Hotel Arnika***S

Staying at the Arnika is like visiting a haunted house in a theme park: you'll pay good money to feel disgust, alienation, discomfort, and then relief when it’s over.

There are very good reasons why the Arnika is one of the cheapest hotels in Oberammergau, but still the last to fill up.

I have to agree with the other reviews here: the owners (i.e. the only people manning the reception) are truly horrible to deal with. In person they were worse than on the phone. Patronizing, hostile, self-serving. Their demeanor goes beyond any normal tolerance for "some people are just naturally warmer than others" - instead it seems like pure contempt for guests. You can say ‘good morning’ to them, but they just walk blankly past. They run a hotel but seem to hate having guests. The Arnika's owners are a classic example of managers with no interest in quality or hospitality, just in exploitation. I speak fluent German and live in the region, so this perception is not down to any language barrier or culture shock.

But what about the rooms? That depends how much you enjoy cold showers and finding pubes in your bed. Please enjoy the attached photos illustrating how filthy the rooms were.

You get the idea, but there's more.

The booking was for two single rooms, and that is what we got. Sort of. One room was exactly as pictured online (just without the decorative flourishes), so no problem there. The second room, however, was down the road, in the basement of the owners' house. So there was no daylight, but at least there was hot water for the shower. The other room (back in the main hotel) was bright, but, despite my best efforts, the shower remained as icy as the hospitality.

Sleep quality was terrible: worn-out mattress, creaking bed frame, thin curtains, no sound insulation. It is hard to cool the room: noise from the car park, road, stream and pigeons precludes leaving the window open when you're hoping to sleep. So this hotel is a no-go if you have to go to work the next day.

To be fair, the breakfast was very good. The team there was warm and attentive. The selection and the quality were above average. For example, the fruit salad was mostly fresh (rather than canned) and the coffee machine made a great cappuccino. Eggs are cooked to order and skillfully garnished.

The booking process is very dodgy. I booked via Hotel.com as normal, but then a few days later the hotel refunded that payment and asked me to send my credit card by e-mail. After first confirming with Hotels.com that the hotel can legitimately do that, I phoned to give my card details and was treated like a bratty child for the three-day delay between their request and my response. They refused to issue a receipt. That level of contempt before even paying should have been a red flag, but I needed the room and the Arnika was the last option available.

Covid-19 prevention rules which hotels have to follow were partly in evidence, but the strikingly low cleanliness level in the rooms and many missing requirements during breakfast were concerning.

All a three-star hotel has to do is provide a clean bed, warm shower and breakfast. A personable welcome is a bonus. I give this hotel one star because they managed one of those.

Very unsatisfied with the personnel, the communication was very bad. I would get an upgrade for 57,50 for the whole week, in the end it was 57,50 per night.

I got a room upgrade, because of a mistake of the hotel. But they demanded me to pay 57,50 per night extra at the checkout. Very bad communication and no acceptable solution offered by the manager.