Our hiking vacation in Germany and Austria brought us to the pretty little town of Mittenwald for three days in September 2007, and after arriving by train, the tourist information office found us lodging at the Gästehaus Sonnenheim.

The Gästehaus Sonnenheim is conveniently located only a block or two from the train station, and right behind the tourist information office. A couple of minutes' walk takes you to the picturesque main street with its Bavarian wood-and-mural buildings and a pink cathedral. Shops and restaurants are all around, and on the Sunday that we stayed there, there was a street market that stretched for many blocks.

Our double room was charmingly decorated in a Bavarian theme, with a pine ceiling and lots of wood accents. The room and attached bathroom with shower stall were absolutely spotless. Some rooms have a balcony; ours did not. Although our room was located adjacent to the front entrance hallway, we never noticed any noise - the house is very well sound-proofed.

Our room had wireless internet access, which we really enjoyed having, to catch up with friends and family back home. We had our laptop with us but in almost two weeks of travelling to this point, we had found internet access hard to find. While we had been able to check our email occasionally at internet cafés, this was the first accommodation where we had in-room access (and we had paid more elsewhere) where we could take our time, send some photos, check the weather before heading out in the morning etc.

The front entry to the Gästehaus has a pleasant terrace - surrounded by typical Bavarian baskets of geraniums - with a view of the Karwendel massif and the cable-car. In the afternoon, coffee service is set up in the lobby area for guests to help themselves, and on returning from our day's hike, we enjoyed sitting out on the terrace with a good, fresh cup of coffee. We thought this was a wonderful little touch, one that we did not find in any other accommodations in this price range on our trip. We were also fortunate to have a chance to chat with Herr Kűffler one afternoon on the terrace as he tended to the geraniums (a full-time job in itself, we think!), but we most enjoyed making the acquaintance of Attila, their young and playful long-haired German Shepherd.

The same good coffee was also available in the morning. The breakfast buffet provided was a nice assortment, similar to what we'd had in other places - breads, sliced meats and cheeses, juice, cereal, muesli, yogurt etc. The breakfast room is all pine, and very cheery in the morning.

We loved our stay in Mittenwald - and we loved our stay at the Gästehaus.