wedotravel

Hotel is again a category 3 Hotel. I find all associates super helpful, the breakfast very good and many good choices, the service is great. What I do not like is the expensive parking. Since there is no Club Lounge they should give complimentary parking to SPG Platinum guests. The town of Weimar itself gets better and this Hotel remains one of our favorite when in Thueringen/Sachsen area of Germany.

FD1971

Parking is priced at €15 and free overnight parking places around the hotel are limited within a radius of 500m. You will find some on the other side of the Frauenplan towards the Sixt station in Weimar, a bit difficult to find due to many one way streets. The parking garage of the Dorint Weimar is also an option, you might be able to work out a deal incl. gym and spa entrance for a reasonable fee. It is about a 500m walk from the Elephant.

Otherwise, I agree 100%. Very friendly staff, very good breakfast buffet, excellent service for breakfast and dinner at Anna Amalia and the Elephantenkeller is also an option in case you look for more traditional food. SPG discounts apply at both restaurants.

skrosvik

Here again now for 3 nights... Made a BRG - 68 EUR (INCLUDING the delicious breakfast) per night, so a good deal.

Good the Alfred Ahner suite this time. The weather is quite pleasant, so its nice to have the windows open, to prevent the air from getting stuffy. BTW, got upgraded several days in advance. Even though the hotel seems quite busy, with functions, receptions and chinese busloads...

I find the staff to be either superb or helpless. The girl that had the bar yesterday was utterly attentive. The guy that's working here today are unattentive and inefficient - he use 15 minutes to serve a beer (and I am not joking). Same with the breakfast staff, a hit and miss, IMO.

I really like this hotel, a top 3 for me in Germany.

gojko88

Wow, that's a really low price. I'm looking to spend 3-4 days here after New Year, but the lowest price I'm getting at the moment is 120€/night. Let's hope BRG opportunities come along.

gojko88

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.

Melodsal

Just stayed here for one night. As a platinum member received a suite upgrade to their junior suite (which is really just a slightly larger room). The local amenity (porcelain elephant) is really cute. Great location on the market square and great Michelin starred restaurant (Anna Amalia) which is a must try if you stay at the hotel.

supatight80

Got upgraded to one of their 1 bedroom suites a few days prior so really appreciated that. Suite has a living area and a "mini" library. Elemis products used as is somewhat the norm nowadays at LC.

But no Aircon? It's 31 Celsius right now and it's quite stuffy inside even with Windows open. Can't imagine what it'd be like during peak summer time. But I guess that's part of the experience here.

Forstbetrieb

There are only two or three suites with aircondition. the biggest problem is that the building is listed under monumental protection and urban heritage conservation. That is also the reason for the huge parking...

Enjoy your breakfast!

And have dinner at the Anna Amalia! ^^^

supatight80

Thanks for the info re Anna Amalia! :-) I also took the plat breakfast as well considering I might wake up so early due to the heat hehe

Very nice small town though. Quite picturesque

Condition One

This is a gem of a hotel that I’ve been meaning to visit for a long time. Taxi from the train station was 10 Euros. Hotel is right on the market square, and walkable to all the touristy sights. Stayed in a Gropius Suite facing the square (windows were soundproofed), which was a decent size, but it felt a little cramped due to all the furniture in the room. Getting rid of 2-3 chairs would definitely help. The walls had some Gropius stuff on it, but captions were all in German, so I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. This room appeared to have air conditioning.

There was a walk-in shower that was tucked in the corner of the bathroom, so that was on the cramped side too. Water pressure was nice and high, but door seals weren’t tight so I ended up flooding the bathroom every time. Hermes toiletries were provided, which was a nice touch.

I had a fruit and chocolate plate waiting for me when I arrived. I chose breakfast as my Platinum amenity which can be taken in Anna Amalia. The continental breakfast spread was varied and high quality. You could order cooked eggs off the menu such as eggs benedict or an omelet.

WiFi was on the slow side – about 3Mbps. This hotel has no gym for you to work off that excellent dinner in Anna Amalia, but they provide a gym pass to a place that’s a 10 minute walk away. The hotel still gives out old fashioned keys that you leave with the front desk. It’s quaint, but super annoying, as I’m not a fan of spending several seconds unlocking the door, and then having to remember to relock it once I get inside. And then unlocking the door to leave (and then relocking). This stuff takes time!

Definitely stay at this hotel if you’re ever in this area!

gojko88

Not like you have much choice if you're an SPG loyalist

rdlmitedu

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.

rdlmitedu

Second stay -- even better than the first. On checkin the desk agent recognized me from checkout a week ago. Even better my luggage that I'd left behind was already in my room, another suite ( this time on the second floor).

Had dinner at the Anna Amalia restaurant -- probably the best European cuisine I've ever had (a great mix of Italian and German/French), with great local wine. I'm going to try the bistro later in my stay, and of course breakfast at the same restaurant for the next two days included as a platinum.

Unless it is >35C, this is the best value hotel I've found in Europe. The whole town is very domestic tourism focused (Goethe...), but absolutely worth it for everyone.

jpdx

I second rdlmitedu's assessment -- this hotel is really a gem. I spent three nights here with my parents a couple of weeks ago, and we received two named suites and free breakfast for the four of us. Weimar is a cute town, and a lot of stuff is in easy driving distance.

rdlmitedu

Elephantenkeller (i.e. the restaurant in the basement) is quite good, too -- more "hearty" Thuringian food, but with seasonal selections as well -- right now they have some great Chantrelle-based dishes. Much more casual than Anna Amalia, but for what it is, I'd say it is just as good. Should be "Bib Gourmand" at least.

(I feel slightly guilty for not venturing out of the hotel much, as I'm catching up on work, but I'm sure I'll be back soon.)