A Bavarian hotel is facing a criminal investigation and has been removed from Booking.com after an Israeli family attempting to reserve a room received a message stating, “Sorry, there are no Jews allowed in our hotel.”

The family received the message on June 2 from Hotel Zum Hirschen, a 120-year-old family establishment in the Bavarian town of Lam, on the border with the Czech Republic, after attempting to book through Booking.com.

Following the message, the family filed a complaint with Booking.com and contacted Israel’s consulate general in Munich. They also lodged a complaint with the Bavarian Justice Ministry’s office for combating antisemitism, German outlet Die Welt reported. The Upper Palatinate Police Headquarters said the Regensburg Criminal Police have opened an investigation, and Booking.com removed the hotel from its platform.

The hotel initially denied sending the message, but later acknowledged that one of its employees had sent it, according to the Israeli consulate.

The hotel has since apologized, claiming the rejection was a mistake. It said it has been dealing for some time with fraudulent bookings and phishing attempts through Booking.com, and falsely assumed the booking request from Israel was one of these. In a statement on its website, the hotel said it “would like to make it unequivocally clear that we condemn all forms of discrimination,” adding that “the claim that certain groups are not welcome here is incorrect and does not reflect the facts.”

According to German journalist Tobias Huch, the hotel contacted the family directly, apologized, and provided evidence of previous phishing incidents.

The explanation did little to quiet the outrage. “Are we back in the 1930s?” said Talya Lador, Israel’s consul general to Southern Germany. “Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem. It is not an Israeli problem. It is a danger to democracy in Germany.”

Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, told N12 News that “something must be done. When they write ‘No entry for Jews’ they are no longer hiding.”

Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, said the motivation behind the message was ultimately beside the point. “In the end, it is almost secondary whether the author sent it out of hateful intent or simple thoughtlessness, because either way it describes the reality of many Jewish people, not only Israelis,” she said.

Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, also condemned the message while acknowledging the hotel’s apology.

The incident follows other recent cases of hostility toward Israeli travelers. In late May, a California hotel worker asked an Israeli couple, “Are you a baby killer?” and cheered “Free Palestine” as they exited the lobby, according to viral videos of the confrontation.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)