christianj

Has anyone stayed at the new Art'otel in Cologne? I have 4 nights booked here in January and am looking for feedback to help me decide if I want to keep the reservation or look elsewhere.

christianj

Update after I didn't get any feedback here on FT on this property. Stayed for 3 nights at the end of January and this is indeed a very nice new property that I would recommend without hesitation to anyone going to Cologne. The hotel is right on the river in an area that has recently been redone. Walking to town might be an issue for some but the location is actually pretty good right by the Chocolate Museum. Rooms are nice and modern and done mainly in white with some color accents. Very nice shower area and the sink is very modern and located in the actual room and not in the bathroom area. Rooms offer a safe, coffee/espresso maker and free wifi. Breakfast is expensive at 18 Euros but the selection is very good and some of the rates include breakfast. Parking can be an issue since the garage under the hotel is very small. There is a city parking facility that runs the underground length of the area the hotel is in and there are numerous spots there. You just have to take a short walk over to the hotel when you park and exit the underground parking.

Basically very nice...only small issue we had is that they couldn't get the names on our two rooms right even though the reservations sheet clearly had the right names. In addition we had to wait approx. 1.5 hours after the 3pm check-in time to get our rooms. Regardless, I would stay there again without hesitation and I really like the modern artsy feel of the hotel...much nicer and some of the old stuff places I have stayed in Cologne. (As a Starwood Platinum I would hope that *W aloft hotels would be more like this place.....overall better quality furnishings, better bed, better AC, nice coffee makers, etc., etc....actually better than some W's I have stayed at but much more reasonable in price.)

christianj

Just had another 3 night stay at this wonderful property and wanted to post that the property still is a very nice choice if you are looking for a Club Carlson alternative in Cologne. (Absolutely no issues with the check-in this time around...see above post from last visit) Location on the city side of the river is much better to explore the city from than the Radisson across the river near the convention center. Staff was pleasant as always. This time around we tried the restaurant for dinner and I can highly recommend it. Have a stay at the Radisson coming up within a couple of days so I can comment on the differences at a later date.

schauschun

@christianj:

thanxs that you post your expwerience at the Art'otel Cologne, as I have to book a room at cologne for some friends of mine...

mangoMan

Stayed here one night in July. We chose it to get the Park Plaza 50K point promo. Rate was a very reasonable 65 euros per night. I had booked 2 rooms as we were a family of four, and had no problem getting adjoining rooms.

Interesting hotel. One of our rooms had a little "box" that protruded out over the river, which was a mini glass walled balcony of sorts, with a window you could open. Location was great and we got lucky with parking as we got one of the 5 free spots directly in front of the hotel entrance.

Didn't eat breakfast at the hotel as we thought we could save money elsewhere, but ended up saving only 1 euro, and after looking at the breakfast spread, we really regretted not eating at the hotel.

Only complaint is that the carpets seemed somewhat dirty in the rooms and hallways.

christianj

Agree....that can happen when you put light gray and white carpeting in a hotel.

christianj

Just completed another stay at the art'otel and am happy to report that IMHO it continues to be a great choice when visiting Cologne. Staff is super friendly and the restaurant continues to put out some very good food. (We had edamame and shrimp tempura as our apps and then two fish mains with a side of rice.). Carpet issue was mention by mangoMan and it really is at the point now where they desperately need to be replaced. I also would like to see some real down pillows on the beds over the crappy foam ones but that is a personal choice

thomas199023

any recent reports or tips? I will be here next week