The hotel

 

When we travel my husband is great in finding hotels or BnBs that are interesting, well located, fun, or beautiful.

Some of his best successes have been a converted schoolhouse in Dublin with each room named for an Irish writer and a bubble on a rooftop in the Austrian countryside.

He outdid himself with the Hotel Staudadacherhof in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

In the early 1990s I had spent weekends in that picturesque Alpine village and ski resort and a couple of Christmases. My cousin was a nurse and when I saw a client in Munich, I would train down after my meetings which I always tried to schedule on a Friday.

My housemate was taking long-distance courses from the U.S. Army's branch of the University of Maryland. His exams were in Garmisch. We would leave Friday afternoon from Neuchâtel in Switzerland, arrive late at my cousins. My housemate would take the test, and then we'd play, go on walks (forced hikes my cousin's husband called them). We could watch ski races on the Olympic ski slope. Their living room had a clear view even without binoculars. We'd drive home Sunday afternoon. It ended when my cousin was transferred.

Garmisch is on the way to where my husband is playing golf over the weekend so we decide to stop for a couple of days so I could show him the village.

This hotel was one of his best of only good choices. 

They not only accepted Sherlock as a guest, they had two dishes and a bag of doggie treats waiting for him.

The decoration gave the German alpine feel.

And the hotel has a history that no chain could ever hope to accomplish.

The family that owns the hotel has been in the inn business for well over 300 years starting in the Tirol. However, Franz-Josef Staudacher fell in love with a girl from Garmisch. He moved and set up an inn there.

Over the years, he hosted people including an Austrian emperor and Ludwig II of Bavaria along with guests from all over the world.

In 1907 the main building was purchased and it has been refurbished over the years to the buildings it now occupies. Flowers decorate the wooden balconies.

There is everything one would expect from a four-star hotel: beautiful decoration, reflecting the culture of the location, a breakfast buffet that has all the local meats, cheeses, breads, fruits imaginable, comfortable lounges, a staff that is friendly and helpful, pool, etc. 

 

There are little touches that don't exist everywhere, like the the auto wellness center for people to give their vehicles a sprucing up. 

During World War II the hotel became a center for children needing shelter.

The current owners are Staubadachers, a young couple who have dedicated themselves to maintaining and improving tradition. Not many businesses can trace the ownership back through the centuries.