In late May 2007, my wife and our 12 year old spent a night at Becker's. This was part of a wine trip through Germany. I had made the booking before coming across this site and some of the critical reviews and was fairly apprehensive. I am pleased to say our experience was just fine.
The LOCATION:
It is a bit away from central Trier so make sure you print out a map before trying to find it by car. On the upside, it is well connected by bus, surrounded by vineyards (the point of our trip), quiet and easy parking. Within walking distance you will find the well-known Deutschherrenhof vineyard (referred to by a previous reviewer - get the owner himself to demonstrates his wines to you and pick up some good bargains), other vintners and a micro-brewery.
The HOTEL:
The hotel consists of two parts: a faux traditional "old Germany" style hotel (probably from the 1980s) and a brand new über-modern annex. We stayed in the old part - not to my taste aesthetically but reasonably priced, clean and generously sized. We asked to look at the rooms in the modern annex and they are very smart and would not be out of place in a design hotel in London or Mexico City or anywhere. I understand prices will be about double those for rooms in the old annex. If you'd rather spend your money on wine, or have children in tow, choose rooms in the old part.
The SERVICE:
We had no complaints. Staff were impeccably turned out but friendly rather than haughty, as well as competent.
The WINES:
I had never heard of them before as a winery. I tasted their 2005 Chardonnay and 2005 Riesling trocken (note the strange nose caused by a brief spell in a barrel) at the bar and thought they were fine. I bought the 2005 Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) and had it back home and was blown away - a fantastic wine, even at the proud price of €15 a bottle. Where Deutschherrenhof is very traditional German approach with an emphasis on off-dry wines, Becker's is trying to establish a more modern, fully dry style, with big pinot grape wines - I'm rather impressed.
The RESTAURANT:
We did not try it. The chef is the owner. I had a nice chat with him when we left, he is quite laid back.
SUMMARY:
I suspect previous commentators suffered from teething problems. Based on the treatment we received, I would say they realise they need to improve their act. -- As a German, I am tired of the lazy chintz that characterises so many German hotels and restaurants in smaller cities and rural areas. I think these people are seriously trying to break the mould with both their hotel and their wines and I hope they be rewarded for their guts. Clearly, they need to demonstrate good, effective service to succeed (and to deserve to succeed) but judging from our experience, they have taken on board previous criticism.
