The Baren was a good experience. Comparing it to other European guest houses, it was better than average.

My family of 3 stayed in a family room that was adequate for our needs. Unfortunately we only had a view of an inner courtyard/alley that separated two wings of the hotel.

The restaurant was the real highlight as the food was great and not overpriced. I can recommend this property to anyone visiting Meersburg.

We just returned from 3 nights at this beautiful property. It is an old building, and is like something out of a movie set, with big old exposed beams, creaky floors, beautiful windows looking out to the streets, and a lovely dining room. It has a great location in the upper part of the picturesque town. It is surrounded by quaint restaurants, shops and other accomodations, plus it only a short walk to the old and new castles, as wells as a short walk down the hill to the waterfront and its ferries, shops, restaurants, and hotels. The hotel was very easy to find, using the accurate instructions that were provided with our reservation confirmation. At the time we checked in, Ursula was working the front desk, and she speaks a bare minimum of English. We managed to check in and figure out where to park the car, but it stretched our basic German to its limits. Ursula was very sweet and we managed to work it out, plus she gave us great recommendations for dinner restaurants, esp. Allemann Torkel!(FYI - the rest of the staff spoke a little more English). The hotel has a private parking in a building around the corner. Ursula walked to the garage to point it out and my husband followed in the car. Once parked, we did not use our car again for the duration of our trip here. The ferry system is inexpensive, fun, and very convenient. We stayed in family room #14, which consisted of a bedroom with doublebed, a living room with sofabed, small table and chairs, and bath. Room was very attractive, especially the bath, which was slightly larger than most we have stayed at in this price range. Breakfast was usual German fare: sliced meats and cheeses, rolls, fruit, yogurt, warm boiled eggs, spreads, orange juice, coffee and hot chocolate. We had heard that the restaurant is very good for dinner, but simply did not get the chance to eat there - it sure smelled great, though! Misc notes: leave your key at desk when you go out, Friday is market day, you can buy cold beers from front desk (they will charge your room 1 Euro per beer, which is a great deal, because local stores that sell beer do not sell cold beer!). The mini-golf down by the harbor was a big hit with our 12-year-old, as was the ferry ride to Konstanz.

We stayed at Hotel zum Baeren for 2 nights Sept. 11 to 13 and had a very nice stay. We had their less expensive rooms Room 30 and 31 in the wing over the little bridge next to the cute Clock Tower. It was perfect for us. My father had a save parking spot in their private parking garage only a 1 minute walk away and the hotel is in the perfect location right in the middle of the Upper Town part. We walked to everything. First of all Meersburg is a super charming Medival town. The hotel is from the 1200's and also very charming. Our room was comfortable with good bed, fluffy down comforters, pillows, TV, phone, 2 big windows and a small but sufficiant bath. Very simple with very small shower but it was fine for our stay and everything was very clean. The breakfast included in the room rate was very good in the nice dining room with interesting antique furniture and lamps. Everyone at the hotel is very friendly and helpful. And it was very quiet at night. It was cute waking up to the Clock Tower Bell which is really not that loud. We loved Meersburg and were very happy at Hotel zum Baeren. This is the perfect location for exploring Bodensee, Insel Mainau and the Meersburg Castle and Burg. Take the Burg tour it's great. What a cool old Fortress (Burg) There are lots of nice Restaurant and a very nice Weingut for wine tasting and watching grapes getting squeezed. Try the Meersburg Sekt (Champagne) It is super good and the Bodensee Apples are the best. We had very good dinners at Valentino on the Lake Promenade in the Untere Stadt. Great Pizza, Pasta and Cheese Spaetzle. It's very easy to catch the ferry or the Kleine Fritz boat from town to Mainau and all other locations around the Lake.

Without doubt, the best place to stay if you are in the area. Not that I have any experience of anywhere else – but it has to be impossible to find anywhere better!
Immaculately clean, beautifully and tastefully decorated, excellent menu – we didn’t eat anywhere else – there was no point! An absence of the feeling that you are in a hotel - you are made to feel welcome and appreciated. These qualities in the Gasthof Zum Baren are enough to make this a place worth staying in. However, the best thing about Gasthof Zum Baren is its staff, the patron and the ladies serving breakfast and dinner, they are simply lovely – very attentive – and that was before I broke my arm in a cycling accident. After ending up in hospital for a couple of days for an operation I was welcomed on my return with much kindness, attention and fuss! We concluded that ‘All is good!’. OK, so it's a rather gushing testimonial, but really, I cannot speak highly enough of this hotel! As you may be able to tell, a lot happen on this holiday, thank goodness for EU medical arrangements and Gasthof Zum Baren!