Werder: hotel con bar

Surrounded by lakes, meadows and forests, this family-run hotel on the island of Werder (Havel) offers you individually furnished rooms just a 15-minute drive from Potsdam. WiFi is free in all areas. The Hotel zur Insel in Brandenburg offers seasonal and regional cuisine in its welcoming restaurant with beer garden. A 5-minute drive takes you to a ferry terminal, where services depart for Postdam and Berlin. The German capital can also be reached by train. Alternatively, use one of the hotel’s rental bikes to explore the wonderful, natural surroundings. Following an exciting day, return to the Hotel zur Insel and relax in your room with cottage-style décor and all modern facilities.

The Hotel and grounds look beautiful but cannot quite live up to the standard you would expect. Our room was quite large and the view from the balcony really nice. The bed was also large and looked comfy. However, the mattress on my side of the bed was well worn with somewhat of a dent in the middle. Never mind the bed - the first night I slept like a baby and had a wonderful rest. The second night we could hear the guests above us moving about (sounded like furniture being moved) so it may be a good idea to ask for a room on the upper floor. I was surprised that the room did not have any coffee or tea kettle available - but I should have informed myself before booking. We had drinks and dinner in the bar the first night. The bar tender/waiter was very nice and attentive, drinks were good. However, the half duck from the menu turned out to be just duck breast (which is okay but should be stated as such on the menu). Breakfast buffet was quite elaborate - nice fresh fruit, good selection of bread, rolls, sweet rolls, cold, cuts, cheeses and so on. I ordered an Egg Benedict and what I received was quite astonishing: the egg which sat on a soggy piece of toast with a couple of slices of ham and spinach was cooked in a way that I still puzzle now how it was done - the egg yolk was almost cooked through and hard while the egg white was hardly cooked at all and slithered all over the entire dish. I have never been served anything looking like this and cannot even imagine how the kitchen managed to cook an egg this way? When I told the waitress that this was not good at all she just shrugged her shoulders... All in all our stay was okay - but did not quite deliver to our expectations. Which is really too bad - we would have loved to return as we really enjoy lake side stays.