Hotel Wittorf

The hotel is close by the A7 Autobahn, which was our logical stop-over coming from northern Denmark and not to getting caught in the afternoon rush hour jams in the Elb tunnel. The rooms are spacious and clean, however no basic facilities such as a water kettle or coffee. And the parking lot is small compared to the 44 rooms (and one must assume that all guest come by car, except maybe the odd one taxi traveller). And the close by giant Outlet Store puts more pressure on parking facilities in the surroundings. They also charges 5€ per bike for stalling the bikes in a locked facility. After the better part of the day traveling we wanted a comfortable stay and dinner, but to our surprise, there is no lunch, neither a dinner on weekend days, which forces you to go into the city instead of having a quiet evening. To their defense, they claim to have noted this during the booking, but we had not expected this, neither seen it. Turned out that all of the city center was bustling with “festive” type of activities, and parking with all our stuff in the car not a comforting thing to do. Back in the hotel, time for a cup of coffee. However, the coffee machine in the central breakfast room was broken as well. So this hotel advertises as a hotel, but it is actually during weekends only a bed and breakfast, although in most bed and breakfasts tea and coffee are indeed available. For that matter, pricing ~170€ per night is very stiff, also considering the extra cost for stalling the bicycles. Lacking basics as a coffee machine, water kettle, is why we rate it 3 star, which is generous.