Le Cerf - Hôtel

We spent two nights here after finding the hotel by accident and were extremely pleased with our find. Marlenheim is supposedly the gateway to the Alsace wine route and we did drive around the local and interesting area pausing for lunch at chateau du haut-Barr (recommended but book or get there before 12.15) and sampling various local wines in several of the vineyard shops. The hotel is spacious, good value and rooms more than adequate, and breakfast good. The main restaurant is expensive but superb. We ate there both nights. What’s not to like?

This hotel and restaurant is held since generations by the same family. It was a pleasure to be there again. The room was cozy, we’ve passed an excellent and calm night. Beaucoup de Mets différents pour un copieux petit déjeuner. Nous avons pu jouir du soleil de l’après-midi dans la cour de l’hôtel. En plus, nous avons pu charger notre tesla dans le garage de l’hôtel. Weekend de Pâques très réussi! En plus, un personnel bien à la hauteur.

Uninteresting little village but original and pleasant courtyard. The room was very comfortable and the bathroom very well equipped. Gowns and slippers and original Alsacian sitting area with table and chairs. Comfortable couch in this large room.

We had heard very positive feedback of friends so we were looking forward to a super meal. Maybe we were not lucky because the local rotarians had their annual diner that night. We took the "menu de la saison". Lobster salad with fennel. The fennel did go very well with the lobster and was quite delicious, but in contrast, the lobster lacked taste. Had it been frozen? The "sandre" from the Rhine was delicious, lots of taste with a very buttery sauce. Top! The chevreuil (roe deer) was a bit of a disillusion. While roe deer can be very tender and tasteful this was too hard and lacked taste. Probably, the meat had had no time to age. The dessert with apricots was a quite heavy cake with a few slices of apricot, which missed aroma. I had asked for the wine pairing. 3 glasses, two Riesling and a pinot noir. Of course of the Alsace, but we were just shown the bottle and did not get any further explanation. "Why this wine, what makes it special, why does it match the food?" The sommelier was there just in the beginning to take the order, but did not come back to explain. All in all quite a decent meal, but not the unforgettable experience in a star restaurant, which we had been hoping for, and which would have been in line with the price.