Maritim Hotel Köln

It's a surprisingly big hotel a stones throw from the center of Cologne. It's a big conference hotel and I was here for a conference.

The rooms are nice and spacious and well equipped and clean. The bed was also very nice and comfortable. Plenty of bars and restaurants in the hotel itself and also plenty nearby. Prices were reasonable and I enjoyed my stay here.

The food was average and whilst there was plenty on offer for our conference the taste was not great. I did visit two of the bars with colleagues and they were both nice and friendly places and plenty of room to hang about.

The conference facilities here are excellent and spacious. It's hard to imagine such a big hotel exists in the middle of town.

I would happily stay here again. It's a well located hotel in Cologne.

This was the other hotel I stayed at when I was traveling back-and-forth from here to Michigan for six months.

Most of my colleagues and team members also stayed here. They liked that they had a spa and pool here. I was first taken aback by other guests walking around in the spa area, rather scantily clad. Much different than being back in the states.

This hotel was closer to the old city, Altstadt, but a little further away from the cathedral.

I wasn't fond of the directional and one ways to get to this hotel. It wasn't always easiest to get to, if you don't know your way around. There is however a close S-bahn station pretty much in front of the hotel.

Still there's a lot of food options in the vicinity and some great gelato places as well.

The best time to be here was always during Christmas. I always had the Christmas market set up and there's a really nice one always at the altstadt as well as at the Dom, which is close by.

It is also not far from the shopping center or main street for shopping, Hohe strasse.

What an experience at this hotel! Upon arrival in the city, we found out that there was a political party staying at the hotel that most of the city did not want there. When I say the city did not want them there, I mean it, riots, mass police blockades, street closures nearby, and no way to enter the hotel unless you called ahead and had a staff member come out and give the go ahead. This did not really factor into the review, as after a few days the police officers recognized me and just let me through, but it was definitely an inconvenience.

So, a quick breakdown! Staff were great, very accommodating, answered any silly questions I asked and made some great suggestions for food, real local type joints. Room pricing was on the up, but the Maritim's in Germany seem to all be in the upper echelon of hotels, so was to be expected. Rooms...this is where it was a downfall. Very confusing to find when you arrived on your floor as many signs were missing, so lots of mindless walking. When I finally found my room, I thought I entered the set of the Brady Bunch, wood and lots of it, very aged, I'd easily pin it on a 1970's type room. It really had an odd stench of your grandparents home, which was odd, beds were rock hard (Which I like oddly enough) and bathroom was fairly large, but the shower did not work in the first room we got (Had to re locate). The room overall was not terrible as it was large and clean, but very outdated. As for location, you cannot get any better than this hotel as it is located right downtown off the river, so very ideal for someone who does not want to travel to far to get to town or to obviously make a trip to the Cathedral.

A decent hotel, but I would probably opt for a newer slightly cheaper hotel next time while visiting Köln, which is a wonderful city might I add!

I am into my second day at this hotel with 10 more to go and already I have to say this is the one of the worst hotels I have stayed in.

From the outside to the open area inside it is all very nice and the open area inside is bright and airy. The location next to the river and stones throw to the old town area and cathedral is also very appealing. The staff I have no complaints with as they have all been very helpful so far and the room service which i rely on is quick.
Even the rooms are fine, a bit old school but I like that. My room was split into a living area and bedroom with both having their own small balcony. The bathroom only has a shower area but is modern and clean with nice pressure and hot water.

Downstairs there is also a nice pool area, with a great sauna and steam room. The fitness room is shitty but who am I kidding.

BUT the negative!

- the beds, this has to be the worst bed I have slept in. The pillows are flat and not comfortable, the duvet is too small.
I have what, at first, appears to be a double bed but turns out to be made out of two single mattresses.
Instead of a double duvet i have two short single duvets, if you are as tall as me 180cm, then expect your feet to stick out. Also get used to slipping in the gap between the mattresses if you roll over a lot when sleeping.
On enquiring i was told all the rooms are like this. Not sure whether to call BS on this or not.
I have slept in budget hotels that have absolutely amazing beds as they know that is a must.
I can not stress how bad a sleep I have been having so far due to the shitty beds.

- the WiFi, i have had dial up speeds faster than the 0.70mbs I tested I was getting from floor 7. It was no better anywhere else in the hotel, not even the lobby where the staff advised it is stronger. Nope BS, still the same. After informing the staff I need to work from my hotel room at times they said i can buy a t-mobile hotspot, which i had no choice but to in the end. Even that only hits 15mbs.

- the beds...have i mentioned the beds? they are terrible!

- the food menu its meh, i will no doubt work my way through every item on the food menu. The food being catered by one of the restaurants on the ground floor

- there is a nice big tv in the living area and a smaller one in the bedroom. They are smart TVs but with the shit internet the web browser which i used to stream keeps refreshing. I ended up buying a cheap HDMI cable and with the faster T-mobile speed connecting my laptop and streaming

- the phones in the room are old and you will barely hear the other person

- no plug sockets in the bedroom by the bedside cabinets, the only one i was able to use was by the door


I wanted to like this hotel but come on, for what they charge i would expect much more.

Great hotel, great location, great staff. Wish I were more generous with my time, but suffice to say, I highly recommend this hotel.

Spent more than a week here on a kind of conference. Utterly unprofessional place. Icing on the cake is room service delivering my food without cutlery. "I will be back immediately ". After 35 minutes I call: "I am coming right now." I told them the food is cold now (was sorta cold on delivery), ice cream melted, I want my money back. Apparently I have to pay all 30+ Euro, because I attempted to eat the falling-apart barely-warm burger and cold fries hoping I can continue eating them with actual knife and fork. The burger bun breaks apart if one tries to hold it, it's not a burger you can eat by hand and not trash your clothes. More or less robbery, since they have refused refund for anything, including the apple pie with ice cream that I could not even touch without cutlery. Will get a refund through Amex and will let anyone and everyone know how unprofessional this place is. I'll also tell the conference organizers my experience and suggest them: come back to the city but avoid this hotel like the plague until they get a new management. Will also report to Maritim HQ. Because as I've said: this was just the icing on the cake.

Other niceties: complementary WiFi frequently does not work and they simply do not care. Several attendees told how WiFi in their room is useless, as well as in several meeting rooms. They don't believe you when it's reported! They send up an "expert" to "verify" who confesses he has no idea because he is sort of a bell boy.

Supposedly international hotel. Not a word in English, like which of the 6 stands at the counter is actually the check-in etc. several of the stuff speaks no English. No nutrition information, allergy information or any information on the food. The conference attendees were trying to find out from each other if they can eat the things at coffee break.

They cheap out on everything. Hand soap is not refilled in the toilets in the conference area. They don't refill drinking water. Not cleaning much? The conference area smells like a gym that hasn't seen fresh air in weeks. And it wasn't even hot outside. The not so conspicuously placed mouse traps don't raise one's confidence either.

Out of 8 days on 4 I have to tell them it call them to do the housekeeping. Always have an excuse: sir, you had a do not disturb sign. Yes. 4 hours ago. And 4 hours ago I asked you to take out the trash. in person.

One side of the hotel looks at a road that seems to be a major route for emergency vehicles. If not them, then the tour buses backing up beeping under your window will wake you at 5:30am.

The only good thing about this hotel is it's placement and it's breakfast buffet selection, however the latter is seriously overpriced at 24Euro for a breakfast.

Not recommended until the place gets a professional management.

Update: a restaurant charge for Sunday (the day that started a98 minutes ago) just showed up on my bill. I was in my room sleeping until 3 minutes ago when I randomly decided to check the bill on the TV.

Update2: Read some of the other reviews. The pillows are a bad joke. Flat so much that even two of them don't suffice. I didn't find the beds particularly uncomfortable, however they are ridiculously small for hotel beds. Whoever spent the money on the digitally controlled showers with a light show should have had saner priorities and first ensure beds in which people can turn around without falling off.

The rooms have no sweeteners. The instant cappuccino and hot chocolate one gets in the room both have a horses dose of sugar. Hint: the sweeteners are in the "kiosk", next to the coffee maker, on floor 0. What stood them from putting a few of those into the rooms is beyond me.

The rooms look ok, but a few things look run down. Like the bathroom mirror is peeling off the wall. Somewhere the tap is leaking onto the counter so when I put my top of the line fully loaded iPhone down it became even more fully loaded: with water.

Despite some of the staff's tendency to skip housekeeping the rooms and the telling mousetraps the place looks very clean at all times.

The atrium is breathtaking (or maybe I shouldn't have taken the stairs) and the terrace of the 5th floor restaurant provides a nice view of the city, although the Dom kinda hides and mostly the top of it's towers are visible. However it's a comfortable max 15 minutes walk away.

The placement and the structure would provide the foundations for a great hotel were it not for the penny counting approach the management takes to serving their guests. There is no excuse for not giving drinking water, or hand soap in the restrooms for 200+ people you service. Not putting allergy information out with the served buffet food is just outright criminal.

**THE WORST HOTEL I'VE EVER STAYED IN**

OK, I'm not high maintenance.
OK, maybe a tad.

By far, this was the WORST hotel I've ever stayed in.

PROS
=====
Location and um, that's pretty much it.
It's across from the Rhine River and the train station.

Oh yes, the cleaning staff was really nice to me.

CONS (there's plenty)
=====
- No hair conditioner (come on, this is a shower staple!)
- No body lotion. Seriously, what's wrong with you?
- No Wi-Fi. GTFO! (you would need to buy a T-Mobile Hot Spot which had terrible reception at the hotel)
- Ugly-ass building. No joke. Looks like a brassy 1960's jailhouse.
- The front lobby staff was unhelpful when it came to the parking garage. They claim it's handled by a separate company. HELLO, the parking garage is affiliated with YOU.
- 1040 euros for a double room for 4 nights during Gamescom was atrocious.
- The Elevator of Hell

Think Motel 6 but worst.

No, I didn't die during my stay, but I indeed slightly suffered.

NOT RECOMMEND.

The hotel was clean and our corner room had a magnificent view. The front desk personnel were very polite and accommodated all of our requests. The bedroom and bathroom were both large. The sheets and down comforters were luxurious (not so much the pillows). The hotel is situated close to the metro/bus stop and near the Christmas markets which is why we were there. The view of the Rhine is lovely. The restaurants were expensive so we did not eat there. I have stayed there twice and have loved it both times.

Perfect location along the Rhine river, with tons of restaurants everywhere.

The rooms are comfortable and have a mini-bar.

The front desk is always friendly and helpful.

Class act hotel, no doubt. Only problem is the lack of air conditioning on hot summer days.

I stayed here with a friend and we had a fab time.


The hotel is lovely when you enter the hotel the glass atrium is really impressive. You go up in the lift or escalators or stairs to the reception area. The lifts are also glass ones and the whole atrium looks fabulous with its bars and shops and cafes all dotted about inside. The Rhine can be seen through the hotel from the whole of the atrium area, its a great setting on the banks of the Rhine near the old town.


The rooms are spacious with a nice bathroom, dressing table area, tv and a small seating area with table and chairs. We also had a view of the Cathedral which was especially nice.


The breakfasts are plentiful and have everything you could possibly want, even champagne and smoked salmon and are served till quite late which is nice if you fancy a lie in.


We didnt use the coffee shop or restaurant apart from breakfast but did have a few drinks in the bar, cocktails and while expensive they were very nice.


The hotel is well placed for trams, a main stop outside the hotel, the lovely old square and a few minutes walk to both the Cathedral and main shopping area and into the old centre for quaint shops and traditional bars and restaurants. A short stroll the other way takes you to the Chocolate museum, a must if only for the shop and coffee shop!


The pool and spa area is lovely but sadly i never had chance to use it.


This is a lovely hotel and we found the staff to be helpful and obliging, we would stay here again if the price was right.