I'm nearing the end of a month-long stay at this hotel. My wife and I, along with our two dogs…read morehave enjoyed this clean, well maintained (and dog friendly!) hotel nestled in the middle of the industrial center of Gronau. This isn't a tourist's hotel so much as a business support hotel for the large industrial factories that do international business here. They often host clients from around the world. That said, I would encourage any curious traveler with a desire for a more authentic taste of local German culture to consider The Aristo Hotel as an alternative to the more upscale (and $$$$) cookie-cutter tourist hotels. The Aristo has an English friendly staff and are very responsive to guest requests. The hotel bar serves as the local watering hole for a lot of colorful and interesting German workers from the surrounding factories. They're a lively bunch of folks who thoroughly enjoy tossing back a beer or two with the assorted hotel guests who also frequent the bar. You can order dinner starting at about 6 p.m., and often as late as 10 p.m. If you plan a late night dinner, check with the hotel manager to assure the cook will still be on staff. I have a distinct memory of my wife and I ordering a nice sirloin steak dinner one night at about 10:30! Large, well appointed party room can be rented for special occasions. See the many photos I posted of the facilities here. This is a three star facility with five star service. Highly recommended.

This hotel came highly rated by my travel agent and the pictures looked nice so here I am a week…read morelater in my room at Hotel Bad Boekelo. First a disclaimer: I spend a lot of time in hotels for work but mostly in the US. I should concede that I don't really have a good grasp yet on what exactly the European hotel experience is, or should be. But here are my observations anyhow. The building itself is a nice but starting to show its age. It is advertised as more of a resort destination rather than a hotel and the buildings are more spread out over the bucolic and park-like property. An odd but delightful brass panel in the ground rings a bell as you walk over it to enter the building. A person was at the check-in desk when I entered and he was pleasant and efficient. Original art and modern architectural features and furniture set the mood of the place. Bad Boekelo is set in a rural area about 25 minutes outside of Enschede and if you want to spend the day biking or hiking around the countryside I can imagine this would be perfect. I am here for business in town so being 25 Euro by taxi away from Enschede is inconvenient. And the taxis here only take cash. The Grolsch brewery is nearby and I was lucky enough to have their Weizen on tap at the hotel bar. Amazing. The bathrooms in my room was modern and clean although instead of shampoo, soap, and conditioner there is a pump of body wash in the shower. Notably absent were washcloths. I had to use a large hand towel in the shower this morning to wash, this is frankly stupid and inconvenient. The room itself is spartan but modern. The "queen-sized" bed was two single beds pushed together and instead of a queen-sized duvet it had two single-sized duvets. This seemed kind of cheap but the beds and pillows were very comfortable to sleep in. The TV was an old CRT model which was strange as it was small but perhaps this is the norm for European hotels whereas American hotels tend to all have larger LCD TVs. Not watching TV in my hotel rooms this wasn't a big deal. Here's where it all falls apart at Hotel Bad Boekelo: The carpets. Every carpet I saw, especially in the hallways and specifically my room - were stained and dirty. Having stains all over your carpets is a sure sign that a hotel has stopped really trying. There is no surer sign of new owners, or just cheap owners, than old stained carpets. Again I'm comparing to American hotels here - but still even the lower quality hotels in the US have almost always had clean or new carpet. A hotel and especially it's room should feel clean. A hotel guest wants to feel like the space they've paid for is hygienic, not dirty. I don't know what the stains on my room's carpets are but I tend to imagine they are from an unsavory source. Just saying - it IS a hotel room after all. The furniture in the lobby is also starting to look a little worn. There is no iron or ironing board in my room (but there is a trouser press that I have seen only in other European hotel rooms), no coffee maker, no washcloths, no alarm clock (?!?), and my burger last night was raw in the middle. They don't clean the carpets or have all the amenities you may be expecting if you're used to US hotel rooms, but despite it all it is after all just a hotel room. If you're ok with it being a little dirty around the edges - for a relaxing weekend or a business meeting I think you could do worse though I probably won't stay here again. If the quality of the building and amenities was at the level of the service, this place would easily rate 4 stars.