Staying in a Steigenberger hotel would usually be our first choice. This German luxury hotel chain runs impeccably managed establishments of great comfort, without being over the top or garish. In addition, they often have Internet specials, making them compete price-wise on a slow night with much lesser hotels. However, none of my German hotel guides warmed up to the Steigenberger in Eisenach - all list it as a five-star hotel, very recently refurbished, but apparently nothing special. All raved about the Best Western Kaiserhof, which I fortunately did not pick, as seeing its location at the most busy T-junction, even double glazing wouldn’t be able to filter out all the noise.

Instead, we decided to go for something different from the inner city centre hotels we usually select for their convenience to walk to all the sights and restaurants. Villa Anna came highly recommended by several guidebooks and the website looked great as well - even after applying my usual virtual-reality-to-real-world formula (looks of the site times two divided by five and a half to get to the truth).

Villa Anna is located in a large white house halfway up a hill in a quiet residential neighborhood to the south of Eisenach. It is surrounded by beautiful, large, turn-of-the-nineteenth-century houses, and the hill offers views of the opposite hills with the Wartburg and students’ memorial.

The reception is up a flight of outside stairs from the street. Here is also an outside seating area with views of the town. Our room was very large with modern furnishings. We were happy to see the requested baby bed already inside the room. The large beds were comfortable, but the color TV rather small, as is the case in many European hotels. The large bathroom was all tiled in white, with shiny stainless-steel fixtures. The shower had a strong stream of hot water. We had a great view from our room across the valley towards the students’ memorial.

Villa Anna seems to cater mainly to business travelers, who seem to appreciate its fair price, quiet location, and good service. However, they clearly know how to deal with families too. At breakfast, a baby chair and child cutlery were already provided at the table set aside for us. The cold buffet was a decent spread, and eggs can be ordered. Other meals are not served, although a small room-service menu is available.

Villa Anna is to the south of Eisenach with turnoff just opposite that of the Wartburg. It would probably be possible to walk to the Bachhaus in less than 15 minutes, although down a very steep hill.