When my wife Sharon decided that Rothenburg ob der Tauber needed to be part of her birthday trip to Germany, she managed to find a town that wasn’t particularly easy to reach by train. She also found one with almost none of the familiar points-program hotel chains where I could use points, rely on elite benefits or redeem a free night certificate.
Of course, staying at a chain hotel outside the historic center would have somewhat defeated the purpose of visiting Rothenburg. We were going there because of its medieval old town, cobblestone streets and half-timbered buildings. Since we were spending three nights there, we wanted to stay right in town and enjoy it after most daytime visitors had left.
That didn’t mean we were willing to give up every practical hotel amenity. Since we were traveling with luggage, we wanted an elevator. We also wanted air conditioning, even though we were visiting in the spring. After narrowing down our choices, we booked the Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister, an independent hotel in the heart of Rothenburg’s old town.
Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister
Kirchplatz 8
91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
Hotel Website
Booking The Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister
Booking a non-chain hotel required a slightly different approach than usual. There were no hotel points to redeem and no elite benefits that would influence the decision, so I checked whether it made more sense to book directly with the hotel or through one of the travel portals where I had hotel credits available.
Booking directly with an independent hotel can often be the better choice. The hotel may offer a lower price, a more flexible cancellation policy or additional perks that aren’t included when booking through a third party. However, I had hotel credits available through the Citi Travel portal with my Citi Strata Premier Card and through Chase Travel with my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
The Citi Strata Premier Card includes a $100 annual hotel benefit when booking a qualifying hotel stay of $500 or more through Citi Travel. Since our three-night reservation came in just over that threshold, this was an ideal opportunity to use the benefit.
We booked two Superior Double Rooms through Citi Travel and saved $100 per room because Sharon and I both have Strata Premier cards. For a hotel where I wasn’t earning points or using hotel loyalty benefits anyway, the portal booking ended up being the better deal.
Arriving At The Hotel
Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister is exactly the type of hotel that fits into Rothenburg. The main building is located on Kirchplatz in a historic half-timbered building, with St. Jacob’s Church immediately next door and the Marktplatz only about a block away.
The hotel continues the historic look inside. The lobby has heavy wooden doors, stone walls, antique-style furnishings and an ornate staircase. It immediately made it clear that this wasn’t going to feel like a standard chain hotel.
There is an elevator, which was one of the amenities we specifically wanted when booking. While the building itself felt historic, we were happy not to have to carry our luggage up the stairs after arriving from Hamburg by train.
The hotel has rooms in both the historic main building and the nearby Viktoriahaus annex. Our rooms were one floor up, toward the back of the main hotel building.
Our Superior Double Room
One thing about staying in an older hotel is that two rooms in the same category don’t necessarily look the same. We booked two Superior Double Rooms, but the layouts were completely different. That is part of what comes with staying in a historic property rather than a hotel where every room follows the same basic floor plan.
Our room was much larger than I expected. It had a large bed, several windows, a small table with chairs and a sitting area with a couch. There was plenty of room for our luggage, which mattered since we were staying for three nights rather than just passing through for an evening.
And even though we were worried about the room description saying it has a “Double bed“, as you can see, there was nothing to worry about the size of the bed.
The décor was definitely traditional, with painted furniture, dark green and red walls and decorative pillows featuring the Rothenburg skyline. It might not appeal to someone looking for a sleek, modern hotel room, but it worked perfectly in this setting. A generic hotel room would have felt out of place here.
The bathroom was much more modern than the bedroom. Our room had a full-size bathtub with a shower, a large mirror, a heated towel rack and enough counter space for our things. It was a nice combination: an old-world-looking bedroom with a bathroom that didn’t require making any old-world compromises.
The Air Conditioning Required A Little Work
After settling into the room, one of the first things we wanted to do was get some air circulating. It wasn’t especially hot outside, but air conditioning was still one of the reasons we had selected this hotel.
That was when I noticed the thermostat indicated an additional daily charge to use the air conditioning. I didn’t remember seeing that when we booked the room. Since the charge was only a few euros per day, it wasn’t a major issue, but it was still a surprise considering that having A/C was one of our requirements.
I went downstairs to the front desk, and they told me they would activate the air conditioning for both of our rooms. When I returned upstairs, however, it still didn’t appear to be working.
After another trip to the desk, I learned the missing piece of information: every window in the room had to be fully closed and locked before the air conditioning would turn on.
That made sense once it was explained, especially since our room had several windows. Once we made sure they were all locked, the air conditioning came on and worked without any further problems.
Breakfast At The Hotel
Our reservation included breakfast, which was served each morning in the hotel restaurant. Since we were staying for three nights, it was convenient to start the day downstairs rather than search for a bakery or café each morning before heading out.
The breakfast buffet had a large selection of cold items, including meats, cheeses, fruit, yogurt, breads, and, Sharon’s favorite, Bircher Museli. There were also hot items available each day, with an egg dish and different meats or sausages that rotated from one morning to the next.
There was enough variety that eating breakfast at the hotel for three mornings didn’t feel repetitive. It wasn’t an over-the-top breakfast spread, but it was very good and provided everything we needed before spending the day walking around Rothenburg.
The Hotel Restaurant Was More Than Just Convenient
The Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister has an on-site restaurant serving regional Franconian dishes, as well as an outdoor beer garden and terrace beside St. Jacob’s Church. After our long travel day from Hamburg, we decided to eat dinner at the hotel on our first night rather than heading back out to look for someplace else.
Sometimes eating at the hotel is simply the easiest option after a long day of travel. In this case, it turned out to be an excellent choice. The restaurant was very good, and the meal ended up being our first, but definitely not our last, German meal of the trip.
The hotel also has a separate wine tavern called the Löchle, which sounded like the type of place we would have enjoyed after spending the day walking around town. Unfortunately, it was closed several evenings during our stay.
That didn’t leave us without somewhere to go. The main hotel restaurant continued to serve as the bar until later in the evening, so we were still able to stop in for a drink without having to search around town.
Other Hotel Amenities
The hotel also has a wellness area with a Finnish sauna, steam bath, ice fountain, tropical shower and relaxation room. We didn’t use any of those facilities during our stay, since we spent our time exploring Rothenburg, but they were more than I expected to find at a relatively small independent hotel in the middle of the old town.
There is also an outdoor beer garden and terrace located beside St. Jacob’s Church. That setting is about as appropriate as it gets for a historic hotel in Rothenburg. Instead of looking out over a generic parking lot or courtyard, guests can sit outside next to one of the town’s most prominent landmarks.
A Great Location In Rothenburg
Location is probably the biggest selling point of the Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister. It’s only about a block from the Marktplatz, where you will find Rothenburg’s town hall, the clock tower and many of the streets visitors come to see. St. Jacob’s Church is next door, and the rest of the old town is easily walkable from the hotel.
That location mattered because we were staying in Rothenburg rather than visiting for a few hours on a day trip. During the day, we could walk from the hotel to the main sights without having to think about transportation. In the evening, we could wander through the streets after many visitors had left, then walk back to the hotel whenever we were ready.
It also meant that after our Night Watchman Tour, dinner or an evening walk around town, we never had far to go before we were back in our room. That was exactly the experience we were hoping for when we decided to stay inside Rothenburg’s old town.
Final Thought
Choosing the Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister meant giving up the usual chain hotel considerations. There were no hotel points involved, no elite status benefits to chase and no familiar brand name waiting for us when we arrived.
In exchange, we stayed in a historic hotel in the center of one of Germany’s most picturesque towns, only steps from the Marktplatz and directly beside St. Jacob’s Church. Our room was spacious and full of character, the included breakfast was very good, and the hotel restaurant turned out to be a worthwhile place to eat rather than just a convenient option on our arrival night.
For our three nights in Rothenburg, the Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister gave us exactly what we wanted: a comfortable place to stay in the middle of town that still felt like part of the destination. In a place like Rothenburg ob der Tauber, that mattered much more than staying at a hotel where I could earn a few extra points.
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