Hotel Oberkirch - Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany 

On our trip through the Alsace region of Germany, we happened to stay at this charming, friendly hotel. The drive to the property was a bit challenging, at it is located within a mostly pedestrian shopping area. If you book here, be sure you have detailed directions to the location and the phone number handy. Also, reserving ahead for parking is a must. However, it was one of our favorite stops. The restaurant was quite delightful as well. Our room was spacious and clean with a good sized bathroom. We wished we had spent more than one night in Freiburg. The following morning, the Saturday Farmers Market was in full swing right outside the Hotel. Talk about atmospheric!

I stayed at the Hotel Oberkirck for three nights with my family, while visiting my daughter who is an Indiana University student studying abroad at the University of Freiburg. The hotel has two properties, one sits on the main plaza of Freiburg (Munster Platz) and has rooms above the hotel’s restaurant. The other property is right around the corner and contains rooms and the hotel’s main office. We stayed at the Muster Platz property. The hotel is right in the middle of the town's banking, shopping and restaurant area. There is a farmer's market each day, right on the Platz offering all types of fresh fruit, meats, cheeses and cooked brats and other great German food. There is also four or five other restaurants on the Platz with out door tables, which were great for sitting out at night and having a beer or cheese/meat plates. We stayed in a two-bedroom suite that had a bathroom and small lobby area. The room was sparkling clean with a very comfortable bed, pillows and sort comforter. No air-conditioning in June, but cold air comes down from the mountains every night and the temperature was very comfortable. The breakfast include with the room fee was very good (cheese, meats, yogurt, fresh fruit, great bread, a three-minute egg served in it's own stand, great coffee served in a sterling silver pot, smoked fish and cereal. The staff absolutely bent over backwards to help out in any they could. If a staff member could not understand my requests or questions in English they would have someone else come over to help out. We had trouble with a car rental and one of the servers got on the phone and helped us straighten out the problem and then gave us directions on a map to get to the rental agency. I dropped some pants to be cleaned after the same-day-deadline; no problem they got them back same day. Now the downside. Also, located on the Platz is the town's 800-year-old Cathedral (beautiful and a charming addition the the Platz). The bells do start ringing at about 7:30am as a call to Mass. They also ring on the hour. You will have to have the windows open to catch a breeze. Some might find this distracting. I got use to the bells and slept through the on-the-hour chimes; the 7:30am bells however will wake you up. Since breakfast began at 7am, I just got up and got going. My wife did put in some foam earplugs that we always travel with and she was fine. If you think this might be a hassle, I would definitely suggest the other property off of the main Platz. Also the internet is a telephone connection, no problem as there were several Internet cafes about 50yards away from the hotel. Bottom line, we would stay again and stay at the property on the Platz. Why on the Platz? The Platz is the center of activity for the town and we loved the vibe and activity.