In the easternmost part of Germany sits a magnificent town few may have heard of, but many may recognise. Gorlitz, with its rich collection of Renaissance, Gothic, baroque and art nouveau buildings, has been the location of many big budget Hollywood films, most recently the Wes Anderson-directed The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Located less than three hours east of Berlin in the Saxony region, and sitting on the border of Germany and Poland, the town offered the perfect visual extravaganza for Anderson's fictional Republic of Zubrowska, an eastern European nation torn apart by war and oppression.

In reality it is one of the few German towns not destroyed in the war, thus the magnificent patchwork of ornate architecture throughout the town spans many eras. It is not the first time a Hollywood cast and crew have rolled into Gorlitz. The Reader, starring Oscar winner Kate Winslet, was filmed there, legendary director Quentin Tarantino chose the area to shoot his 2009 German-American wartime drama Inglourious Basterds, and the town was also the location for 2013's The Book Thief, starring Geoffrey Rush.

For The Grand Budapest Hotel, Anderson wanted to capture the opulence, romance and sophistication of the luxury hotels of aristocratic Europe and he found it in an old disused department store in Gorlitz, which had been built around 1913. It was known as Gorlitz Warenhaus and the set designers transformed the art nouveau building, with its sweeping staircases, stunning stained-glass atrium, and huge chandeliers, into a beautifully lavish hotel.

Although the enormous steel-framed building with generous atrium is privately owned and remains closed to the public, it is worth taking a stroll past to peer through the big glass windows for an insider's view of where the actors spent months filming.

Interestingly, its top floor became the crew's production office. Anderson came close to buying the department store to save it from potential demolition or from falling into disrepair, but a private investor stepped in and has plans to reopen it as an upmarket department store next year.

The hotel's pool and spa featured in the opening scenes of the movie were filmed in an early 1900s bathhouse discovered in Gorlitz by location scouts. Unfortunately the baths are no longer in working order.

For the exterior shots of the powder pink Grand Budapest Hotel, Anderson created a miniature model but gained immense inspiration from Gorlitz's Hotel Borse in the main centre where the cast and crew stayed for the six-month shoot.

Anderson was also inspired by features from other eastern European hotels, including the Czech Republic's Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, about four hours' drive from Gorlitz, which was built in 1701 as a fashionable playground for the aristocracy. These days it is the playground for film stars, who flock to the hotel for the annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Bond fans will recognise it as the Hotel Splendide from Casino Royale.

Recent guests of Grandhotel Pupp, whose photographs adorn the hotel walls, have included Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman. Situated in a picturesque town, renowned for its curative hot springs, the hotel also attracts a clientele interested in making use of its in-house cosmetic surgery centre and day spa.

Although elaborate and palatial set pieces are among the most memorable parts of The Grand Budapest Hotel, desserts also play a starring role, in particular cakes from the fictional bakery, Mendl's. In reality, the cakes and pastries were made by a local Gorlitz baker, Anemone Muller Grossman, at her bakery and cafe, Cafe CaRe, located 30 minutes from Gorlitz in Kunstmuseum, Dresden. Sit in the sunny garden courtyard and sample some of her specialities, which include praline, handmade chocolates and pastries. Our favourite was white chocolate with sea salt and walnuts.

A full cafe menu with plenty of savoury options is also available for lunch and dinner, which can be enjoyed with a German beer or local wine. For those unable to make the drive to Grossman's bakery, she has a small store in the Gorlitz town centre stocked with all her handmade sweet treats. Also stocked are the distinctive pink Mendl's boxes seen throughout the film, which viewers may recall make their way into prison, where Ralph Fiennes' character is being held.

Also worth a visit is a porcelain shop, Porzellanhandmalerei Heidemarie Klinger, where the pendant the film's star, Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), gives to Agatha (Saoirse Ronon) was made. For dining options, Patrizierhaus St Jonathan in Gorlitz was a popular choice for the cast and crew, who feasted on schnitzels, steaks, pork loin and fish in the two-storey candle-lit restaurant.

Another favourite eating haunt was the hole-in-the-wall, Senfladen, which specialises in German mustards. A huge variety from mild to super hot can be sampled before purchase. The store also serves delicious bratwurst in rolls, with accompanying mustard of course, a great snack option or quick lunch for those in a hurry.

Coffee connoisseurs will revel in Espresso Bar Caffe Kranzel, which stocks about 50 varieties of coffee. Owner Thomas Bednarek reportedly spent many years in Italy perfecting his barista skills. Of course, visitors who want to sample Polish cuisine need only walk the short distance across the footbridge and the border to Zgorzelec. Near the bridge, next to Gorlitz's old city walls, is St Peter's Church, sections of which date from the 13th century.

Worth visiting is the Gorlitz synagogue, built between 1909 and 1911 and one of the few in Germany to have escaped serious damage during the 1938 Kristallnacht fire bombings.

Despite the cast and crew of The Grand Budapest Hotel checking out of Gorlitz long ago, rumours abound that it is soon to be used for another film shoot - prompting excited locals to jokingly rename their humble town Gorli-wood.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is available now on Digital HD and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 3.

The writer travelled as a guest of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

TRIP NOTES

GETTING THERE

Qantas operates daily A380 services from Sydney and Melbourne to Dubai, with daily onward connections with partner Emirates to Berlin. Return economy fares start at $1580. Phone 131 313 or see qantas.com.au. From Berlin, take a train to Gorlitz. Fares start from €43 ($61), one-way. See bahn.com

STAYING THERE

Ideally located in the town's centre, Hotel Borse, from which director Wes Anderson gained inspiration for The Grand Budapest Hotel, has double rooms from $106 a night.

See boerse-goerlitz.de

MORE INFORMATION

goerlitz.de; germany.travel

FIVE MORE HOTEL FILM LOCATIONS

1. THE SHINING

Horror buffs who want to relive the terror of The Shining, written by Stephen King, should head to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, north-west of Denver, Colorado. King wrote the bestselling novel in 1974 after spending a lonely night in room 217. Since the release of his book and the Stanley Kubrick film that followed, tourists have flocked to what has been dubbed "the most haunted hotel in America". See stanleyhotel.com

2. BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

Many filmgoers were inspired to head to India after watching the adventures of Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The actual hotel is a rural 17th-century palace, Ravla Khempur, in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, about an hour outside Udaipur. Organised tours of the film locations can be booked through numerous tour companies. See ravlakhempur.com

3. MAID IN MANHATTAN

New York's famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel has played host to Hollywood stars, presidents and royalty. But in 2001 it became a film location for the romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan, which tells the story of a single mother (Jennifer Lopez) who, while working as a maid at the Beresford Hotel, meets wealthy hotel guest Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), an heir to a political dynasty. See waldorfnewyork.com

4. PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT

The Australian outback was laid out in all its glory in the cult 1994 movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, with the iconic Palace Hotel in Broken Hill the location where the "girls" enjoy a colourful stopover on their pink bus adventure after leaving Sydney. Numerous scenes were filmed at the Palace Hotel, which quickly became famous for its mural-covered walls, described as "Italian Renaissance meets Outback". See palacehotelbrokenhill.com.au

5. PRETTY WOMAN

Hollywood A-listers and rock stars have been checking into the Beverly Wilshire in California for decades, among them Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Elton John and Mick Jagger. The Beverly Hills hotel gained worldwide attention when it played a starring role in the 1990 hit Pretty Woman. It was where Vivian Ward (played by Julia Roberts) earned a cool $3000 a day for her time in the presidential suite with Edward Lewis (Richard Gere). See fourseasons.com/beverlywilshire