Cochem

Not sure about river cruises, but Weingut Rademacher has rooms and some food services, and, of course, wine tasting, right next to the Bahnhof in Cochem. If you don't like their food selection, downtown Cochem, and a variety of restaurants, is just a few yards away.

We stayed at Hotel am Hafen. Lovely hotel across the walking bridge from the town sites. Beautiful balcony views of the castle, day or night, and river boats docking for the evening. Nice restaurant on premises with outdoor seating. Don't know about booking cruises from Cochem. It appeared to be a stop along the way, not a start/end point, but I may be wrong.

Cochem is a popular destination with plenty of river boat action: http://www.kolb-mosel.de/en/tours.php 2 years a go I stayed at Frau Hilken's B&B (again) just a couple of blocks from the center of town - about 20 Euros single w/breakfast, doubles available too. She's a great hostess and offers an ELABORATE breakfast, but she's elderly, and I can't say for certain whether she's still doing her B&B. She doesn't do English or computers, so unless you do German, this is a place to stop by and knock on the door. Gaestehaus Hilken Loehrstrasse 20
56812 Cochem/Mosel Tel. 02671 / 3234 Other Cochem options: "Haus Andreas" and "Zum Fröhlichen Weinberg" (this one is close to Frau Hilken's); scroll down to Cochem's offerings here: http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommodationsrhinemosel.html Food: I like the Italian food and the cool terrace at "La Bahia"; "Il Castello" is also good.

I stayed on at the Hotel Hieronimi, on the "Cond" side of the river. Nice family run hotel. My single room was only 55 euros, which I thought was very reasonable. The only real downside was it was a long walk from the train station, which was tiring after my hike to Burg Eltz. I had some really good almond-crusted fish for dinner on the Moselpromenade, a place called Gaststatte Noss.