ARVENA Kongress Hotel - Hotel in der Wagnerstadt

The clue is in the name: "Kongress" is German for "Conference". This is basically a large (600+ room) hotel catering to the conference market for most of the year and offering accommodation for the Festival in the summer. It is extremely efficient - a shuttle bus to the Festspielhaus and back, wonderfully efficient breakfast, charming and capable people on reception etc. The restaurant is excellent - fantastic German food (pork shoulder highly recommended), efficient and friendly staff. The bar is also good.

This is my second time staying at Arvena Kongress, the first was in 2022; both was during the Bayreuth Festspiele. This hotel seems to be one of the hotels of choice in the town for the festival, since almost all guests are attending the opera (Bayreuth is probably a curious choice to visit in the summer if you're not there for the festival, since prices are higher then). The hotel does many things especially for the festival season, including a reception of free pouring prosecco and other soft drinks with light snacks 2hrs before the performance; there is a free dedicated coach bus that runs 1hr leading up to the performance that will take you up the hill to the Festspielhaus, which saves you uphill steps (and also this old time-y antique looking wagon that is much smaller and starts trips 2hrs before the performance); you can also reserve to have dinner on return in the evening (for extra charge) after the opera, which is convenient because there are only so many restaurants in town open after 10pm and willing to take festival guests late - you pay for this "convenience" of course, because the food is mediocre and somewhat expensive. The breakfast is rather nice for a European standard, there is an entire table of all the different breads you could want, cold meats/cheese, fruit, yogurt, musli, eggs/bratwurst/bacon, and an egg cooking station; the ubiquitous free flowing prosecco is there again, so you can drink mimosas to your heart's content every morning; and as the morning goes on, I think around 11am, more hot foods are brought out as part of a brunch offering, for those sleeping in. I do believe this extended breakfast offering is a special thing just for the festival season, however. The room is comfortable for 2 at a good size, very clean, with mini fridge, small tv, free bottled water, and little packets of shoe sponge, sewing kit, Emory board (these you don't find at too many hotels these days).

I often go to this hotel during the Wagner festival as it perfectly fits my needs during the festival. This is conveniently located between the Festspielhaus, the main train station, and the city center. Moreover, everything is organized around the festival during that period, which is very convenient and enjoyable. The breakfast buffet in the morning is fantastic.

The breakfast is superb, catering for every taste. The friendly, courteous staff make sure that the supply doesn’t run out and are very attentive at clearing away used dishes. The ladies who clean the rooms are excellent. They always ensured that the time suited us and gave us a friendly greeting in passing.

Wonderful breakfast. And it turned into a delicious brunch about 11:00AM. They had transportation to the operas in a classic bus to get there, and a regular but to bring us back. And while we were waiting to go to the operas, they had sparkling wine, coffee, and lots of pastries and such in the lobby, to get of off to a good start. Also, it's within walking distance of the Festival Theater.