jasonvr

Well, just redeemed points for a 4 night stay in a suite here in January. Considering the suites are going for over $700 per night, seems like a good redemption (standard rooms are ~$206). Confirmed into a Regency Suite King. I'll hope for a further upgrade at the property to a Regency Executive Suite, but we'll see.

Are the reports of the minibar being included in suites at this property still accurate?

FD1971

A further upgrade would be to a Regency View Suite, of which 4 exists.

Basic suite upgrade is to a Regency Suite, property has eight of those suites with different views and on different floors, ´Iris´ has been used for Diamond Upgrades in the past quite often, it is located on the RC floor with a view upstream of the Deutzer Bruecke and former Lufthansa WHQ.

Chances to get a Regency Executive Suite for free are slim, however the property is almost dead in the first week of January, so requesting an offer to pay for a better suite is always recommended. Business will pick up slowly after January 6 and will reach ist first peak two weeks later with the first major fair of the year.

Paying some $$$ for a Regency Exec. Suite is highly recommended, aside from the view of the Cathedral, we are talking about far more space and, IMHO, a significantly better lay-out.

jasonvr

Thanks for the info. Don't know why I jumped up to the Exec suite as the next logical upgrade. Note that I'm not using an upgrade, but rather booked the suite direct on points. We are booked from the 5th thru the 9th, so it sounds like we'll be right on the cusp of the dead period.

Any idea how much the upgrade fee might be to the Exec suite? Looks like the pure cash difference on HDR is 260 EUR/night. Or maybe the Pres suite, its only 1900EUR/night more than the base suite

777 global mile hound

If you are in a dead period I think you will be fine
The hotel despite all its warts and wrinkles in the eyes off the beholder has been really great when they have the wiggle room to upgrade and the availability is there on arrival day
You can always call the front office of the hotel or email the hotel and inquire
for exact pricing

FD1971

The Pres. suite is normally occupied by a relatively well-known artist over many weekends each year and is paid by RTL Television (a division of Bertelsmann), however I do not know if they are shooting new episodes during that time frame, probably not...

During your time frame, the property is really dead, it might be the case that they do not even offer breakfast in the RC.

Properties in Germany are not really known for free upgrades just because somebody is Diamond, upgrades to more than the entry level suite are common, but mostly because they have to bump up people, even Courtesy Card upgrades are not necessarily stunning over here.

A Regency View Suite is not really completely different, so requesting one would probably not be considered 'outrageously inappropriate', but a Regency Executive Suite might cost you 150, 200 Euro more per night.

You have the view of the cathedral and parts of Cologne from the Regency Club anyway, so if you do not need the extra space, it would be too much for me.

But as pointed out before, I do like the set up of the Regency Executive Suite much more.

cs1985

is the breakfast for diamonds in the Restaurant or only in the regency club?

mmgm

I've only been offered breakfast in the restaurant on the rare occasion when the club was closed.

OsakaWino

We have 6 nights reserved at HR Mainz in May, and although I was hoping for Dia suite upgrade, it looks very doubtful, so I'm wondering if we should switch to Cologne. I know some would suggest splitting between the 2, but my wife is pretty much against that, since we'll have some hefty suitcases.

So it looks like a choice between a standard room (hopefully Rhine view upgrade) in Mainz at €156/night or book P+C in Cologne for 7500 pt + $100 and use a Dia suite upgrade.

Looking at the 2 properties and the 2 cities, and considering the trip from and to FRA, I'm leaning toward sticking with Mainz, but I thought I'd ask for opinions from those who have stayed at HR Cologne.

ckone501

Cash + Points is combineable with Diamond Suite Upgrade Voucher?

OsakaWino

Yes, but not with upgrade on pts.

ckone501

Didn´t knew this.

FD1971

Cologne has been renovated in early 2011, it has a slightly, really just slightly, more upscale club lounge and a significantly higher number of suites. For a complete description of the suites, please see my earlier posts in this thread.

Mainz has more charme, feels more like a small boutique hotel with a beautiful section of the river bank. At Cologne, you have the former LH WHQ to the left, the fair grounds to the right and you are in between an ugly bridge and one bridge with a certain historical relevance and a nice walk across this bridge.

Maybe, it is just me, but Mainz feels like more like being in the country vs. Cologne being right in the middle of a major city, we are talking about trees in Mainz vs. a massive concrete wall in Cologne trying to tame in river during certain times. Still a bit greenish on one side of the Hyatt.

The terrace of Cologne is still nice, but Mainz wins easily with their set-up, at least in my book.

If you go for Cologne, take a side trip to the Regency DUS, very decent lunch, three courses priced at 30 Euros at DOX overlooking the Gehry buildings in the harbour and the TV tower (well, probably not really impressive, when you are from Japan. )

price123

We personally preferred the Mainz Hyatt out of the 2. However, as you have to get on a train to either (unless paying a driver), why not go slightly further to Düsseldorf, which has a great lounge and is much newer, or to Berlin, where there is plenty to do for 6 days. Once you are sitting on a train, it doesn't really matter how long for (i.e. 2 vs 4 hours).

sensei

We recently stayed at both the HR Cologne and the HR Dusseldorf. Both were fine properties with very high service standards and true to Cologne's reputation, staff at that property were a little warmer and friendlier than at any of the other German Hyatts we know (which is to say every one but Mainz). Both properties picked up on our preference to have milk in the refrigerator, which maybe 30% of hotels do. For example, Vendome the week before had not.

The view from our Rhine View Suite was excellent and we really enjoyed the layout of the suite. I believe the name of the suite was "tulip suite." It felt like a small apartment.

We didn't mind the location of the hotel at all. It provides for a nice view and we enjoyed the quick walk across the bridge to reach the downtown area. Would not hesitate to stay here again!

jasonvr

I think I agree. I am currently at the HR Cologne. Departed the PH Hamburg a few days ago and will head to the GH Berlin tomorrow (second stay there). The HR Cologne is quite nice. Never stayed at Mainz or Dusseldorf though. Booked a suite on points which was a killer deal considering the cash price, and was upgraded into the Gladiolen Suite which is on the third floor. Have a gorgeous view out over the Rhine and out to the Cathedral (if you ignore the construction currently taking place along the waterfront). Service here has been much better than we received at the PH which was actually quite a disappointment (still have to write up that review). Walk over to the Cathedral is about 10 minutes across the bridge. Walked to the Zoo today without issues as well. And once you get across the bridge to Hbf, you can pretty much get anywhere you want. Staff in the lounge was always very receptive and helpful. Breakfast is a decent continental and will do eggs as well. Afternoon and evening services are nice as well. Plenty of Diet Coke (Coke Light) available for my wife No problems asking for things after the evening service as well. Minibar included with the suite is a nice perk as well.

Suite itself is huge and above what the typical upgrade is based on reading previous posts (most likely because the hotel is dead right now, max number of people I've ever seen at the lounge including my wife and I was 5). Suite has 2 bathrooms, nice living room and a dining table. Two closets, but a significant lack of drawer space. Tub and separate shower. Toiletries are Portico, but the verbena variety instead of the White Ginger stuff. I'd say the only negative is that the wifi signal is absolutely horrible in the room. My wife and I both have to sit at the dining table to get any sort of reliable signal. Wired connection in the room doesn't work, so I can't use my travel wifi router. The travel router also won't connect up with the hotel wifi to repeat it for some reason (quite odd, first place I've experienced that).

Overall, I'd definitely say we'd come back. Especially since we'd want to find our "Love Lock" again, which was placed on the bridge tonight
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/l...bruecke-bridge
http://www.cologne.de/what-to-do/sig...ove-locks.html