AHORN Berghotel Friedrichroda

Berghotel is located at the top of a small mountain in a heavily forested area. It is a 15 minute walk up a hill from the main tiny Friedrichroda Train Station up a winding road that passes the town cemetery. Or at the prior stop northwest of the hotel at the bottom of a ravine is the Reinhardsbrunn-Friedrichroda tiny Train Station (more like a train stop but the S-Bahn #4 and several city buses also leave from near there), and it's a 15 minute walk starting up a dirt road to get to the Berghotel. There is also a bus that runs up to the Berghotel, but it comes only a few times a day. The staff in the hotel were excellent and there was always one at the reception desk or the visitors aid desk who spoke excellent English. The room was clean and spacious enough, and my window faced northwest overlooking the forest from which small deer would sometimes emerge to chew on the grass or other herbaceous vegetation when it was dark. This is a very large hotel with the capacity for hundreds, and from the outside looks like something very blockish from the East German era. The dining area is huge, and the morning breakfasts are well supplied. The S4 tram (every 30 minutes) at the Reinhardsbrunn-Friedrichroda stop takes you to Gotha Train Station in about 40 minutes at first wandering through the forest and then through farmland and past little villages. If flying into Frankfurt, this would be a better choice to get to Friedrichroda with just the change onto the S4 (separate ticket, Euro 3.90) than the Deutsche Bahn choice of two changes (in Eisenach and then Frottstadt). With my 6 night stay at the hotel, they also gave me a "Thuringer Wald Card" that entitles the traveller to get on just about any bus/train/tram that is in Friedrichroda, including the S4 which as mentioned goes to Gotha (which itself is well worth a visit).

Breakfast was good. The hotel is perfect for families

The dinning room was not always cleaned properly. The mens guest toilet in reception was broken for 4 days

The staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful! The hotel offers many great things ranging from swimming pool, library, full week programm, music, ...

To wait so long for the elevator

The staff

The staff is very nice and the breakfast buffet was great. The pool is a treat and the top floor restaurant makes for a special dinner

The cafe/restaurant could have had more options for vegetarians and vegans

Great breakfast and the location is good . One guy at the reception was very smart , very friendly and asked if we wanted to use English or German to communicate, had great customer skills . He made us feel welcome at the hotel .

The hotel should provide affordable evening meals so we can choose to eat in the hotel.. We came back late from our hiking and got ourselves ready . At 8 pm the restaurant in the hotel was closing because of the evening‘s program so we had to search for restaurants at 8:30pm outside for a take away . At the bar in the evening, we were unhappy with our cocktails. We were impressed with the hotel facilities but these were a couple of the downsides.

We lived on the 9th floor and the view was spectacular! The breakfast was great. Delicious coffee and lots of options for breakfast.

Bathroom was not clean:( Dirty mirror and hairs on the floor. Bathrobes and towels look old.

breakfast was very crowed. Staff could not handle all breakfast or dinner guests

In general, it is a very nice hotel, very well equipped for families with young children. I was disappointed though by the swimming pools. The indoor pool was only opened from 7 to 10am and then from 6:30pm, while on the booking site it is stated that is always open.. that was not true! When we were there the wheather was not the best, still only the outdoor pool was open during the day. We tried to ask, but they say that they do not have enough people to take care of both pools at the same time. This should be written in the website, because the indoor pool was one of the major points, which made me choose this hotel.

May be good for white, German families

1. Only white German families stay here 2. Not for business travelers or non-whites 3. Food options are limited for those with alternative needs like gluten free or dairy free 4. Parking is far from hotel entrance and requires additional payment