SanDiego1K

I'm surprised at the dearth of information about the Heidelberg Marriott. Who has stayed and can tell me about it? How is the location? How far is it from the heart of the old town? How big a hotel is it? Did you like it? How do they treat platinums?

VickiSoCal

The husband hasn't been there in about 2 years but in the hey-day of his army contract he was there often. Good underground parking. Good lounge, comparable to other European lounges, especially nice in summer as they have an outdoor terrace with a river view. Usually upgraded to river view and occasionally (after a few repeat stays) to a suite.

The main area of Heidelberg is very walkable, no need for a car while in town. 5-10 minute walk to old town.

djohannw

I stayed there once about two years ago and found it very unimpressive. The room I had was well maintained, but had a very old feel to it (looked like it was a room from the 80th). The lounge was decent but again certainly not top-level compared to other German hotels, and I had some problems at breakfast with very medioce service and an omlette-order taking over 25 minutes.

That said, nothing horrible, but nothing spectacular also - would go there again if I needed to be in the area. This is from a business-traveler's perspective however, I had a job to do in Mannheim and used the hotel as a place to crash only (arrived late, departed early).

Greetings - Dirk

Exdon

Rooms on higher floors have been renovated recently and came out quite nice. Lounge terrace overlooking the river with view of the castle is a nice plus in the warmer months. Had issues at the restaurant too. Best route to walk to old town is on the other side of the river and will take 20min at least.

DrDot

Heidelberg doesn't have all that many first class hotels. The Mariott is the largest, built in the early 80s. It is close to the RR station and the entry to the Autobahn but a bit away from the attractive parts of town -- though not too far: 20-25 minutes walk along the river, or ten minute taxi ride. If you want to get more of a Euro de-luxe feel try Hotel Europaeischer Hof -- much better location and superb Restaurant, or the really traditional Hotel zum Ritter -- a Renaissance House in the middle of it all.

SkiAdcock

Anyone know if it has an exec lounge, if it's open on weekends, if not, do you get brekkie coupons, is it key accessible for sodas, does it have i-net terminals? Please post & I'll update the sticky.

Cheers.

Melville

I have stayed here a few times over the past couple of years and agree with the proximity to the train station which is about a 10 minute walk and old town about a 20 minute walk.

I have been upgraded to a river view room and one upgrade to a suite. I found the rooms to be very nice and of a good size. The lounge is good and enjoyed the terrace view with a beverage. Breakfast in the lounge is very good and the evening treats are decent although not at the same level of some other German Marriotts, say Berlin, for example.

Per the room details, lounge is open on the weekends. I have not stayed there over a weekend so cannot confirm. Also, I do not recall seeing a computer for guest use in the lounge.

Generally, received a friendly welcome and helpful attentive staff but not over the top. Certainly enjoyed my stays and would return without hesitation.

9809JD

Have stayed twice, most recently Thanksgiving weekend 2010. Executive level rooms have been renovated and are quite nice. Standard rooms are well kept, but circa late nineties in decor (think when Marriott did green and yellow, before they went blue and yellow and now red and yellow in the rooms....). Executive lounge is open on weekends - the gentleman running the breakfast is great and obviously takes pride in "his" lounge. They have decent evening snacks and include complimentary spirits + wine/beer.

It is a 15-20 minute walk from the Marriott to the beginning of the old town. Keep in mind old town is about a mile long itself, so it's easily another 10min-20min walk to the far end of all the sights.

Very easy freeway access (FRA airport). All in all we have enjoyed our times at the Marriott, and Heidelberg is a great town to visit!

Counsellor

It has a nice lounge with a great view of the river and an outdoor "balcony" you can sit on and watch the traffic on the river. Very relaxing. Lounge is open on weekends (at least it was last time I was there, about a year ago), complementary food, soft drinks, and adult beverages. Wi-fi capability, but I don't recall a house terminal being in the lounge.

As others have mentioned, the property is convenient to the railway station (about a 10 minute walk) and to the Autobahn, but a bit of a longer walk to old town and the castle (on the far side of the old town). If the weather is nice, you'll really love it.

sfo94107

Problem with Hotel Room
My mother books a room thru her American Express Centurion Travel Service at this hotel twice or three times a year for checkup visits with her shoulder surgeon, who is located with his clinic (ATOS) in Heidelberg. For the past 5 years all stays were normal. Last night after checking in she noticed at around 2 a.m. in the morning black bugs moving around her in the bed and up the wall. The night clerk came up, saw them and moved her immediately to another room, offered a bottle of wine, which she declined. When check-in out this morning she was asked to wait on the side, as a manager would like to talk to her. When he showed up 15 minutes later, he confirmed that they had to seal off the room and ordered a professional service to check on the bugs. But instead of apologizing for the inconvenient, his first questions were: "Are you travelling often?" "Do you travel international?" and suggesting she brought them with her. After she confirmed her last trip was just over New Years to the Hyatt Regency Cologne and before that only to the Westin Munich in early December, he just said she should check out now and left. She was going to pay the full rate plus breakfast, but then the back office sent out someone who adjusted the nightly rate by deducting 50%, but still not apologizing for anything. The body language suggested as it was felt by my mother, that the discount was not really anything that the checkout clerk wanted to do at all.

I am as confused as my mother how the situation was handled and would like to have a second opinion by regular Marriott guests.

My mother is German and is Platinum Member with Starwood and Hyatt, no status with Marriott, she is staying around 65 nights a year at hotels, 75% in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and only 25% in the US, mostly when she is visiting me in San Francisco. Thanks for any reply.

Chris26WI

posted some photos here

it's a good solid property with excellent staff (forgot to empty my room safe in the Cologne Marriott just before arriving at Heidelberg Marriott and they took care of everything). Some of the rooms seem to be renovated yeah, but I was "only" upgraded to one of their "old-style" junior suites (probably because asking for a smoking room). Well maintained anyway.

AATrout

It's a good property. The river view and path downtown is nice if the WX is good, and I also like it because the small and easy-to-navigate Hbf is an easy walk. I rarely have a car when I'm there.

Have stayed there a number of times dating back to when it was a Renaissance and the current setup is pretty good. It's not as hip as say the Munich Marriott, but I like it.

It's a also a good place to stretch out a business trip elsewhere in Germany to the weekend if you fly into FRA as I do, traveling on AA. I'll usually take an ICE train from FRA to my destination, but if it's an AM flight back, then I prefer to be close to or in FRA the night before. But I'll book Heidelberg for a decent weekend rate rather than the Frankfurt Marriott. I don't mind the hike downtown and especially if it's summer it's a lot more relaxing than downtown Frankfurt. It's a short run to FRA from Heidelberg and as I said above, the small station has easy access and isn't far away.

Melville

We had a recent weekend stay at the Heidelberg Marriott where an upgrade to the 4th floor with a partial river view was provided along with the comment 'the room is newly renovated'. The executive lounge is located on the 3rd floor and the rooms did not appear to be renovated on this level.
Rooms had wireless internet, comped for plats, which worked well without any disconnects.

The lounge is open on weekends. The hot food offerings are quite limited, especially the evening spread, compared to other Marriott properties in Germany where I have stayed.

A separate spa facility is attached to the hotel. It was quite busy, especially the sauna portion, which is separated from the pool and fitness area of the wellness facility and is free for hotel quests.

The staff was generally very friendly and helpful as they have been in the past. The front desk sells a "city-ticket" for 1.10 Є for a one way trip into the old town on the tram/bus. The tram stop is a short walk up from the hotel. The FD recommended a nice Brauhaus up from the old bridge where they serve very hearty and delicious dishes along with three beers brewed on site.

SanDiego1K

This is a solid business hotel with good service. We arrived late morning, hoping only to be given access to the lounge. Instead, the front desk agent immediately searched for a room and found one overlooking the river. We were celebrating a significant anniversary and Marriott Customer Service had entered notes asking for an upgrade. No further one to a junior suite or suite was available. Middle Easterners were escaping the desert heat and had booked all those rooms.

The GM had left a message asking to greet me on arrival. I was very impressed. This rarely happens at any hotel of any brand and this hotel in particular sees a lot of plats. We had a brief and cordial conversation.

Our room was on the top (4th) floor. It had a king bed, a sofa, and a desk built along the wall. The bathroom was quite small, with the shower in a steep sided tub and a single sink.

The lounge is on the 3rd floor at the end of one of the arms with an expansive river view. It has a small terrace with about 5 tables. Afternoon sun hits the terrace. The lounge itself is small filled with small tables. There is one uncomfortable sofa and one comfy upholstered chair. Breakfast is served 7 days a week. There are limited appetizers from 5:30 to 7:30 and a lone dessert is then set out.

We had a AAA rate that included breakfast. There is a very pleasant terrace by the river. Weather was idyllic making this a great place to sit. Parking is underneath the hotel and costs 20 euros per day.

If you are a foodie, I highly recommend the Schwarz Restaurant that I would guess to be about a 15 minute walk. We drove and found free onstreet parking. The restaurant is on the 12th floor of an imposing modern building with a lovely view over the city. The 35 euro lunch is a bargain. It had a goose liver creme brulee gift from the kitchen then 3 courses. The food taste and presentation and service were all outstanding.

BKKLEE

Nice report and thanks for the recco...............will be heading that-a-way in the near future and although I spent 3-months living in Heidelberg during my law school days (studying German comparative law) that was nearly 30-yrs ago when my budget was in the brocks only category!