Our Story
About us
Karin`s Guesthouse is a family run business, which was started by my parents Mike & Karin with just a single accommodation in Gillrath in 2001. Our first ever booking was a complete misunderstanding, with my dad double booking incoming requests which lead to our first ever guests sleeping in my old bedroom at my parent´s home. Pretty embarrassing, but it has resulted into a long and ongoing friendship with them.
A lot of time has passed since then, which brought a lot of experience and growth and up until now there have been no more double bookings ... We are currently operating 10 accommodations; 7 full family houses and 3 smaller apartments.
Through living in the US for more than 5 years, my family and I experienced the cultural differences from a German - US perspective and we know what it feels like to be new to a country. That is why we try our best to make your stay at our Guesthouse as comfortable and homey as possible.
In 2004 I married Alan, who at that time was a British Serviceman. We married in the pavilion (which my Dad built for us) in our back yard. Even our wedding was shared with friends and many former and current guests at that time. With it being a night wedding with an all-night party in our own back garden, it was an unforgettable experience and we would really like to thank Pastor Nunn of the Christian Powerhouse of Prayer who made it even better!
In 2003, I was living and working in Düsseldorf as a Procurement Manager for one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, when I slowly started to take on the accounting for our small Business. Finally in 2006, after my mom suffered a severe heart attack in 2003, I took over the business fully and now operate Karin´s Guesthouse together with my husband Alan.
Being married to Alan, an ex-British Serviceman and having first-hand experience with the Military Way of Life, we try to make Karin´s Guesthouse more than just a guesthouse!
All our accommodations have been designed with you as our guest in mind. From large LED TVs with over 300 English TV Channels, toys for the kids, to dog bowls and litter boxes for your pets, we try and make sure that you have everything you need. And if we don´t have what you´re looking for, just ask.
In 2015 we acquired our first fleet of VW Polo's to take our guests experience to another level. In 2017/2018 we replaced this fleet with the all new VW Golf & next generation VW Polo vehicles. All are equipped with built-in GPS/Navigation, ISOFix child seat connectors, All-season tires, Bluetooth Hands-Free and Automatic transmission. We have a car for each of our accommodations and they are for our guests to use throughout their stay with us.
We operate our own Airport Shuttle Service for the guesthouse which can be arranged for single newcomers, couples and also for larger families plus pets travelling with more than 10 suitcases.
All-in-all, we as a guesthouse and as a family try to make your transition as easy and comfortable as possible.
We hope you have a pleasant stay with us and can recommend us to your friends, family, colleagues and sponsors. We hope to greet you again as our guest when you PCS out of the Tri-border region in the future.
Jennifer & Alan, Karin & Mike
