Quote: After leaving Eisenach, our next port-of-call on our tour of Germany was Saxony, and in particular, the area around Dresden.
We wanted a hotel which would allow us to explore the surrounding area - perhaps take a detour into Poland or the Czech Republic, a visit to Saxon Switzerland sounded interesting too. We therefore decided on a motel just 6km from Dresden city centre, but with easy access to the autobahn system. Considering the Axxe Eliance Dresdner Tor SüdHotel Wilsdruff sits astride the A4 autobahn, access couldn't have been much easier.

We were a little dubious of booking this motel as we thought noise might be a problem, but, apart from the proxamity(sic) to traffic, the location was perfect. The price was pretty good too - we paid a miserly Euro39 per night, room only.


The hotel is a 3 Star motel which has some 64 rooms on two floors. It's actually set back a good 500m or so from the autobahn itself, so we were hopeful that traffic noise wouldn't be too bad.

We arrived at the motel in good time and proceeded to the check-in desk which isn't really in the motel building, but in the service area with the restaurant, shop and bar etc. This was a little confusing to find at first, and it didn't help when no-one seemed interested in dealing with us. However, someone eventually took pity on us, registered our details and we were soon in possession of our keycard.

The motel proper was but a short walk through a glass corridor. For security purposes, the door is locked and the room key doubles up as a front door key. The door was a little awkward to open, as you had to push the keycard right in and hold it there to open the door. This meant both hands were fully occupied - of course, this wasn't a problem if you weren't carrying anything, and what are the chances that you'd have bags or suitcases to weigh you down?
Inside the door was a quite impressive lobby with plenty of comfortable sofas and occasional tables, some magazines etc, and a couple of vending machines.

A quick right-turn led us down the passageway to our room.

Quelle surpise! From the outside, the motel gives the impression of a somewhat jaded, 60's-style concrete block. But the room was bright and modern, and looked as though it had never seen a guest previous to us - it was immaculate.

The room, while not large, was a decent size and came equipped with a large double bed (with twin mattresses) - and very comfortable it was too. Lots of storage space in the large wardrobe whose sliding doors doubled up as a full-size mirror. There was a rather small unit with shelves and a none-too-large TV sat on top (multi-lingual, but only news channels in English). We had a table and easy chairs in the corner, and the bedside cabinets were the fixed-to-the-wall-with-no-visible-means-of-support -variety. All the furnishings were in contrasting woods - beech, teak, mahogany etc., and all were in pristine condition and very attractive. Speaking of things being in pristine condition, the carpet - a rich, deep blue, looked like it was brand-new. There wasn't even a hint of a stain on it and the pile was luxurious.

There were plenty of lights dotted around, but what kept the pastel-lemon coloured room bright (during daylight hours at least) was the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall window that took up the whole of one wall. The windows opened up fully, but due to a barrier, there was no access to the outside (or from the outside...hopefully!).
Some nice pictures on the wall and silk flowers on the table kept the room looking homely and welcoming.

The bathroom was rather small, but spotlessly clean and well-lit. There was no tub, but a decent, walk-in shower which was powerful enough. The toiletries were fairly basic - shampoo/conditioner, shower-gel etc., s and there were no complaints regarding the towels. There was also a hair-drier next to the large mirror.

As for amenities, there are a couple of restaurants in the main service building - one is self-service, the other was quite a pleasant looking bistro. There's also a bar. Apparently, the motel has a sauna, but we didn't investigate further. There is plenty of open space around the motel and there is a play area for the kiddies. A nice feature was the large pond and gardens to the front of the main building. The ponds were well-stocked with fish, and there were lots of furry little things scurrying around in the undergrowth - squirrels mostly. For some unexplained reason, there was a railway carriage parked next to the building.

In conclusion, we were well satisfied with this hotel. The location was perfect for us, the room was immaculate, and the price was unbelievable.
On the downside, the room didn't have AC and as the weather was pretty warm, it was sorely missed. Leaving the window open during the day was fine, but, although with the window shut the traffic noise was negligible, it was a little too loud for sleeping through.
Another thing that irked me was the price of a bottle of water in the adjacent shop. Euro2.40 for 25ml!!!! Highway motel=highway robbery. It seemed like the only sensible thing to do under the circumstance was to stick to beer. But that's another story...

All-in-all I was very happy with this motel and would thoroughly recommend it.