Hotel Villa Keller

We couldn’t check-in to our hotel room, as no one was at the hotel. We called the number several times, no answer. We had driven 3 hours and flew 2 hours, only to arrive to an empty hotel with no answer. We walked around the hotel, restaurant and beer garden, and knocked, no answer. It appears we were the only guests for the night, and they did not want to honor our reservation. I am baffled how this place stays in business. We scrambled to find another hotel. Infuriating!!!

We stayed Sun-Wed, arriving fairly late on Sunday and therefore didn't manage to experience the main restaurant which is open Wed-Sun. The supposedly "no-frills" Wirtshaus actually had nice food ("Catch of the day" fish is highly recommended) and to our surprise a seriously impressive wine list (perhaps shared with the main restaurant). It doesn't matter whether one is an "I only drink dry wine" noob or one can easily tell one's Wehlener Sonnenuhr from one's Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr blind, this list is sure to please everyone. There is no need to go beyond Mosel-Saar-Ruwer really and we certainly didn't bother, as there are sections for red/white dry/white semi-dry/white sweet and every single local wine entry we tried was excellent to outstanding by any standard. Naturally, the wine list avoids the cardinal sin of many a fancy British restaurant: serving German/Any Riesling young. We really enjoyed 2010, 2011 and especially 2003 by the bottle in 2023 and also a few Spätburgunders by the glass. I am not mentioning any specific names, but any ̶p̶r̶o̶f̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶a̶l̶c̶o̶h̶o̶l̶i̶c̶ wine writer will tell you that producers on the list are top flight. Pricewise by the bottle you are looking at UK retail prices. By retail I mean broking wine lists of the most respectable merchants. Rooms (forgotten about the rooms already): spotless clean, lots of character and period features. And no, I don't mean "falling apart". We loved our bed/linen and the view of the castle across the river. Location: quiet, but very close to Saarburg centre. It doesn't get better than that. Breakfast: crispy white tablecloth and pleasantly heavy cutlery, fresh bread and good selection of charcuterie and cheeses. Staff: everyone very friendly

The hotel is in an old house across the river from town. There was plenty of parking. From our room we had a view of the river and castle. The room was spacious and had a separate sitting area. It was on the second floor and there was no elevator. Check in was easy. Breakfast was typical European with cheeses, meats, eggs, fruit, cereals, juices, etc.