Hotel Goldner Anker in Bad Elster

The initial response to our table reservation was rather unfriendly. The food itself is very tasty, but changing a side dish costs an extra €2 (!!). Even a second helping of cranberries (it was just a small dollop on the dish) was charged at an additional €2 (!). In both cases, a heads-up from the waitstaff would have been appropriate; otherwise, we were surprised when the bill arrived. It was probably mentioned somewhere on the menu, but people might not have noticed it, as it's unusual for a restaurant in this price range (which isn't exactly cheap) and also unreasonably priced (the effort required for both requests was minimal). For comparison, we found €5.90 for dessert to be a reasonable price. It seems they don't prioritize customer loyalty, since they're constantly bringing in new people from rehabilitation and spa treatments. A real shame: despite the good food, we can only give this restaurant a qualified recommendation. If you don't care about the complete package of good food, reasonable prices, and good service, and you don't have any extra charges, then this is a good place to eat. However, since the overall package wasn't quite there in our opinion, we're only giving it 3 stars.