Gemut 2003/10 Pg

DEAR GEMüTLICHKEIT SUBSCRIBER The Travel Letter for Germany, Austria, Switzerland & the New Europe About your hotel room Some years ago we sent surveys to a random sampling of readers. If BONN you didn’t get one, don’t feel left Though Bonn is no longer the German capital, the city hasn’t missed a beat. Its cul- out, for the sake of economy only tural offerings, diversity, and location on the Rhine, make it an attractive destination. about one in 100 subscribers was polled. umors of Bonn’s demise after Bonn and many agencies have relo- The anonymous surveys told us the move of Germany’s capital cated to Bonn from elsewhere in a lot we already suspected about R to Berlin are greatly exaggerat- Germany. Quasi-governmental your collective travel preferences. ed. Indeed, they are far from the companies like Deutsche Telekom As to destinations, towns such as mark. Yes, the city was vitalized by now headquarter in Bonn and many Munich, Salzburg, Lucerne and its role as federal capital. Culture and international organizations – includ- Vienna came up big. Lufthansa and tourism flourished. The ing major United Nations agencies – the former Swissair were the top By Jim economy strengthened. Em- are based there. Johnson bassy workers brought a airline choices. Most people traveled In the past decade, the federal new international flair. by car and preferred mid-priced government invested more than accommodations and restaurants. But none of this has changed. If €1.5 billion in the area, most of it to The compiled results of one anything, Bonn is better than ever. create and expand scientific facilities question, however, surprised us just Although many government offic- and make Bonn a “region of science a bit. It asked “How interested are es, most embassies and the seat of and research.” Large sums also you in seeing stories on these top- government have moved to Berlin, went to improve the transportation ics?” The 26 topics listed included Germany made significant commit- infrastructure and to cultural pro- museums, country walks, city ments to Bonn as a “Federal City” grams. walks, art, rail travel, restaurants, and the country’s second political What does this mean for the backroads drives, opera, spas, ski- center. Most ministry jobs remain in Continued on page 3… ing, shopping and so on. For each topic the respondents had four choices: “Essential,” “Great Inter- est,” “Some Interest,” and “Little Rail vs Car: A Cost Comparison Interest.” ever — at least in Gemütlich- an increase of 8.5%. But the Opel By a landslide the likes of which keit’s 18-year history — have Vectra is $534 if you pick it up only Saddam Hussein used to get N European rail passes, when downtown and $624 at the airport. when he was, ahem, running for compared with travel by rental car, The cost per day via rail in 2004 is office, the categories “country ho- been such a financially attractive $30.60 and the car cost — again as- tels,” “small hotels,” and “luxury alternative. suming two passengers — is $19.11. hotels,” carried the day. Virtually all Consider this: in 1999 But throw in, say, $250 worth of gas respondents marked at least one of you could buy a second- and parking fees and the per person, the three as “Essential” or “Great By Bob per day auto rate is $28. Pick up at Bestor class, 5-day German rail Interest.” We concluded that where twin pass (two persons) the airport and it’s $31.21. Add addi- you lay your head at night is impor- for $282. On the other hand, you tional days to your rail pass and the tant and thus you will note that a could rent a midsize Opel Vectra for per day, per person price drops. An good portion of every destination 14 days, including tax, for $229 — 8-day Germany pass, for example, is Continued on page 2… and this is a car that will handle four $26 per day and a 10-day pass is $24. in this issue persons, plus luggage. The cost per In Austria, rail is flat-out cheaper 1 Bonn: Federal City travel day per person was $8.18 by than an Austrian rental car, and less 1 Cost of Rail vs Car Rental car (not including gas and parking) even than a car rented in Germany. 1 Evaluating Hotels and $28.2 per person via rail. If you Unfortunately, Austria’s rail net- work is not as extensive as Switzer- 4 Key Websites put four persons in the Vectra the per person, per day cost was $4.09. land’s or Germany’s. 5 Publisher’s Travel Journal Continued on page 7… What do these same two products 7 Rail News & Tips Exchange rates as of 4/26/04 8 Travel Quickies cost in 2004? The German twin pass for five days is $306 for two persons, 1 euro = $1.185 8 Readers’ Forum 1 Swiss franc = $.76 http://www.gemut.com May 04 http://www.gemut.com DEAR SUBSCRIBER The ratings key on this page indi- partial to high ceilings, hardwood cates the emphasis we place on the floors and plenty of windows. There Continued from page 1 various elements of the hotel experi- should be no unpleasant smells. story deals with lodging options. A ence; guestrooms are weighted at substantial portion of every research • Temperature. Most hotels 30%, the same for people and service. rooms in our three countries are not trip taken by my wife, Liz, and me, Public rooms, facilities, restaurant, and our main writers Jim Johnson air-conditioned. We note those that location and setting comprise the catch the afternoon sun in summer and Mark Honan, is devoted to in- remaining 40%. specting accommodations. Of course, and avoid them. (Heating has never you can’t really know a hotel until Perhaps greater weight should be been a problem except in Tsingtao, you’ve spent a night there, so we are given to the room itself. Unless it’s a China, where, in early November a forever packing up and moving on to resort hotel you’ll probably spend couple of years ago the Sheraton Ho- the next one. In the last 20 years I more time in your hotel room than tel — or the city — still hadn’t turned estimate having personally toured anywhere else on the premises. on the central heating.) over 800 hotels. Since we usually see Liz and I inspect rooms together, • A place to sit. Unless we’re at least half a dozen guestrooms at which is good because she places a staying for just one night, we need a each, often twice that, I consider my- value on features that I don’t — bath- couch or a couple of easy chairs with self qualified to judge European hotel room space for toiletries, for example. a coffee table. Straight-backed chairs rooms. Cleanliness, of course, is basic and just don’t get it done. What I am about to tell you will essential. It’s o.k. for a hotel room to • View. I’m in Europe and I want be revealing only in the sense that have a feeling of having been lived to see it. Maybe the reason I never you may better understand how we in, but dings on furniture, threadbare warmed to the popular König von rate hotels and what features we con- upholstery, spots on carpet, scuff Ungarn in Vienna is because we were sider most important. marks on walls and baseboard, dirty shown to a room with just one win- First, taken as a whole, the hotels tile grout, all send the message that dow that opened to an interior atri- of our three countries are quite good; management either isn’t paying at- um. Once in Italy we were given — better, I think, than in the U.S. (Of tention or is unwilling or unable to Continued on page 8… course it’s impossible to make com- maintain the property. (Of course, if Using Gemütlichkeit parisons between a 15-room, family- you’re at a place like the beloved run, country hotel with its own res- Schloss Haunsperg near Salzburg, • Hotel prices listed are for one night. Discounts are the rugs may be a little worn and often available for longer stays. taurant, and our country’s hotel • All hotel prices include breakfast unless otherwise chains. The small, family-operated some of the furniture may bear a few noted. hotel is a category that simply doesn’t marks; but that’s the charm of getting • Local European telephone area codes carry the “0” to live for a brief time among the required for in-country dialing. To phone establish- exist in this country.) ments from outside the country, such as from the USA, venerable objects that have been in do not dial the first “0”. When we rate a hotel “average” the von Gernerth family for many for quality — 8 to 11 points out of a generations.) Logging on to our Website possible 20 — it’s not a put down. It Back issues in text format from January 1993, except for simply means the hotel is average for Here, in order of importance we place on them, are some of the things the most recent 12, are available free to subscribers only at its country. (Tip: look for hotels http://www.gemut.com (click on “Members”). To ac- where our value rating is higher than we seek in a hotel room: cess the issues enter the user name and password pub- the quality rating.) • Light and air.

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