Earlier this month, I tried out Spark by Hilton Wuppertal City Centre, it was more or less halfway leg one of a trip I had planned. Could have done the leg in one stage, but the rate was attractive, 58 euros, though I took the breakfast included rate of 66 euros, for a single room. The website said single rooms had the same number of square meters as the other regular rooms, but I think they are a bit smaller than double-bedded rooms. But it was large enough for one person. The bed's width was like a US-size double bed (1.40-1.50m wide or so).


By the K on the entrance doors it still gave away that the hotel was once named Hotel Kaiserhof. The previous owners renovated it and named it Fleming's Hotel. Now this Spark hotel, just like the one in Stuttgart, is run by a German operator named Aspire, which is run by people who previously held positions at other German hotel operators (mostly Hampton/HIX concessions).

Upon entering, you immediately noticed the large restaurant and bar area.


At night the restaurant only served a couple of simple dishes like anti-pasti, salads and pastas in the 6.50 - 12.50 euros range.

While waiting to be checked in, you could help yourself to a refreshment drink.


A nice touch...

While checking in, they may ask if you need a public transport pass. It is free and it is a great value.


The text says that it is valid in all of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr area

Because it is a 'hotel-type' Kombi-Ticket (so not an Event Kombi-Ticket), it is valid everywhere in the white zones, througout your stay, even on the day of your departure.


Circled are some cities you could reach fairly easily if using S or RE trains (ticket is not valid on faster IC or ICE trains), trips take about 25 to 50 minutes. Trains will depart at least twice an hour. It is just a five minute walk to the station.I found Google Maps a good source for trip information, but DB Navigator will likely do better in indicating delays.

In the lounge area there's a Spark Shop, it sells snacks and soft drinks and beers, USB cables, personal hygiene articles etc.


It's self service, but you can charge the items to your room.

The day before my stay I had selected a room in the Hilton App with (what I expected to be) a good view of the city, on the top floor.


The seating area was perfect to do some laptop work. The window could open (in part, not fully). With the window closed you didn't hear any street noise at all. On the desk a chocolate brownie+berries and a personalized welcome card were greeting me. There's a 0.5 litre bottle of mineral water next to the kettle, I expect this to be in every room, as that's rather customary in Germany. The TV had an awful cheap sound. There's no fridge in the room, but there is a safe, though it didn't appear to be attached to anything.

The room didn't have an iron + board, but instead it had a steam-machine that looked like a huge hair-dryer, only that it could be filled with water. Saw a device llke that at another hotel too on this trip. The room's decoration was done nicely.


The thermostat didn't seem to be capable of what it suggested: heating the room. I noticed this at most of the hotels during my trip: through a central override, it wasn't possible to heat most of the rooms I stayed in above 21 degrees C (70 F) and even that was a problem sometimes.

The bathroom was small, but it looked very up-to-date.


The shower was fully enclosed, so not like that worthless bent screen you get at many European Hamptons, that'll get your floor all wet.

The bathroom even had a make-up / shaving mirror.


As you can see in the mirror, the bathroom even had a towel radiator. It took a number of minutes to get warm, but at least the bathroom could be properly heated.

The mirror note mentions that rooms are serviced every other day, which is standard practice at Spark by Hilton.

No wardrobe for your clothes, only a simple rail with a couple of hangers. Enough power sockets in the room, some of them included USB-A and USB-C. I think my top floor room had a pretty Wuppertaler view. It looks like a very busy intersection, but there isn't that much noise coming from it, maybe that is because most directions are waiting at a red light. No exhaust pipe exhibitionists living in this city luckily!


If you look closely, you'll notice one of those flying blue trams approaching the Hauptbahnhof station, to the left of those trees.

It's a strange sight, those trams flying over your head, and they appear to go very fast. Your VRR ticket is valid on it.


No regular traffic light will ever stop the Schwebebahn!

I'm posting this picture to give an impression of where the hotel is. If you want to use the parking garage underneath the hotel: the entrance is at the side of the hotel. So here you have the Primark on your right, then there's the hotel in front of you and after you've passed the intersection on a green traffic light, you need to drive slowly and use your right turn signal, because you need to make a right onto the sidewalk, into a building, to use the narrow garage entrance. It is not very clearly indicated. The entrance door will open automatically, there's no need to push a button or take a ticket, this Parkhaus doesn't use them, it'll register your car's registration plate (even international ones). Then when you leave, one option is to pay online at a website. (Arivo Pay). I did this on my mobile phone before starting the car's engine. But paying at the (outside) terminal on level 7 would have been much easier. You must have paid within three days after leaving, so the doors will just open - whether you paid or not. There's also a payment terminal at the highest (hotel) and lowest (entrance) floor. The cost is max 4 euros per day, don't know if it works with in-and-out privileges. But if you stay one night, you'll have to pay for day 1 and day 2, so it's 8 euros, if you stay two nights and don't use your car, it'll be only 12 euros.


The green arrows show the route to the handicap and check-in parking.That area looks like a pedestrian area, but it is ok to drive up to the hotel front door. The yellow arrow shows where the garage entrance is, onto the pavement, directly behind the hotel building on the busy Bundesstrasse B-7.

When you check it on Google Streetview, the parking entrance will say "Ausfahrt". The driving direction has been reversed since, today this is the "Einfahrt".


If you need a wheelchair accesible space, don't use the garage, it does not (yet?) provide a ramp to the check in desk area. Park at space number 1 or 2. If you want to use the garage, you could also stop at the entrance and check in. The area does look like a pedestrian area, but it may be driven. The front desk will tell you how to get to the garage.

My suggestion would be to drive straight to the garage behind the hotel (so not the Parkhaus Hauptbahnhof) and park on level 1, 3, 5 or 7, because the even levels don't seem to have an elevator entrance. The official name is DB Parkhaus Bundesallee P1, if that doesn't work on your navi try the street address: Bundesallee 218.

In the parking garage elevator, go up to the "hotel" level and make a right turn after the doors open. At the tip of the yellow arrow, you'll notice there are three steps down, so this route is not ready for wheelchairs or very heavy rolling suitcases. If I remember well, the alternative is to take the top level parking exit (P9) and walk around the outside to the front entrance. Take it from me and don’t make the mistake of trying to exit at the lowest level (P1), which I did because I couldn’t locate the elevator. The walk from down there to the entrance is surprisingly far and even a bit steep.


“Dance, dance” is a quote by Pina Bausch, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century. She served as dancer and artistic director of Tanztheater Wuppertal from 1973 until her death in 2009.

A final tip: if you want breakfast, book a rate that includes the breakfast buffet, that's 8 euros extra. If taken on site, the breakfast is 15 euros.