hofbrau river front hotel - Helen, Georgia

Rae F.

My boyfriend and I spent the night for Valentine’s Day. It was advertised as a river front view with a king size bed. Bed was a king, but zero view of the river. The bathroom was disgusting, there was feces on the toilet and wall, the bathroom countertops were dirty and gross, there was weird stains in the bathtub and it dripped. The mirrors definitely haven’t been cleaned in some time. The three pillows that were provided on the king size bed were incredibly flat, the bedding had dirt and debris in it, which tells you it hasn’t been changed. The fireplace they advertised was out of order. The bed itself was so hard that cement was softer. For over $200.00 a night you would expect to have a bit more cleanliness and comfort. Additionally there was beer caps on the floor from previous tenants. This place has such potential but very poor and lazy execution. There was old pieces of furniture outside our door and the keys didn’t like to work. I have pictures but unfortunately I don’t have an option to post on here. Will be posting across other review platforms.

Please do better.

Tracy G.

We have stayed in Helen many times but this was the first time in this hotel. We spent 2 nights and honestly my skin is still crawling.
I understand if a hotel is older, but there is no excuse for dirty.
There were visible signs of bugs, several dead in the shower, the sink was dirty, the walls and doors look like they have never been cleaned, the towels and blankets were stained. The room smelled of stale cigarette smoke. It was just all round pretty nasty.
Perfect location but that's the only thing this place has going for it.
I can only hope we didn't bring any of the bugs back in our bags!

Kristin B.

This was a last minute decision to go up a day early on our vacation. It's an older place and could definitely use some extra TLC but the price was great, the location was great, the host was great. I'm very picky when it comes to hotels and this was no different. I understand it's under new management and they are working to spiff up the place. Not my ideal place to stay, but it served its purpose! Didn't see any bugs, wasn't roudy, and walking to the hot spots was easy.

Kimberly S.

The man at the desk was very nice and accommodating as we came into town very late at night and didn't have a reservation. Our room, considering the property is an older motel, was clean and we didn't see any sign of bugs. Our towels were fresh and white. We did enjoy the coffee and fresh fruit from the breakfast area. Over all we had a wonderful stay and will be back!!!

Pep T.

Loved our stay here. A few things you should know before booking.
1. Call to make reservations, do not use a booking site. This hotel is very old and under renovation. In order to get a good clean room, you need to call. Booking.com set us up with a smoking room & there was no way to change it so I called instead.
2. This hotel is being mostly ran by ONE person. The manager(Mark)was extremely nice and helpful❤️ literally bent over backwards to make our stay a good one. He has only been working there for a few months and is working real hard to clean the place up.
3. Our room was very clean and sanitized with bleach, which is typical for older hotels.
The pillows aren't the most comfortable so bring your own pillows. There's no closets in building 100 which is the building with the newer rooms however there was a dresser. Comes with a mini fridge, microwave, and a large TV. The Wifi was as expected being up in the mountains and on the far side of the building from the office, so the TV streaming channels didn't work well so we just smart casted to the TV from our phones.
We are not bouji people so we found the age of the hotel nostalgic and the price was amazing. It is literally on the edge of town with a great restaurant right next door, (Hofdrauhaus) and less than a 5 min walk to all the shops & a very nice liquor store around the corner from the hotel.
The hotel has old timey park grills on the river walk, with picnic tables and a small fire pit so you can sit by a fire and watch the river. It has steps down to the river as well.
Imo this hotel was a very good investment for our mini Xmas vacation. The manager even let us stay parked at the hotel after we checked out so we wouldn't have to pay for
parking while we went to visit all the shops.
Also I noticed they let an RV park in their parking lot. Dunno the cost but you could tell the manager went out of his way to keep an area clear to accommodate them, don't know if that's a regular thing or if he was doing them a solid.
4. The breakfast offered is like hitting up a convenient store for breakfast with Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, muffins & fruit. The coffee was really good, don't know the brand but it, tea, & hot cocoa are available 24/7
Over all it was an amazing stay. If you like pampered luxury you will complain, but if you're a rustic person who likes it quiet & cares more about the adventure and less of fancy pillows and like saving money on a trip, this is the hotel for you. They also accommodate pets.
There is a pool but I can't review it bc it was closed for the season.
As for the bug complaints I've seen in the reviews, pls remember old buildings have old doors that can be drafty, & an occasional bug during the summer time while staying on a river bank is to be expected. I saw no bugs during our stay, but it is the middle of winter.
This beautiful hotel just needs the funds for the remodeling which I believe the manager is doing on his own, so go give this place some love.
We will be returning.

Jacquelyn M.

The location is convenient to all nearby activities and is located right on the water. The gentleman running the show was friendly and accommodating. Rooms are outdated but there is a lot to do in the area, so it doesn’t matter.

Mrs. B.

Only reason it gets one star is because they did come put new sheets on my bed when I saw how filthy and dirty the sheets , blanket, and pillows were. I have never stayed in such filth in my life. Could not walk with out shoes in our room from the spills and dirt left from previous people that stayed in the room. I put a towel in the bottom of the bath to stand on so I could have peace of mind not to touch the hair that was in the gross tub from previous people.. Do yourself a favor , go some where else.. my god its nasty.

Bobbi -. B. (.

I won't return to this place because of the lack of sanitation. The first room was so dirty, and there was no place to hang clothing. When we pulled the bedspread back, there was hair on the sheets and pillows. My daughter went back to the office, and they put us in another room. That was just a little bit better, and I still had hair on the linens. We had already paid for 5 days, and there was a no refund policy. My daughter insisted that the linens would be changed and the room cleaned while we were out the next day.