Grand Hotel Heiligendamm - the Leading Hotels of the World

Ein modernisiertes Luxus Hotel im Charm vergangener Tage. Mit den klassizistischen Bauten entlang der Strandpromenade führt Heiligendamm nicht ohne Grund den Namen die "Weiße Stadt am Meer". Leider ist der Ort noch nicht vollends touristisch erschlossen.

Another lovely stay in the Grand Hotel in Heiligendamm.  The reception service, as always, is friendly and professional, the Spa superb, the pools quiet and relaxing , the air fresh and clean for long walks and the Baltic brisk and tingly for the occasional swim. But I must make a special acknowledgement of Ulrike and her team's delightful welcome at breakfast. A great way to start the day!

The location is 10/10 but the service in the hotel especially the Kurhaus is disastrous and not worth a 5 star hotel! Also the cleanliness at the Kurhaus terrace is mediocre. We stayed 8 days and the floor was not once cleaned. The rests of breakfast lay there the whole stay.

heaven can wait ... The superb service of the Grand Hotel began before we even arrived in Heiligendamm. Frau Römer responded immediately to our questions and requests per email and reserved a junior suite with sea view as possible upgrade in advance. Dogus made us feel at home from the very first minute of check-in, took time to show us four other possible rooms and suites, and informed us about the history of the hotel and the services provided. We already felt at home during our first breakfast in the magnificent Kurhaus with the nice lady from Sri Lanka serving us with freshly prepared egg dishes, pancakes, waffles, and porridge. By the end of our third breakfast we felt as if we'd known Ulrike, Alex, and Ricardo for years, who took our coats, led us to our table, found time for personal small talk, and made us feel like royalty. The location of the "white city at the seaside" is of course world-famous not least due to the G8 summit held there years ago, and of course we were awed by the historic buildings perfectly restored and meticulously kept up, and we enjoyed every minute of our very comfortable room with a Baltic Sea view. But what made the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm truly grand were the wonderful people we met there. Maybe the management has been lucky with whom they've chosen to employ, maybe the employees have been lucky to have such great people to work for. We are certainly grateful for our 4 days in paradise.

Positives: The location of this hotel is absolutely stunning, with great facilities and beautiful, spacious rooms that exceeded our expectations. The breakfast offerings, both a la carte and buffet, were very good. The kids club is a brilliant addition, providing a kindergarten-like environment where children can spend the day with great staff and enjoy lunch. Some negatives (not all): Having stayed at several Leading Hotels and as frequent guests of other 5-star establishments, we found numerous drawbacks at Heiligendamm. The service staff lacked a “can-do” attitude and authority, often communicating poorly among themselves. The hotel had hired a lot of teenagers for the peak season, which might be financially smart for them and could have been great for guests if they were properly trained. During our eight-day stay, the phrase we heard most from the staff, aside from greetings, was “I’m so sorry.” So sorry for e.g.: our kid’s pasta with tomato sauce being an hour late, a salt shaker collapsing all over a main dish, bringing a club sandwich instead of the ordered dish after half an hour, and the valet leaving the front trunk (frunk) of my car open overnight in the pouring rain. This was the first thing I saw in the morning as I removed the curtains, and given that my car is quite expensive, this should be a complete catastrophe for any hotel. Well, not Grand Hotel Heiligendamm. We paid €30 for valet parking per day, and this is what they accomplished. Apologies were abundant, but solutions and suggestions of compensations were of course not. It took us almost 30 minutes to get a drink order at the pool every day, which was absolutely ridiculous and frustrating. Additionally, there was about a 50/50 chance that you would need to call out to waiters to get service while seated. Forget the concierge; we asked for help with booking a ferry, and they asked if we had tried Google. You meet teenagers at breakfast, reception, concierge (which is just the people at reception), lunch, and other areas throughout the day. While most are very pleasant and smiling, they lack the experience to handle situations effectively and seem unaware of what the standard of the hotel should be. Complaining to them felt like a waste of time, so at checkout I didn’t even bother. We stayed for seven nights, and there was no “How was your stay with us?” because the clerk probably didn’t know that this is a question you normally ask a guest when they’re about to leave and pay an additional several thousand euros for food, drinks, and parking. We had hoped this could become a new summer holiday spot, but the beautiful surroundings were overshadowed by constant frustration over poor service. We observed obvious frustration from several other guests as well, every single day. This was a major letdown for a hotel that should be performing far better given its heritage and as part of Leading Hotels. For the hotel: You need to be way, way better than this. For potential gue

Clean nice great people