greenumbrella Posted July 25, 2015 #1 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Retirees and active duty personnel who do not live in Germany must now spend 30 days in Europe and have verification from the German customs office before they can use the resort. This is due to the Status of Forces Agreement not being met. "It is an unfortunate development and we're so sorry this may limit lodging options for service members and retirees visiting Europe." says the General Manager. Reservations made prior to June 10, 2015 will be honored. I found out when I tried to make reservations on July 10. What a disappointment for retirees like me. Also, we can't take their day excursions if we stay at a German hotel nearby. The good news is that anyone who is stationed in Europe should get reservations more easily! If you are there, use it while you can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverCityCruiser Posted September 15, 2015 #2 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Sorry to hear this, but thanks for the heads up. We do tend to stay for 30 days or more when we travel overseas, so we will have to make sure that we follow the new rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverCityCruiser Posted September 28, 2015 #3 Share Posted September 28, 2015 According to the current hotel site the 30 days needs to be in Germany, not just the EU. Too bad! It was a very nice place to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotlandbound Posted October 14, 2015 #4 Share Posted October 14, 2015 What? Does this apply to active duty? Armed Forces Recreation Centers should be for everyone who has eligibility to use military lodging, especially since I think taxpayer monies fund at least part of their operation. I encourage everyone to voice their concern regarding this change via the Army Family Action Plan Conference (submit an issue) and the Retiree Council on their local military installation or through organizations like MOAA and AUSA (they are having a senior leadership conference right now and were looking for issues/concerns last week- probably too late for this year though.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest debbiejohncruise Posted December 8, 2015 #5 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Retirees and active duty personnel who do not live in Germany must now spend 30 days in Europe and have verification from the German customs office before they can use the resort.This is due to the Status of Forces Agreement not being met. "It is an unfortunate development and we're so sorry this may limit lodging options for service members and retirees visiting Europe." says the General Manager. Reservations made prior to June 10, 2015 will be honored. I found out when I tried to make reservations on July 10. What a disappointment for retirees like me. Also, we can't take their day excursions if we stay at a German hotel nearby. The good news is that anyone who is stationed in Europe should get reservations more easily! If you are there, use it while you can! I can understand the Status of Forces Agreement not being met. Just glad we were able to use these AFRCs while we were stationed there for 6 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
808lady Posted June 18, 2016 #6 Share Posted June 18, 2016 What? Does this apply to active duty? Armed Forces Recreation Centers should be for everyone who has eligibility to use military lodging, especially since I think taxpayer monies fund at least part of their operation. I encourage everyone to voice their concern regarding this change via the Army Family Action Plan Conference (submit an issue) and the Retiree Council on their local military installation or through organizations like MOAA and AUSA (they are having a senior leadership conference right now and were looking for issues/concerns last week- probably too late for this year though.) The change is not due to Army leadership decisions but to host nation requirements. Garrison MWR does have lodging options just across the street on Artillery Kaserne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenumbrella Posted August 28, 2016 Author #7 Share Posted August 28, 2016 We actually visited Edelweiss while we were in Garmisch in May to make sure there had been no changes. Apparently because the AFRC does not collect German taxes from its guests, they have restricted who can use the facility! I'd gladly pay the taxes separately if that's what it took. Anyway we stayed at a German hotel for 2 nights and then went to Austria instead of spending 10 nights in Garmisch as we had planned when retirees were welcome. Garmisch has gotten so much bigger and busier than we remembered that we were actually glad to escape to a small Alpine town instead. Also a true European vibe instead of being surrounded by other Americans. Hope others who get turned away also have a good experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest debbiejohncruise Posted September 4, 2016 #8 Share Posted September 4, 2016 We actually visited Edelweiss while we were in Garmisch in May to make sure there had been no changes. Apparently because the AFRC does not collect German taxes from its guests, they have restricted who can use the facility! I'd gladly pay the taxes separately if that's what it took. Anyway we stayed at a German hotel for 2 nights and then went to Austria instead of spending 10 nights in Garmisch as we had planned when retirees were welcome. Garmisch has gotten so much bigger and busier than we remembered that we were actually glad to escape to a small Alpine town instead. Also a true European vibe instead of being surrounded by other Americans. Hope others who get turned away also have a good experience. We lived in Germany for 6 years and Belgium for 3 years and found that it's nice to get right into the community and not be surrounded by fellow Americans/Canadians in Garmisch. Beautiful little hotels and B&Bs around there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare knotheadusc Posted September 28, 2016 #9 Share Posted September 28, 2016 There are so many nice options around Garmisch. And if you're in Europe, isn't it better to be around Europeans? My husband and I are living in Germany together for the second time (he was here a third time before we met). During our first tour, we visited Edelweiss many times because he would go there on business and I'd tag along. This time, when we visited that area, we stayed in Lermoos, Austria. It was a lot more authentic and even less expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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