imverge

Yes the lounge is open 7 days a week.

allset2travel

Yes, the Exec Lounge was opened on weekend when I stayed there late May 07. You will love this lounge - food, drink and service wise.
For the life of me, I was trying to find my trip report of this and several other MR properties in Germany (and give you a link), I gave up after 5 minutes in vain. Sorry.

jpatokal

I stayed here for two nights last month and I can only add my voice to the chorus: it's a great little hotel in a very good location, an easy stroll from the Hbf and city sights like the Dom. The Executive Lounge is just amazing: free breakfast, free afternoon snacks on weekends, free evening snacks easily substantial enough to make a meal, free booze, free wifi...

My only complaint was the way they faffed up the breakfast: I was told that, as MR *G, I could choose to have my breakfast either in the lounge or in the restaurant. The elite member welcome letter also said this, albeit more ambiguously, along the lines of "Enjoy free breakfast in the Executive Lounge, or of course you can also choose the breakfast at the Brasserie Fou"; now is that a paid or free choice? Nevertheless, I went to the restaurant, double-confirmed at the entrance that it's free as Gold and enjoyed it; it wasn't hugely different from the spread in the lounge, but that's just because the lounge had such a good selection.

But then on checking out I was told that I'd be charged for the breakfast. They removed it promptly enough after I complained, but c'mon, get your story straight.

iahphx

I received this hotel on priceline. I'm travelling with my wife and 3 children, and booked 2 rooms. This would be a great "win," but when I go to Marriott's website, it says room occupancy is limited to 2 (as one sometimes runs into in Europe, even at American chain hotels). I don't really want to pay for a third room, and it would be awkward to split up the children that way anyway.

Should I say anything to the hotel, or is it safer to just say nothing and bring an air mattress for the third child? thanks.

EDIT: For $60/night, I just booked a 3rd room. This will be pretty nutty, but why not? Reading through the tripadvisor "family" reviews, it seems like some folks had gotten a third (or even fourth) person into a room (sometimes without bedding, though), but at least 1 person was told to book another room. I'm guessing I could have "worked it out," at least with an air mattress, but it's pretty funny to book extra rooms at this lowball price, so I guess we'll be uber comfortable.

BTW, I think this rate is widely available. A great deal (well, not as good if you're a party of 3, maybe, if you don't want to "splurge").

NJUPINTHEAIR

Any recent reviews of this property and its lounge being open 7 days/week?

Thanks,

NJ

djohannw

Depending on your definition of recent, a colleague of mine stayed there in August including the weekend, and the lounge was fully open then.

Greetings - Dirk

NJUPINTHEAIR

Thanks, Dirk that would qualify.

Now to choose between this and the Hilton.

djohannw

The Hilton has no lounge if I'm not completely mistaken, and in terms of location I would consider both equally well located, depending on where you want to go one may be better than the other (for shopping the Hilton would be a tad better, if you're drawn to the river Rhein, the Marriott has the edge).

Greetings - Dirk

Melville

Recent stay in early September and confirm the lounge was open on weekends. The location is convenient and short walk to/from the train station and local transit. Always enjoy my stays at Cologne Marriott with excellent lounge offerings plus very friendly and helpful staff throughout.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Thanks Dirk and Melville. I may use my Cat 5 credit card cert 1 night at the Marriott but the Hilton's Cash and points rate of 17,500 HH points and a co-pay of onlly 48 Euros looks mighty tempting even though the Hilton has no lounge.

Decisions, Decisions...

Melville

The lounge is one of the best in Europe from my travels.

AATrout

Thanks very much for the report. I am doing another side trip to Koln next month from Frankfurt on the ICE for business and will now make it an overnight at this property. Something overdue for this beautiful city.

Melville

ICE is my mode of travel to/from Frankfurt(M)Flughafen. ICE is generally fast and efficient from my limited experiences. Fares purchased in advance on the DB BAHN website can be quite reasonable and the print at home option is very handy. The walk to the hotel is about 5 minutes from the train station on the opposite side or walking away from the Dom.

I hope you enjoy your time in Koln and the Marriott property.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the report on the exec lounge; will update the sticky!

Cheers. Sharon

SkiAdcock

I noticed this in the exec lounge sticky when I went to update this property.

"as of 08/01/12 Plats have option of breakfast in restaurant or lounge; not sure if it's a trial or long-term"

Can anyone w/ a recent stay confirm if that's still true or is it exec lounge only? Please post & I'll update the exec lounge sticky. Thx!

Cheers.