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Fjord Hotel (Berlin, Germany)
by fizzywizzy Picking a hotel in Berlin is not easy. Not only is it a huge city, it has no obvious centre and its attractions are spread out. We chose the Fjord Hotel on the basis of cost, (lack of) amenities (for we have no special requirements) and location and booked as part of a flights/hotel deal through Expedia. I had a look at reviews of the ... hotel and at the hotel's own website prior to booking and the opinions I found were mostly positive. We flew into Tegel Airport and we found clear instruction on how to reach the hotel on their website. From Tegel we took the express bus service X9 to Zoologischer Garten and from there we had to travel a couple of stops on the U2 line to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park, from there it's a five minute walk to the hotel. The directions give a slightly longer walk than is necessary but we soon found a short cut through the residential estate beside the hotel. The surrounding area is largely residential and it's not on a main road so it was a very quiet setting. There is a small parking lot under the hotel and there are parking spaces just outside, still on the hotel grounds so drivers need have no concerns about safe parking. Initial impressions were good though it's a rather non-descript building that could be an apartment building if you didn't know it was a hotel. Almost everything inside and outside of the hotel is painted white: the 'Glacier Hotel' might have been a better name. One thing that was immediately noticeable was that the doorways were wide and there was no step into the hotel. The floor sloped up towards the reception area. I'm not sure whether this hotel has any rooms suitable for wheelchair users, but I do hope so because the public areas certainly seem well designed for that purpose. Another couple were checking in before us and we weren't acknowledged until it was our turn to be served which I think would have been a nice gesture. The lady who dealt with us was very businesslike and efficient, and spoke excellent English but I wouldn't describe her as friendly, in fact she pulled a face when we said we didn't have a credit card with us. According to the hotel website there is paid for wireless internet throughout the hotel. We had brought a lap top but didn't use the hotel's wi-fi in the end as we spent so little time in the hotel it wasn't worth the charge. We learned the charge from a notice posted in the lift. (Euro1.50 per hour, Euro5 for 24 hours) The receptionist did not tell us that wi-fi was available when we checked in, in fact she told us only which number our room was and that we should use the key to access both the main hotel door and our room when there was no receptionist. Our room was on the first floor and after a couple of dead ends we found it; it's only a small hotel but it would be helpful if there were some signs advising you of which rooms are on which corridor. Check in is from 2.00pm and we had arrived not long after 1.00pm; the rooms next to us were being serviced but ours was ready. The first thing we noticed was the unpleasant smoky smell; smoking is not permitted inside the hotel but clearly it must have been allowed fairly recently as the carpet in our room had a deep, lingering stale smell. Later when we came back to the hotel, the smell of new smoke was really strong on our corridor; someone must have been smoking on the fire escape and had probably, due to the cold, stood in the doorway to smoke, rather than going outside and closing the door behind them. There are 3 grades of room - basic, lifestyle and two penthouses. We stayed in a basic room. The hotel website explains how the basic and lifestyle differ. The room was quite spacious although the space wasn't necessarily where you'd want it. There was spacious built in wardrobe, a well lit desk-cum-dressing table with a large mirror behind it and two tub chairs and a two seater sofa arranged around a small coffee table, as well as a fair-sized double bed. A television that was slightly too large for the room was perched on a small cupboard; its position was really good for neither the bed nor the seating area. The en suite was bigger than I'd expected, as was its washbasin which had (according to Himself who has a superior spatial awareness to my own) near enough the same area as the shower tray. The bathroom was spotless which it really had to be, given that it was almost entirely white; the crack in the washbasin let down the appearance of the room. There were no complimentary toiletries but there was a very pleasant smelling hand/body wash in a wall mounted dispenser. I did find the shower tricky to adjust for temperature at first but once a happy medium was found we didn't have to alter the shower again. The towels were a bit on the titchy side but they smelled very fresh and were soft. Now, I'm allergic to feather pillows and I had made a request through Expedia to have synthetic pillow but the pillows on the bed contained feathers. The young man servicing the rooms was still next door so I asked for another one. He brought another one with feathers so thinking he has misunderstood I asked again at reception on our way out. I was told they only have pillows with feathers but that they would look for a synthetic one for me. The problem is not just the dust mites, but the actual feather itself that I am allergic too; besides I find feather pillows too soft and hate the way they bunch up around your head. When we returned there were still feather pillows on the bed. I went to reception and was shown the label that says these pillows are suitable for allergy sufferers. I was told that this pillow was all they had and that they would not be able to produce an alternative during my stay: a stiff neck for me then. We hadn't booked breakfast when making our reservation and when we saw the price listed (again) on a notice in the lift) we remembered why not: Euro12.50 per person. We'd much rather grab something on the go and we were able to find plenty of places for a pastry and coffee a five minute walk away on Postsdamer Strasse. A lot of people appeared to have gone for the breakfast option, perhaps because of the convenience; however, when you can stay in the hotel for as little as Euro44 for a double room, Euro12.50 per person for breakfast seems silly. (Prices tend to go up at weekends and appear to rise to as much as Euro84). The breakfast room doubles as a restaurant and bar in the evenings. It was always closed by the time we got back so I can't comment on it other to say that it wasn't the sort of hotel bar that is a source of noise late at night. There was no fridge in the room but there was a small basket of drinks and snack items that could be purchased and prices seemed to me typical for hotels in western Europe. Hotel Fjord looks from its publicity material to be a somewhat hip and stylish place. In truth it is a clean (if not always fresh and fragrant) budget hotel that is surely one of the best deals in Berlin with permanently low prices and one that offers a higher level of comfort than you'd expect for hotels of this kind in a major European capital city. In terms of room standard it's on a par with the UK's Premier Inn or Travelodge chains; characterless but absolutely fine for tourists who are going to be out from early till late. Some new carpets, or at least a Shake'n'vac each time the room is serviced, would make a dramatic improvement, as would the addition of a little more lighting. There are bedside lamps, a light over the desk and an overhead light over the useless piece of floor space as you enter the room. If you wanted to sit and read on the sofa, however, you'd find this a poorly lit spot. I would rate this hotel differently depending on the type of customer. It's not so great for business travellers but great for tourists who need nothing more than a good value comfortable place to sleep. http://www.fjordhotelberlin.de/fjord_hot​el_berlin_anfahrt.aspx?lang=en Read the complete review |
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Hotel Kronprinz (Emden, Germany)
by MALU I can't remember why I chose the Hotel Kronprinz (Crown Prince) for my one-night stay in Emden. The town is small and has only few hotels, maybe the others were all full or out of my price range. I knew that the hotel wasn't near the station but couldn't find out on the net how far it was to walk. I called the reception and ... learnt that I would probably reach it in a quarter of an hour. With a trolley whose handle is too short for me and which therefore always hits the back of my heels this was not appealing, so I decided to take a taxi. This cost 6 Euro. As I also had to take one back to the station the next day, the price for the room wasn't only 55 Euro but actually 67, too much for what I found. From the net: "Reception open from 7 am to 9 pm (weekdays); up to 10 pm (weekend)" I arrived in front of the hotel some minutes before 8 pm. The building has two entrances, the right one leads to a Greek restaurant, the left one to the hotel. I climbed up some stairs, opened the door and stood in a long hallway. The first door to the left is the breakfast room with the inviting sign 'Vips only' . Then comes the staircase leading up to the three floors on which the twelve rooms are situated. Beyond the staircase I saw a closed window behind which is a tiny room serving as the reception. Nobody in. At the back of the hallway a door opens onto the parking area of the hotel. A man was standing in the door smiling at me in a friendly way. When I asked him if he was the receptionist, he declined, but he said the man I was looking for was probably still on the premises as his car was still outside. I waited for some time but nobody came. I started to panic, how would I get to my room? The noise from the Greek restaurant behind the right wall of the hallway set a train of thoughts in motion. When I had called, the man had said something about the key to be got at . . . I couldn't get the rest of the sentence then but gathered that he might have meant 'the Greek restaurant'. I asked the friendly man if it was possible that I had to fetch my key next door. He said he wouldn't know. So I went to the Greek restaurant where a waiter did indeed fish my key out of a basket. So much for the opening time of the reception. What if I hadn't called at all? Would it be too much to ask to pin a sheet of paper onto the window of the reception directing the guests to the Greek restaurant? My room was on the second floor, the hotel has no lift, the friendly man had disappeared meanwhile and I had to schlepp my suitcase up myself. Fortunately, I always travel light. When I opened the door, my first impression was, "Small and dark". The hotel was built in 1904 but was renovated the last time in 2006. I wonder why the interior decorator decided to put heavy, dark curtains on either side of the window and choose furniture in dark wood. The double bed nearly occupies the whole room, if the door didn't open into the corridor, it wouldn't be possible to get the suitcase(s) inside. Many tourists going to one of the East Frisian islands in the North Sea use Emden as a stop-over before they take the ferry, I can't imagine how they get enormous suitcases full of holiday stuff in. A dark desk, dim lights, why was I not surprised? The clou of the room, however, is the 'wardrobe'. As I've already mentioned, the room is rather small (~ 3,5 m x 2,5 m), so why stuff it with a wardrobe? Beside the door to the bathroom two boards are nailed to the wall, a long one vertically and a short one at the top horizontally thus forming a right angle. Under the short horizontal one a metal bar is fixed with some wire coat hangers one gets at the dry cleaner's. I found that so depressing. I had to think of representatives of cheap enterprises who have to travel through the country and spend their nights in such grotty rooms. Who knows how many have ended depressed or have ended their lives prematurely? I don't know if the room was clean, I didn't check, it would have been to dark to do so anyway. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. The bathroom is surprisingly light and spacious but as I didn't spend my time there, my spirits didn't lift. Room and bathroom face the street, I can't say that it's a very loud one, but as we don't have traffic at night in front of our house, I'm not used to noise from the street. Good that I had packed earplugs. From the net: "This hotel is located in the heart of Emden." As Emden is a small town, the heart is also small. The hotel is definitely too far away from it to allow such a remark. If anything, it's in the liver or somewhere in this region. I strolled down the street for a short while but didn't reach anything interesting and as it was getting dark, I went back to the hotel. I didn't feel like eating Greek food, but there is no other eatery nearby, so I went back to my room hungry, drank the complimentary tiny bottle of water and watched TV until my eyes closed. From the net: "Begin your day with a delicious breakfast buffet". When I entered the breakfast room 'Vips only' (Ha!), I found four other guests there, but again no one from the staff showed up. I'm a very modest breakfaster and can't complain about the quantity on offer, it certainly was enough for me. But it was all presented without love if you know what I mean. For example, jam or soft cheese which is sold in plastic containers was not filled into glass or porcelain bowls, the lids of the plastic containers were opened and that was it. The buffet looked as if someone had prepared it who doesn't know a thing about making guests feel good and doesn't care. From the net: "The following credit cards are accepted: American Express, Visa, Euro/Mastercard, Maestro". When I had finished breakfast, I went to the reception which was open, hooray, and a man was sitting behind the window, hooray again. But I also spotted a sign, 'No credit cards accepted'. I asked if that was indeed the case and he said, "Yes, cash only." Fortunately I had enough with me, otherwise I would have had to make an excursion into the town to find a bank. Interestingly, the comments on the net range from enthusiasm to utter damnation. My verdict is that two stars are just right. There is still room below it, for one star or none at all, but there is much, much room above it. From the receipt: "We'd be glad if we could welcome you soon again in our hotel." No, I don't think so. Read the complete review |
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Hotel Conti (Münster, Germany)
by MALU I travelled to the city of Münster by train and therefore looked for a hotel near the train station. Of course, it's always loud near a train station, but I didn't feel like walking through the streets with my trolley or using public transport or a taxi. I read on the net that Hotel Conti is situated directly opposite the station, that ... and the special price of 56,05 Euro for a single room/one night made me book a room there (parking space available for guests who come by car). A walk of about 10 minutes takes one to the city centre, another advantage. The photo on the homepage of the hotel shows an unimaginative building, it's an eight-storey high box-like structure without any ornaments. But who cares for the outside, the inside is what counts for a passing tourist, isn't it? Entering the hotel one finds a light area with the reception to the left, the luggage room straight on and the lift behind a corner to the right. Directly to the right is the breakfast room. The young woman I met when I checked in was very friendly and helpful as was the young man I saw the following morning when checking out and paying the bill (by credit card). The room I got was indeed a single room and not a double room made up for one person as is so often the case (The hotel has 80 rooms in total, 50 of which are single ones). This means it was of rather small proportions, about 5 m long and 3 m wide. Nothing to be said against that, but the room has the charm of a 1950 youth hostel. Four stars, my back bottom! To the right of the door is a big mirror, beside it the wardrobe. Further on stands the obligatory desk all hotel rooms have. It occupies a lot of space, is ugly more often then not and serves for nothing. Why oh why, can't there be a comfy armchair and a small table instead? Nowadays many people travel with their lap tops, a small table would be enough to put it on. The desk seems to be made of light wood but it's really only a plastic cover with a light wood pattern glued on as the occasional bubbles in the surface show. The desk has drawers on the right and on the left side which aren't necessary in my opinion as the wardrobe is rather spacious. It would be a good idea to put a mini bar under the desk, but there is none. The room doesn't have air conditioning, a fan stands on the desk instead. When I entered the room, it was quite warm but I opened the window rather than switching on the fan. The window is really three windows side by side. The right one opens to the right, the left one to the left (German windows have hinges, they aren't pushed up or pulled down like English ones). The middle window, bigger than the side ones can't be opened. Why? So that no one can jump out? But the side windows are big enough to squeeze through should a not too fat guest wish to do so. I was on the fifth floor and I must say I was surprised that I could open the windows there. (I wonder if it's also possible on the eighth floor). Of course, if I jumped out of the window to end my life, it would be my loss, but it would also be awkward for the hotel, wouldn't it? The bathroom with a shower cubicle was clean and offered soap, shower gel and tissues. What I always deplore is that I can't read in bed in hotel rooms because the lamps are nearly always at the side of the bed which means that the light doesn't shine on the book, besides it's also nearly always too weak. The lamp in the room in Hotel Conti looks good, it's fixed to the headrest, is bright and shines directly on the book you're holding in your hands, Alas, the headrest is too low and you have to lie flat on the pillow while reading. This means you have to hold the book up which can get tiring after a while. So nothing is gained by this construction. The bed itself is OK, I slept well, my earplugs blocked the noise from the square in front of the station and from the TV of the neighbouring room. What makes the room so simple and uncosy is the cheap 'wood' and the PVC flooring, there isn't even a nice picture on the wall to give it some atmosphere. I found a piece of terry cloth on the bed which obviously was meant to serve as a bedside carpet. One wrong step and the guest slides on it across the PVC flooring and ends somewhere in the furniture. When it comes to breakfast hotels earn good money with me because I eat very little. Smoked beef sausage, good God, you would have to force-feed me! I took a slice of pumpernickel, though, after all Münster is the capital of Westphalia and pumpernickel is its most famous speciality. The word has entered the English language but in case not everyone knows it let me tell you that it is "a type of very heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with coarsely ground rye. It is now often made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye berries. . . German pumpernickel is often paired with caviar, smoked salmon, sturgeon, and other expensive products of the hors d'oeuvres tray." (Wikipedia) I ate it with curd cheese and jam which was just as well. Under the ceiling of the breakfast room rails are hanging on which a toy train with wagons advertising different beer companies is rattling round in a loop. I don't know if you're allowed to bring your pet in, you can have it with you in your room for 5 Euro extra. To come to a conclusion: Hotel Conti is OK for one night. I would advise the management to offer it as a three star establishment, though, that would be an honest rating. Read the complete review |
Germany Hotel International |
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1 review Address: Am Hauptbahnhof / Hotel International / 48143 Münster / Germany / Tel: +49 (0)251 84 69 280 |
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1 review Address: Auricher Straße 20 / Hotel International / 26721 Emden / Germany |
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Address: Am Grundbach 1 / Hotel International / 99819 Eisenach / Germany / Tel: + 49 (0)3 69 20 8 21 00 |
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Address: Am Rhein Nahe Eck / Hotel International /Museumstrasse 3 / D-55411 Bingen am Rhein / GermanY |
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1 review Hotel International / Address: Bissingzeile 13, Berlin |
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1 review Address: Leipziger Straße 21 / Hotel International // 10117 Berlin // Germany // Tel: +49 30 930290 |
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Hotel International / Address: Dircksenstraße 36, ,10179 ,Berlin |
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1 review Address: Steindamm 63 / Hotel International / 20099 Hamburg / Germany / Tel: +49 40 241 929-0 |
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1 review Address: Theodor-Heuss-Allee 2 / Hotel International / Bremen 28215 / Germany / Tel: 49-421-696400 |
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Address: Fritz-Vomfelde-Str. 38 / Hotel International / 40547 Düsseldorf / Germany/ Tel: (+49)211/530760 |
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