art'otel Cologne, part of Radisson Hotel Group

“Enjoyable stay.”

I really enjoyed my stay here. I was working for 12 days in town doing a job that wasn't going well, so this was a welcome sanctuary away. The staff here were fantastic, always very helpful, courteous and ready to help with any request. The breakfast buffet had a really varied selection of food and… more

I really enjoyed my stay here. I was working for 12 days in town doing a job that wasn't going well, so this was a welcome sanctuary away. The staff here were fantastic, always very helpful, courteous and ready to help with any request. The breakfast buffet had a really varied selection of food and drink. It was very nice when I chose to eat outside on a sunny morning. The bed was very comfortable as were the pillows. The shower was enjoyable, roomy and warm! The room was very clean and had a nice big TV. I was lucky enough to have a river view, it was nice looking outside onto the water. It is located just a 10 minute walk from a big square with lots of bars and restaurants. I would recommend staying here, and I'd be happy to return.

less

“Christmas trip to Germany”

Very pleased with our stay in the hotel. Room very comfortable and great view of the Ferris wheel. Receptionist Alessandro was very welcoming and friendly certainly looked after us and made our trip special. Would highly recommend to anyone planning a trip to Cologne. Forgot to mention the breakfas… more

Very pleased with our stay in the hotel. Room very comfortable and great view of the Ferris wheel. Receptionist Alessandro was very welcoming and friendly certainly looked after us and made our trip special. Would highly recommend to anyone planning a trip to Cologne. Forgot to mention the breakfast was of a high standard.

less

“Bad day or par for the course?”

Argh - so much went wrong with this stay all at once. First, the basics. The hotel itself was fine. Located central to the locations we needed with a cute Christmas market just steps away. Rooms were comfortable. A little weird having the sink in the bedroom but OK. Bath soap was not provided in … more

Argh - so much went wrong with this stay all at once. First, the basics. The hotel itself was fine. Located central to the locations we needed with a cute Christmas market just steps away. Rooms were comfortable. A little weird having the sink in the bedroom but OK. Bath soap was not provided in the shower so we had to keep moving the hand soap back and forth. Little annoying and odd but hey, adapt. However, the headaches started right when we arrived. The hotel had to have immediate maintenance done on the electricity, which meant there would be no power from Noon to 6 pm. We arrived right before noon. We found out because of a sign posted at the check in counter. We had not received an email or text telling us of this issue, and all of us felt fortunate that we were not arriving for an event we had to get ready for. We were using three rooms in total so had three separate agents checking us in. All but one of us had fairly rude agents. We chalked it up to them just having a frustrating morning with the difficulties, but it still was not a pleasant welcome after spending the morning travelling. Nothing was offered to make up for the inconvenience. Two of our rooms were ready early so we all piled in so one of us could take a quick shower before we lost hot water, another one could scramble to use their laptop for quick work emails before it shut off, etc. Then the fire alarm started going off and did not stop. After about fifteen minutes of that, we just headed out. We returned before dinner to shower and change and access the final room. When we opened the door, we saw we had been given a king bed instead of two separate ones. Not what we requested and paid for. Went back to the desk, which couldn't assist us because the power was still out and they could not access the reservations. We were told to return when the power was back on, at which point we would have been out for dinner. Again, nothing offered for the inconvenience. By this point we were exhausted. We tried to disturb the room as little as possible so the cleaning staff would not have to redo everything, but it was just one more hassle added to the day. The last and most annoying incident happened when we returned that night and tried to access the room. Locked out. Its late. Its been raining. Its been a day. We're tired. We're heading back into a room we didn't want. Thinking my key had been demagnatized, I went all the way back down to the lobby to retrieve my friend's key, back up to the room, and again, locked out. When I went to the desk, I was told that I was locked out because we had not paid the 20 euro city tax. Mother of God. How could I pay the tax when the computers were down for the majority of daylight? Why didn't they put a note on the door asking us to come to the front desk to resolve the issue instead of leaving us wondering what had gone wrong with the key? Locking us out for 20 euro when the hotel had our credit cards, which had been verified, and we had been nothing but understanding with the multitude of problems the entire day? Another friend was similarly locked out because her card, which cleared earlier, was now rejected because it was a brand they apparently don't accept (???). Look, I know things happen, emergencies come up, frustrating things happen. These just all happened at once, and easy fixes that could have been done to accomodate weren't done or thought about. The staff people I dealt with were fine. Others my friend had weren't. The staff could have done very minor things to make up for all of the errors that weren't their fault, but didn't, and unfortunately it has left a sour taste about the whole stay. Thank God we had Tobias at the bar who helped us drown our sorrows in a tasty way.

less