Pension Buntspecht in Chorin is a great place to rest and relax

Rating *****

Price performance *****

Pension Buntspecht, Chorin
Pension Buntspecht, Chorin

Pension Buntspecht is on the Radfernweg “Tour Brandenburg” at the Schorfheide, in walking distance from the train station Chorin and close to the famous Cistercian monastery. Located in the historic village of Chorin, where family Weise inhabit a traditional house with on a long, stretched plot that once used to border onto the former Choriner lake. Behind their traditional red-brick house the Weises have built a very pleasant, modern bed and breakfast. From the community and breakfast room with double height ceiling one enjoys the view

Gardens at Pension Buntspecht bed & breakfast in Chorin

through large glass windows into the beautiful, natural gardens. In the garden you will find sun lounger, chairs and a hammock to relax. Chorin, only half an hour from Berlin by train, is a place of stress relief. Not only life moves slower here, but the Internet, too. Visitors can leave their big city and television behind.

 

 

Hammock in the gardens of Pension Buntspecht bed & breakfast in Chorin
Hammock in the gardens of Pension Buntspecht bed & breakfast in Chorin

Pension Buntspecht was built with lots of wood and wooden furniture to modern, high standards and it is pleasantly decorated with great attention to detail. Our bedroom was well tailored and practical, with a modern bathroom. The beds had comfortable, firm mattresses. One window had a mosquito net, and we had no problems with insects.

 

The rooms and common areas were all perfectly clean.

 

Breakfast

Kerstin Weise pots a lot of effort into a personally prepared, rich and varied breakfast. Many ingredients are organic and locally. We enjoyed it very much. Frau Weise also helped us with boiling water to make tea in our thermo.

Breakfast room at Pension Buntspecht in Chorin
Breakfast room at Pension Buntspecht in Chorin

 

Walkers and cyclists will welcome the fridge in the common area, stuffed with with soft drinks and beers; guests just mark the drinks they take on on a list.

 

Attractions

The former Cistercian abbey in Chorin is a major visitors attraction. But Eberswalde and its Paul Wunderlich House, the Demeter Ökodorf Brodowin, the Schorfheide, the shallow, warm Lake Grimnitz and elongated, deep Lake Werbellin are worthwhile destinations, too.

Pension Buntspecht is a new, cyclists friendly B&B. During our visit they were building a new covered bicycle shelter, which already offered our bikes protection.

 

Service

Kerstin Weise is very friendly and helpful in a modest and reserved kind of way. She is also very interested in the region and its history. Ask and she will help you plan your excursions.

 

New, small inns in remote, quiet places live on recommendations. We felt at home at Pension Buntspecht and enjoyed our two days stay and hope that you will enjoy yours. We definitely recommend the B&B to visitors seeking peace and tranquility.

 

Pension Buntspecht, Kerstin Weise

Choriner Dorfstraße 8, 16230 Chorin

Mobil  +491728573735, E-Mail: info@pension-chorin.de

Double room € 50 / night + € 7 breakfast p/p. Arrival between 15-18Uhr.

B&B Neidigk on the Elbe bike path

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Pension Neidigk

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Rating: ****

Price performance: Top

The retired Master Electrician Neidigk created in the buildings of his former business, located in Großkühnau, on the bike path left of the river Elbe, near Dessau, a ADFC (German cycle Club) Bed and breakfast (catering for about 2000 overnight stays per year). At first glance it does not look like anything special, but after two nights I can confirm that Pension Neidigk is a very good choice, because the welcoming and enterprising Mr. Neidigk, who always strives for his guests, has rooms, ours was actually a small apartment, thought out well:

  • Mini kitchen with a kettle, two hot plates, sink and a refrigerator, containing beer and water at a price which must be very close to his cost.
  • Double bed, about 1.80 metre wide.
  • Large wardrobe.
  • TV etc.
  • Plenty of electric sockets, so that the modern bicycle travelers can charge their electronics entrained again.
  • Ideal location, just 300 metres from a beautiful lake.
  • Lockable shed for bicycles.
  • Large garden, where we enjoyed our breakfast in the morning sun.
  • Swing chair, where we enjoyed our tea  on a rainy late afternoon.

A spacious double room with shower and mini-kitchen cost € 50 including breakfast.

One can not recommend Pension Neidigh enough. We will be back!

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Pension Neidigk, Fam. Joachim Neidigk

Ebenhanstraße 4, 06846 Dessau-Großkühnau

 

Külsoer Mühle – cosy, historic mill north of Wittenberg.

Rating ***

Price performance Top

The Külsoer Mill is a place with a special atmosphere. A cozy courtyard, with large vines, a beer garden set in the meadows by the mill pond, a nature experience playground, picnic areas, quaint bars, party rooms and more, make this restaurant and garni a popular destination.

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We had a spacious double room with a modern bathroom, plus two beds for children in an area with restricted height due to the sloping ceiling in the area behind the bathroom.

Beer garden at Kuhlsoer Mill IITM_SY__20150830_184108

During our stay on a Sunday night, there were no events at the mill. After the delicious dinner in the beer garden, we went to bed early, enjoying the silence of the night in the countryside, 12 km north of the center of Wittenberg.

The clean room had to make even longer stays pleasant: from a TV screen windows with flyscreens, to a shoe closet, as long as the guest cope with the abundance of decorative objects.

Külsoer Mühle

The traditional German breakfast with bread rolls, brown bread, jam, cold meats, coffee etc was served in the quaint old tavern (with lots of dark wood furnishings and an old tile stove).

In this family-run hotel and restaurant you can feel the dedication and hard work of three generations. We paid for one night, including breakfast, a very fair 28 € per person in a large double room with en-suite.

The family has received us warmly and served attentive and was always helpful. They have created a very special little hotel and Garni, one can not recommend it highly enough.

Külsoer Mühle
Külso 19, 06895 Zahna-Elster

Schloss Wahlsdorf – Youth hostel charm at the wrong price

Rating: *

Price performance: Miserable

 

Friends booked us for a group weekend into Schloss Wahlsdorf, ideally located at the crossroads of the Flaeming-Skate and various cycling routes which reach out to the Elster river, the Elbe, the Mark, the Spreewald and the Flaeming. The Ewald family, who stand behind the company operating “Castle” Wahlsdorf, requested pre-payment for the total price for 3 nights and breakfast. That was good for the Ewalds, because otherwise we would have moved to

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Dorfladen Wahlsdorf mit Café und Frühstück

any other accommodation near the Flaeming-Skate right after arriving.

 

After reading the very restrictive house rules the suspicion grew that we had sunk about € 70 per night for a double room in a not very hospitable hostel.

 

Reception

We arrived  at the “Castle” Schloss Wahlsdorf on a Thursday at 18:00 hrs, after a long train and bike ride and found it closed. Under the mobile phone number displayed on the entrance door, we could only reach a voicemail. An off duty employee , pedalling past the “castle” by chance, approached us and managed to get hold of a colleague with keys to the so called castle. When this on-duty employee arrived, she let us into the manor through the side entrance, where we could, for the first night, safely park our bikes in an old school gym. The following two nights, the gym was unfortunately closed and the staff absent, so that our bikes stayed as obstacles on the side gate (I never saw the main entrance door open).

 

The €58 for the night (without breakfast) in the so-called double rooms do NOT include towels or bed linen. As cyclists we only had towels with us and paid an additional €5 per head for bed linen. The overburdened employee first gave us small bed sheets, which she then changed for the right size.

 

We were first shown a room the the Ewalds declare and sell as a double room, but which fell well below the 12 square metres norm for a double room: By this time our expectations had already dropped, but this still took us by surprise and we asked cautiously for more space. Thereafter there was a larger room, with a 1.40 m narrow, queen size bed, two shelves, eight hooks and two windows, a couch, a chair, a table and a single, lonely hanger. Unfortunately, one of the two windows went to the county road, where cars and trucks thundered past during the night. The blinds worked only on one window and screens did not exist, so that we had mosquitoes feasting on us for the three nights .

 

WARNING:

The basic rate of 58 € (per night, without breakfast) for the so-called double room does not include a private bathroom, no wardrobe, no bedding and no towels, but a lot of youth hostel “charm” of bygone days. The communal showers and toilets were located on the other end of the manor, recently refurbished and clean in the early mornings, but the rest of the day and night they smelled like communal toilets smell…

 

Breakfast

IITM_SY__20150830_081733The breakfast buffet for 5,50 € (per person per day) offers coffee and tea, cereals, yoghurt, milk, bread rolls, brown bread, some meat, margarine and butter substitute, jam and Nutella, one hard boiled egg for each a and canned fruit; it is basically the breakfast you would get in a German youth hostel, though I have certainly had better breakfast in some youth hostels. Alternatively, there is a shared kitchen for self-catering, which reminded me of halls of residence. The communal kitchen was used by three families and was also let to builder squads accommodated in the hostel.

 

“Castle” Schloss Wahlsdorf lacks all attention to detail. The landlord also run a beautifully situated family hostel in a forest nearby. In addition, the outdoor swimming pool a few hundred yards away, which has been touted by the staff, is also run by the Ewalds. Unfortunately the staff of castle “Schloss Wahlsdorf” have to staff the outdoor pool, too, which means that often there simply is no service at the so called “Castle”.

 

IITM_SY__20150828_211659_HDRThe restrictive house rules from the so-called “castle” Schloss Wahlsdorf can only be as effective as the people who enforce them, who are sadly lacking. According to house rules a curfew applies from 22 clock, except that on Friday night a large group was celebrating with loud music until Saturday morning, disturbing our sleep.

 

CONCLUSION

Despite the grandiose name ‘castle Wahlsdorf’ is no more than a cheap hostel with the worst price performance, which I have ever experienced in Germany. After three more nights in the surrounding area, I can confirm that there are much better options for less money. Therefore, I strongly urge those interested in the Flaeming Skate, to book elsewhere.

Schloss Wahlsdorf (Teltow)
Wahlsdorf 35, 15936 Dahme/Mark
Formerly: Schulstraße 2, 14913 Wahlsdorf, Brandenburg

Gutshaus Neu Farpen

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPure relaxation

Rating ****

The manor house has been tastefully renovated by an antiques dealer with great attention to detail.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn the spacious breakfast room, the Lindner’s offer an extensive breakfast with fresh bread and home made jam, fresh milk, but unfortunately during our presence no fresh fruit.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe were well looked after, felt comfortable and can highly recommend the Inn.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGutshaus Neu Farpen

Neu_Farpen_GardenHiltrud Linder

Neu Farpen 4, 23974 Neuburg

Tel. +49 38426 21272

Convenient bed&breakfast in Wismar

Rating: **

This is a tiny hotel in a convenient location in Wismar, with easy access to the historic centre and the port, which can be reached in just a few minutes by bicycle. In spite of everything, the place is reasonably quiet.

Wismar is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Centre of the Hanse City of Wismar

Our room window opened onto a small, dark courtyard. During the hot days of July, this was pleasant, in the winter it would be rather depressing. The room looked clean, but under the beds unfortunately, there was a layer of dust.

The bathroom was clean, modern and the mechanical ventilation was working swiftly, at least when the door was open. But we had problems with two dead light bulbs.

The landlady Ms. Effenberger was friendly and helpful. She showed us a safe place to park our bikes in the courtyard and even lent us a kettle, so we could prepare tea.

All in all: Reasonably priced at, € 51.45 incl bed tax for a scarcely measured, but well equipped double bed room.

During our stay they were not serving breakfast. We followed their recommendation and were glad to visit “Café Glücklich” (which is German for ‘happy’).

Lubsche Straße in Wismar
Lubsche Straße in Wismar

Pension am Burgwall
Daniela und Volker Effenberger
Lübsche Straße 125, 23966 Wismar
Tel. +49 3841 3265920
Mail: info@pension-am-burgwall.de