sleeping near Neuschwanstein

Looks like it is within walking distance of the castles, which probably means you will come out on the bus from Füssen with your luggage rather then leave it at your hotel in Füssen. Is that a problem for you? And if, in the evening, after touring the castles, do you want to go into Füssen for dinner, maybe shopping. Then you'll have to take the bus back and forth, anyway. I think I might prefer to stay in town and take the bus out during the day, but it's probably whatever you prefer.

We (family of four)stayed at Hotel Alpenstuben, which is in Hohenschwangau, maybe just across the street from the hotel you mentioned? So while I can't comment on the hotel specifically, we really enjoyed staying so close to the castles. Hohenschwangau is very small, so if you are looking for a lot a dining and shopping options it probably isn't for you, but we loved being able to walk to both castles and Tegelberg (cable car and summer luge). We toured each castle during the day, but both in the morning and in the evening, we walked to the castles when practically no one else was around. Hohenschwangau is a very short walk up a short path that is mostly stairs; Neuschwanstein is a longer walk that really isn't far, but is fairly steep. You can also take a short carriage ride to each castle. We arrived by car, but never moved our car the two days we spent there. It is easy to take the bus to/from Fuessen.

The bus between Füssen and Hohenschwangau is indeed easy, but understand that the regularly scheduled buses only run until just after 7 PM. After that, until 11 PM, there is an AST (Anruf Sammel Taxi, "call-up shared taxi) which runs the same route for the same fare, but only if reserved an hour in advance by calling the number shown on the Bahn website, 08362-6222 or -7700 (how's your German?). Other than that, it's a 2½ mile walk.

Hey, I'm not saying don't stay in Hohenschwangau, just understand the limitations. In the US, I'm a night person, but somehow, with the time change, in Germany I'm up at 6 AM, ready to go, hungry as a bear. I tour hard all day, and by 10 PM I'm ready for bed. I might be tempted to stay in Hohenschwangau, but I'm concerned about the limited dining possibilities. You might have more choices in Füssen. In fact, I might be more likely to stay in nearby Pfronten and commute in.

Can't offer advice on hotels, but for what it's worth, we stayed in Fussen for 2 nights just so we could have one full day to do both castles and wished we had stayed in a hotel close to the castles instead. That's the whole reason why we were there and would have enjoyed that so much more.

We've stayed twice in Schwangau, the most recent at the Hotel Waldmann. There are several nice restaurants -- most attached to inns or pensions. And, we've met lots of German families who stay there as a part of an active(usually cycling) vacation. I think it's been great to get to the castles early before everyone else!

"I think it's been great to get to the castles early before everyone else!"

Kelley, how early do you want to get there? The first bus from Füssen takes 5 minutes and gets to Hohenschwangau at 6:16. In the summer the ticket center opens at 8 AM; castle tours don't start until 9.