I had a fantastic few days at this great hotel recently. For the first time, I felt that my diamond status actually makes a difference.
Name of the hotel:
Sofitel Hamburg Alter Wall
What is your ALL status?
Diamond
Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Very much so.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked an entry-level classic room and received a three-category upgrade to junior suite.
How are the rooms?
The junior suite consisted of separate living and bedroom. It had a small balcony facing the Alsterfleet. Bathroom had both walk-in rain shower and bathtub. Bath amenities were Hermés.
What was good and what was bad?
Good:
* Personalized service: it felt like almost everyone knew who I am, I was addressed by my name, at breakfast a table was reserved for us and we were the only one who were led to the table, staff remembered our coffee preferences and so on.
* Diamond treatment: see details below.
* Very good selection at breakfast, also sparkling wine was available every day.
Bad:
* One day, someone had removed our own drinks (three bottles of soft drinks) from the minibar. No-one found out what had happened but the incident was resolved and compensated professionally.
* Bar staff were indifferent and the service was slow.
Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
There is no lounge but there is a library that looks like a lounge. It's used as a smoking room at the moment. That could be a decent location for a club lounge and would be easily done. I suggested this to GM but he didn't promise anything.
What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
* Early check-in at 10:30am
* Late check-out at 5pm, asked proactively and confirmed at check-in already
* Suite upgrade without using any certificates
* Nice sweet treats were waiting in the room with a hand-written card from general manager whom I also met, a very nice and enthusiastic gentleman
* New, different set of treats were brought to us the next day
* Welcome drink: bartender first said that the voucher can be used for soft drink or beer but when he had a second look at it he said we can actually have anything so we got champagne
* Codes for premium wifi (didn’t need it since the complimentary wifi was fast enough for my needs)
Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Excellent value. Burned my points.