I searched and searched for weeks trying to find a reasonably priced hotel for our party of 7 in the Luebeck area. Some of the prices were insane. Then I stumbled upon Bookings.com. When I plugged in my dates and what looked like a castle popped-up it piqued my interest. Closer inspection revealed that it wasn't a castle hotel but a modern hotel modeled after the Holstentor in Altstadt Luebeck.

What really sold me was that the price was right in the ballpark we were looking for. At some of the other accomodations I had booked throughout Germany I usually had to stay at a small Pension or Zimmer Frei to keep our room costs below $75 a night. Here in Luebeck I was looking at rooms well below that price and with buffet breakfast thrown in.

Fast forward a few months to our arrival in Luebeck: We had a tough time finding the Golden Tulip because my GPS thought the street it was on was elsewhere in town. When we found it though we were suitably impressed.

Modern, Scandanavian chic decor, huge rooms, mini-bar, TV's that worked, modern plumbing, comfortable beds and a huge buffet breakfast. The breakfast not only offered the traditional German goodies like cold cuts, cheese, hard rolls, lots of cereal, soft-boiled eggs and yoghurt, but they also had eggs, sausage and poatoes. Everything an American tourist or businessman misses from back home. The only complaints were having to pay for parking in the big, well-protected underground garage and the sound of passerbys outside our rooms as they walked on the beautiful uncarpeted wooden floors.

Great helpful staff who were great with directions and suggestions of where to eat on Christmas Eve when 99% of businesses were shutdown.