October 2024. During a week-long whistle-stop tour of Germany, we visit Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt, Weimar in Thuringia, Coburg in Upper Franconia (Bavaria) and Kassel in Hesse. Smaller cities, yes. But each with their own significance. Untouched by overtourism. We’re avoiding using the white trains of DB Fernverkehr, Deutsche Bahn‘s long-distance section and opt to use the red trains of DB Regio and other regional operators.  

In Kassel we selected to stay at the FischerS hotel in Bad Wilhelmshöhe as the hotel was close to the main railway station in Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe and provided some wellness facilities for its guests.

Even though the hotel advertises that the rooms are available from 15:00, we were lucky to already receive our room when we arrived at 14:00.

The room was recently renovated, just as the rest of the hotel. It offers two single beds with lights switches and European plugs at both sides of the beds. There was a comfortable lounge chair by the window and opposite the beds was the desk with complimentary coffee and tea facilities on it. The minibar was filled with all different kinds of beverages, quite rare to see as most fridges in hotel rooms are empty nowadays.

Above the desk was a wall mounted flat screen TV, even though it was a fairly new model in a recently renovated hotel it didn’t offer any streaming capabilities which is a missed opportunity.

In the hallway towards the bathroom you have two different closets to store your items. There were also bathrobes and slippers provided (to go to the hotel wellness)

The bathroom had a nice spacious tub with a moveable shower head that offered different spray options.

The products on offer where all-in-one body/hand wash-shampoo-conditioner and a separate body lotion. It would lift up the hotel if they separated these into the full separate shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion range.

The bathroom was also very future proofed as it offered five power plugs, which is a lot for a bathroom.

The biggest downside of the room was that it lacked air-conditioning. Considering that the entire property was recently (very successfully) refurbished it was quite a shame that they didn’t future proof by adding air-conditioning during these works. A normal radiator heating was provided, turned all the way open making for a very warm room. We opened up the window to cool it down, but leaving it open all night is not an option as there is a lot of noise made by the trams passing by on their way to and from the depot right next door.

The wellness and fitness facilities are located in the basement, alongside the parking garage.

The fitness room is rather sparse with only a few machines. The pool has a nice size but a quite cold temperature. Obviously meant to do some proper swimming or cooling down from the sauna, not to leisurely splash around.

The sauna and relaxation zone are located in a textile free zone and offers 2 different temperature sauna’s

In the morning there is a big breakfast buffet. Tea and coffee are brought to your table. There are also a number of local products on offer, adding a local flair.

All in all thanks to its recent refurbishment, the hotel is in top condition. The close proximity of the main station, the Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark and the Kurhesse Therme across the street make for a very nice visit. Do bear in mind that when visiting in warmer months there is no air-conditioning and the hotel can get pretty warm.

Dessau – Weimar – Coburg – Kassel 2024

1. REVIEW | European Sleeper night train.
2. GERMANY | Bauhaus in Dessau.
3. DESSAU | Technikmuseum Hugo Junkers Engineering Museum.
4. REVIEW | Radisson Blu Fürst Leopold Hotel Dessau.
5. SAXONY-ANHALT | A day in Dessau.
6. GERMANY | Bauhaus in Weimar.
7. GERMANY | Weimar Classicism, the Wittumspalais of Duchess Anna Amalia and the Weimar Haus Experience.
8. GERMANY | The ‘Weimar’ in Weimar Republic.
9. REVIEW | Hotel Elephant Weimar.
10. THURINGIA | A day in Weimar.
11. COBURG | Ehrenburg Palace.
12. FRANCONIA | Veste Coburg.
13. REVIEW | Ibis Styles Coburg.
14. FRANCONIA | Coburg, cradle of crowns.
15. KASSEL | Bad Wilhelmshöhe ft. Bergpark, Palace, Löwenburg and Hercules.