My husband, Bobby, and I had the opportunity to celebrate our wedding anniversary by getting away from it all. We decided to go to an area we love to visit, Berlin, Ohio in the Amish Heartland. We visit the area often, but this time made it a weekend getaway. We stayed one night at the Berlin Grande Hotel. In a word, it was wonderful!
Driving up to the hotel, it sort of catches your breath. Bobby was right when he said it seemed majestic. (We entered from 62 East.) It sits up on a hill. This gives the hotel the chance to offer their guests breath taking views of the area. Granted, we visited in March, so the trees were bare and on this weekend it was snowy and overcast much of the time. Still I can imagine in the middle of summer, the green lushness of surrounding acres is beautiful. And in fall…forget about it! It would be gorgeous.
All the rooms either offer a balcony or a patio. We were on the fourth floor, so we had a balcony. Had it not been 30 degrees, we might have even braved sitting out on it. But that the option was there, made it that much more special.
Sometimes when Bobby and I travel, we just need a place to sleep. That is when we go to a motel with clean rooms and that’s about it. This time we wanted to make it something special. We wanted a place that had amenities for us to enjoy. Berlin Grande met the bill. Not only is the hotel beautiful, it also gives their customers a chance to sit back and relax. It gave us the opportunity to make some new memories.
We got to the hotel a little before their actual check in time. (Their check in time is 3:00 p.m.) They were very accommodating, because they let us check in early. Thank you, Tina!
After we took our luggage to the room and were truly floored by the luxuriousness of the spacious suite, we went back to the lobby. There we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies in front of the roaring fire place. Talk about romantic!
We had a brief conversation with Doug Burgess, the hotel’s manager, in which we discussed the beauty of the hotel and their focus on providing excellent service to their guests. Then we headed upstairs to change into our bathing suits. There was no way we were going to miss out on swimming in their “L” shaped, salt water pool. The pool was nice, if not a little cool. The hot tub, was wonderful. It was hot enough to be relaxing. Bubbly enough to work out some tense muscles. Secluded enough to allow for some privacy. (Might not have been so private if the little girl and her grandmother joined us, but thankfully they waited until we got out!)
After this, we went back to the room, ordered pizza from East of Chicago, and just chilled out. Christina, the sales manager, had up graded us to a suite, so we had a living room area with a couch and chair. We were able to enjoy the evening catching up on some TV shows we had missed. Their cable system, Time Warner Cable, allowed us to watch some shows on demand. Might not seem like a big deal to you, but it made my night.
In the morning, the hotel offers a free breakfast to their guests. The morning we were there, their hot buffet was stocked with biscuits and gravy, cheese omelets, and fried potatoes. There were also locally made sweet rolls available. Then, like most hotels, they had batter so you can make your own Belgian waffles. However, unlike other hotels, Berlin Grande had cinnamon batter as well as the regular batter. It was delicious!
We had another chance to speak with Doug. He made his way from table to table checking on the guests. He asked how our visit had been and if we needed anything. In the course of conversation, we discovered that the beds were locally made, pillow-tops. No wonder we woke up feeling refreshed and ready for a day of exploring Berlin and the Amish Heartland.
Everything was simply wonderful at the Berlin Grande Hotel. They made us feel welcomed and appreciated. They were available to assist and answer questions. (Thank you, Toni, for your patience with having to reset my key card!) Like their notepad says, they offer “Urban Style. Warm Welcome.” This was a great place to celebrate our anniversary!
Note: We had met Doug at the Christmas Cookie Tour in December and he invited us to come back and be his guests and write about our experience at the hotel.
