A hidden gem!
Tucked away in the small village of Zell, Germany, Hotel Klosterbraustuben is a bonafide home-away-from-home.
Made up of several separate buildings, each multi-floor unit is quiet, clean and comfortable. These buildings are within a neighborhood so you're away from any bustling traffic or noise. Not that Zell has the noise of a large city, but there is fairly constant traffic throughout the day.
The rooms are cozy, clean and just right. I stayed on the second floor of one of the buildings, facing the back garden. I had a nice small balcony to go out one, if I wanted.
Within the main building is a bar and full restaurant. The restaurant is where you can can have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Breakfast consisted of a buffet style breakfast with many different options to choose from.
For dinner, the restaurant is open to the public so you are likely to meet locals when dining in. Everything that I tried on the menu was great. I don't remember all of the items that I tried, but I didn't have anything that I didn't like.
This hotel doesn't feel like a hotel. It has more of an apartment feel that really feels like home rather than your typical apartment.
For the most part, many on staff at the hotel do speak a certain level of English. Some more than others and some not much at all. This is where Google Translate and a little bit of proactive homework come into play. I always like to learn some basic greetings and phrases when traveling to a non-English speaking country. Hello, goodbye, good morning, please, thank you, etc. I've always been of the mindset that most other countries either mandate English speaking classes in school or people take the initiative to learn. The least that I can do is try to show the same respect and learn what I can.
The location of the hotel is just outside of the center of Zell. Zell is a small quaint village that is absolutely stunning. You're about a 5 - 10 minute walk from the center of town and I would encourage anyone to make the walk and stroll down the main street and have a look at the shops and stop in one of the restaurants for a drink or a meal.
Would I go back? As this hotel is close to Nordrach, where I have one of my offices, then yes, I will definitely be back. I probably wouldn't normally find myself in this part of Germany, but it is my good fortune that I get to visit this area periodically. Zell and Nordrach are beautiful parts of the country consisting of big green landscapes surrounded by hills and mountains that are perfectly picturesque. read more
