My husband and I had a great stay at this hotel over New Years. We especially loved the location, it was so nice and quiet. As advised by someone in this thread, I had pro-actively sent an email and inquired about a possible platinum upgrade. We were assigned an executive studio, but since it was next to the elevator, I asked at check-in if they had another type of suite available. They found us a lovely 1BR suite on the second floor. It was quite large, with the bedroom facing the courtyard. We only missed something to hang our jackets on in the hallway - and the TVs could maybe have been a bit bigger.

The food in the lounge was decent (both morning/evening offerings), but the lounge was packed over the holiday. Not sure if this is the norm. At times it was quite hard to find somewhere to sit, and large families w/kids did not help. Plus, the air quality in the lounge was really bad. Cant say if the AC was broken or if it was intentional, but more than once I hoped that the lounge staff would have opened the balcony doors for some fresh air.

Regarding the breakfast option, we were not offered at check-in to have it in the main restaurant. But we did not ask for it either, the lounge selection was more than sufficient for us.

All in all a great hotel in a cool city, and we felt that the price we paid (420 EUR, prepaid, standard room) for three nights was a bargain. Would return in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.

This is just a guess, but I think anytime there are holidays (Xmas, summer) exec lounges fill up more w/ families that at other times.

Cheers.

Does anybody have the lounge-schedule, especially for the evening service? Would like to know how long alcoholic beverages are available in the evening - we will return from an event around the 10pm mark and would want to know if the lounge will still have wine or beer available at that time...website says open 24 hours but has no more detailed schedule I could find.

Thanks in advance!

Greetings - Dirk

Checked in yesterday for 3 nights as Gold.

Told I was upgraded to an executive room, which is on 6th floor. I booked the basic room category.

View is of the internal courtyard which is pretty rubbish.

Lounge was good last night. 4 hours of free booze. What's not to like. Heading there for breakfast now.

Room is fine - it's a corner room so kind of triangle shaped.

Checked in yesterday. No upgrade. No mention of no upgrade. When I asked about it - she said, nope.

Courtyard view - rubbish as above poster states.

Check-in lady said gym has weird hours and is closed during the day at some point. However she didn't know the hours. I asked her to find out. Uh vey.

Worst of all is the bed. It is old, slanted and hard. I have had them place TWO pillow tops on it and it is still the worst sleep I've had since a cheap hotel in Thailand years ago. Will be going down to front desk today in hopes of a better room with a decent bed.

On the plus side, train is a 5 min walk to the station. Really that's the only plus I can find.
Quite disappointing so far (although I have yet to try the lounge).

Yes the beds are hard. Woke up feeling like I'd been run over by an elephant.

The lounge is very good. Good breakfast selection, coffee is ok and the free flowing Kolsch from 5.30 to 9.30 was great.

Wife enjoyed the wine also - there was a decent cold spread last night and 2 hot options, but we're going out so didn't eat much.

You two should meet up in the lounge since you're at the property at the same time! You can gab travel & FT

Cheers.

LOL, elephant, you said it! I just moved rooms and had them place a second pillow top on this one, so praying my sleep tonight is better than last night. At least this bed is newer, i.e., not slanted.

Still no upgrade available for me. I chatted with the rooms manager and apparently they were already allocated Really though I don't care about a Suite. I just want a comfy bed.

I'm now on the other side of the hotel and still no views.

Hopefully tomorrow I can also enjoy the breakfast as it ends a bit later (11am). I'll definitely be strolling into the lounge to grab a some water for the room. They give you not one free bottle here. 3.50 Euro if you want a drink upon arrival.

Horrid stay this past weekend
- Long queue at check-in
- No upgrade for Platinum member/No Lounge access/no premium internet
- Breakfast rate booked but charged for breakfast
- Walked out of breakfast room as no seats available at 2 minutes after it opened
- 15 Minutes to print receipt at check-out
- Slow lifts so long waits for trip to/from room
- Hotel seems geared up for tour groups rather than passengers

You're entitled to $100 (local currency equivalent) guarantee.

https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/mem...s/guarantee.mi

Cheers.

Thanks - but how do I claim?

Any updates on the Cologne Marriott?
I have an upcoming stay and I have to choose between Marriott (Exec room only left for my dates) and Hilton... I've been in the Hilton before and I was very satisfied! If someone has some news concerning the lounge and breakfast of the Marriott (as the Hilton one is really good!) it can help me to make my choice.
Thank you!

Hilton!!!! The Marriott Cologne sucks as others have mentioned. The Hilton in contrast is very nice IMO.

All the other comments weren't clear enough about the comparison of the two hotels. Some reviews said that the lounge in the Marriott was good and that made me wonder to change my mind.
I'll stick with the Hilton, your answer is very clear! Thanks a lot!

I have had a horrible stay there last year. Waited 25 minutes for check-in while they serviced large groups (no separate line for Plat+), zero Elite recognition, no upgrades, other service issues. Definitely not a hotel I would ever consider returning to. Stayed at the Hilton before and was treated better as a Gold than at the Marriott as a PP.