Originally Posted by
ffgap
The Lindners are somewhat run-down business hotels, similar to weaker hotels from the Hilton and CP brands. On the upside, every room has a desk. Downside is the rooms feel dated. Lobby areas and service are also a step down from your typical business Hilton or Sheraton.
The me and all hotels are the more interesting ones. They are in much better shape, in fact, several are brand-new. They obviously target a younger audience. E.g., staff will not address you formally with Mr./Ms; breakfast has the typical avocado-based dishes, chia pudding, beetroot hummus, etc.; the bar runs DJ nights.
Many me and all feature a very nice coffee shop (Rosterei Vier). On the downside, standard rooms are quite small. If you want to spend a lot of time in the room such as for working, getting a higher room category is really desirable. The me and all incorporate "boutique" design which is in poor taste (like at the Moxy).
Overall, me and all is a much better fit with JdV than Lindner. Again, my main gripe is that base rooms are so small but this is not so unexpected of a JdV and will also be the case for, say, some of the Story hotels.
Agree that many of the Lindner hotels are a poor fit with JdV. Stayed at several now, and the characterization of "somewhat run-down" business hotels is quite apt. In Cologne, I couldn't believe my eyes when I arrived at my room. Felt like walking into a Japanese hotel from the 90s, which had never seen any updates (think HR Fukuoka, Sheraton Kobe, any number of unrenovated CPs). These ancient Lindners would perhaps be a better fit for the generic HYATT brand, but I guess they wanted to keep the Lindner name. Service and elite recognition were actually quite good in several cases -- Lindner Cologne Dom didn't have my room ready at 2:30pm, so the front desk agent invited me to have a beer at the bar. The room came with a massive amounts of welcome gifts -- 2 bottles of water, 2 beers, 2 large bags of gummi bears, a luggage tag, a small perfume bottle, and a plush toy. Hard to fault at 5k points minus new property promo and Chase 20% discount.
Stayed at me and all in Dusseldorf and Ulm and was very impressed. These are quirky hotels with interesting design. As you say, lots of avocado and beetroot hummus, staff will address you with the informal "Du" (and indeed, in Dusseldorf I was lectured "wir sagen alle Du hier"). I found the location of both hotels ideal for my needs. In Mainz, the me and all was only ~€20 cheaper than the HR, so I picked the latter on account of the club with its massive wine list and full restaurant breakfast. It's important to understand that me and all competes with Aloft/Moxy rather than full-service hotels. It does compare favorably to the handful of Aloft/Moxy properties I visited in Europe. The brand fits right in with the Story hotels I stayed at in Sweden.
All that said, once again I am pleasantly surprised by the value provided by Hyatt redemptions. Despite their shortcomings, even the ancient Lindners are excellent value on points. Take, for instance the pricing during my Cologne stay:
Lindner Dom 3.5k or €123
Lindner City Plaza 3.5k or €160
HR 15k or €173
Marriott 42k or €132
Courtyard 27.5k or €142
Hilton 56k or €161
Wasserturm Curio 111k or €176
Of course Marriott and Hilton are completely out-of-whack, but even compared to the HR, the Lindners are appealing value. I'm sure we will see some category changes when the next annual adjustment hits, but for now, there are great redemptions out there. I'm also pleased to see generous "low season" periods at some of these properties; coasting to Globalist re-qualification in August at Lindner Berlin must sound more appealing to Europeans than heading to cheapo HRs or Alilas in SE Asia.