oro Michelin starred restaurant.
The American GM Nickolai is fantastic and always around making sure everything is running well. The service is not quite as polished as a top Four Seasons but is friendly and kind and very efficient for the most part.
We have spent our days hiking, lounging and touring Bavaria in a hotel provided BMW. I want to thank the OP for his review as we would never have found this gem without this forum.
Elmau is very kid friendly. There are kids everywhere, but plenty of places in the many, many spas and lounges for the adults to get away for some peace and quiet.
The food is very solid in all of the restaurants and brilliant in the Luce D'Oro Michelin starred restaurant.
The American GM Nickolai is fantastic and always around making sure everything is running well. The service is not quite as polished as a top Four Seasons but is friendly and kind and very efficient for the most part.
We have spent our days hiking, lounging and touring Bavaria in a hotel provided BMW. I want to thank the OP for his review as we would never have found this gem without this forum.
Nov 4, 2018, 5:00 pm
#20
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Mem
Programs: Delta GM, Amex Reserve, Amex Plat, JP Morgan Palladium
Posts: 984
We were there in the summer. The Retreat has some sort of green air conditioning system that kept the rooms nicely cool. Maybe high 60s or so. Keep in mind that the outside air temp never breaks 75-80 because you are in a high alpine valley. I cant remember how the main building was cooled. If I were you I would get one of the suites in the Retreat that looks at the Wetterstein. We were in a 2 bedroom Summit Suite. I think the 1 bedroom suites might be called Ferchenbach?
Nov 5, 2018, 12:53 am
#21
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: BER
Programs: Amanjunkie, LH SEN
Posts: 750
Any recent stay experience here? For my summer holidays next year, I have booked the Retreat section of the resort which is newer and presumably more private/quiet. But I am not 100% sure... It looks like a large resort catering mostly to families while I am looking for a relaxing resort which is peaceful and quiet. Also I wonder if the rooms will be too hot as I heard they actually have no airconditioning in the room.
Retreat is the place to go, and yes, there are some kids, but there are several spas and pools where kids are not allowed. Food is very good, especially in the Summit Restaurant in the Retreat. And yes, in the Retreat there is an eco air system, but traditional aircon is absolutely not needed up there, since you are in the high alps. And the cultural program has a quality like in no other hotel in the world, and I am not exaggerating at all.
Nov 5, 2018, 2:37 am
#24
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: BER
Programs: Amanjunkie, LH SEN
Posts: 750
The food was poor, the massages weren't special and the service wasn't great either. i.e. going to rent a bike and after 25 minutes of setting up, the staff then realised that she couldn't connect the trailer for young children to a bike as parts were missing so we couldn't borrow the bikes. The next day when we did borrow the bikes, we couldn't return them as there was no member of staff manning the door through which you need to enter to return them, so we had to simply stand and wait 10 mins until a staff member happened to be walking out in order to return the bikes.
Please state when you stayed at the Interalpen Hotel Tyrol and Kempinski Berchtesgaden
So please don't judge a hotel because of one poor children-trailer experience! Check other reviews elsewhere where people regularly praise the elmau food and the hotel. Maybe you do not like the culturally high style, that's no problem, but please don't diss people and hotels for being different compared to yourself.
Last edited by RichardInSF; Nov 5, 2018 at 9:04 am Reason: remove response to now deleted commen
Nov 5, 2018, 3:22 am
#25
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jakarta
Programs: Krisflyer PPS, SPG, Hyatt GoldPassport, Shangri-la Golden Circle, British Airways ExecClub
Posts: 1,245
We were there in the summer. The Retreat has some sort of green air conditioning system that kept the rooms nicely cool. Maybe high 60s or so. Keep in mind that the outside air temp never breaks 75-80 because you are in a high alpine valley. I cant remember how the main building was cooled. If I were you I would get one of the suites in the Retreat that looks at the Wetterstein. We were in a 2 bedroom Summit Suite. I think the 1 bedroom suites might be called Ferchenbach?
Nov 5, 2018, 7:48 am
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Some
Posts: 11,522
Nov 5, 2018, 8:32 am
#27
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 361
Nov 6, 2018, 1:12 am
#29
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
First of all I think the simple ranking is a bit childish and simplistic. There is no such thing as the 'best' hotel in Germany or anywhere else. Much of it is down to personal preferences and style. For example, is the Adlon a better hotel than the Mandarin Oriental? I don't know, it's very hard to compare. I like Elmau a lot, I have been here many times, and it is a lovely Alpine hotel with great food, beautiful rooms, superb service, and so on. Are the rooms better than those at Heiligendamm? Probably not. The bar at Heiligendamm is also much nicer, and the service is probably a litte more clipped. It depends what you want, and how consistently a hotel can deliver it, that makes the difference for me. Rather than a ranking, I would suggest that there are perhaps three or four categories of hotels that you can put each one into that reflects this.