mwilsonrr

My wife and I had the good fortune to vacation in Germany this June and I want to share my thoughts on the experience. We stayed at three Marriott properties: Cologne Marriott, Dusseldorf Renaissance, and Heidelberg Marriott. All three stays were on points/e-certs from before the 2014 re-categorization and I am currently classified as a platinum member of MR.

First, in Cologne, we booked two rooms at the Cologne Marriott so that our 18 YO daughter wouldn't have to endure a room with her parents. We stayed two nights (Tuesday and Wednesday). Upon check-in we were informed that the hotel had some nice upgrades for us. Indeed they did! Both king standard rooms were upgraded to executive studio suites -- very nice! We were offered our choice of a snack plus drink amenity or the 500 points. Our daughter picked the mixed nuts which left me to take the Kolsch beer. The rooms were very comfortable and were hard to leave when it was time to check out.

We used the executive lounge extensively and were very impressed. The staff was very helpful, the food selections were good (especially breakfast) and the drink selections were very nice. If only the US lounges were so good...

The location is great for visiting the Dom and old town so worked great for us on our vacation. I appreciate the easy walk from the train station to the hotel -- made travel simple. I would go out of my way to stay at the Marriott Cologne -- they made our stay very special.

We stayed one night at the Dusseldorf Renaissance after dropping our daughter at the airport. It happened to be the night of the Germany-USA world cup match and the hotel had closed the regular restaurant in favor of a world cup event. They played the game on big screens in the bar, the restaurant, and outdoor in the garden. It was fun to watch the people watching the game. Everyone was cordial and it made for a fun evening at the hotel.

At check-in, they had the status recorded and I received the 500 point check-in amenity (no choice offered). We received the room we booked, which was clean and sufficient to our expectations. The breakfast was very good. The negative to the hotel room is the use of an old CRT television complete with scrolling white bands through the picture. This could use an upgrade!

This was a quick overnight and we were on our way to the Mosel valley the next morning. I would not go out of my way to stay here again unless it were on points.

After our time in the Mosel valley, we spent two nights at the Heidelberg Marriott. We were upgraded to a river view room on the top floor. At check-in, we were again offered the snack/drink or points amenity. We selected a cheese plate and a beer. The cheese plate was very nice and was delivered promptly.

The manager came out to greet us and welcome us to the hotel. A very nice touch that made us feel welcome. The front desk staff was very helpful explaining the public transit options and suggested several local sites to visit.

We used the executive lounge extensively here as well. It is smaller than Cologne but has a larger outdoor area overlooking the river. It is a perfect spot for an appertif in the late afternoon while watching the local rowing club conduct their lessons on the Neckar river immediately below the hotel.

Again, breakfasts were better suited to our tastes but the evening snacks were enough that you could make a meal out of them (and many did!). Would definitely stay here again if we return to Heidelberg.

Hope this helps someone!

Regards,
Mike

NJUPINTHEAIR

Glad you enjoyed your trip as I, too, love travelling in Germany -- esp. by car with the autobahns!

Glad the hotels also treated you well, next time you should try the Marriott Berlin which has a superlative lounge, is very well located and has recently undergone a renovation of its guest rooms.

By the way, I prefer Dusseldorf's Alt beer to Cologne's Kolsch, but that is just my opinion.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update on the 3 German properties! Much appreciated.

Cheers.

JamesEaston

You certainly got incredibly lucky in Cologne. I wonder if that upgrade (and the beer may have influenced the report. The location is perfect and the lounge is typical European standard with good meals and drinks, but the service across the board at that hotel is consistently terrible. Rude staff. Obnoxious staff. Unhelpful staff. Arrogant staff.

Other than front desk/concierge staff who are friendly, and management who are very helpful, most of the rest of the staff are belligerent and have no business in the hospitality industry (except Maria in the exec lounge who is outstanding).

Glad you had a good experience mwilsonrr, but that's definitely not the norm at the terrible MC Cologne....

xtremeski2001

Love the Heidelberg Marriott - top notch all around.

dabbagmm

I'm considering to stay 6-night in mid August and can't decide between Marriott Heidelberg and Renaissance Karlsruhe.

- I'm Platinum
- Family of 5 (2 adults + 3 kids ages 3,4 and 6) will go for 2 connected rooms or a large suite.
- Got a car and cheap/free parking in hotel or nearby would be a plus
- Will be using this as base to venture around going on daily excursions. will be touring the city of hotel briefly so city attractions are not that important.

xtremeski2001

I've never been to Karlsruhe, but it's tough to beat being on the Neckar river and waking up to the bells coming from Heiliggeistkirche each morning. There is a lot of walking, however. You can walk to nearly everything tho from the Marriott.

What cities are you venturing to outside the hotel city?

NJUPINTHEAIR

No lounge in Karlsruhe. However, you are not too far from Alsace and Strasbourg, as well as the Alsatian towns that have wine festivals each weekend in the summer.

bennos

Huge +1 to the MR Berlin. When I was there, the lounge was being renovated and was in a temporary location, but the staff was fantastic, providing an unsolicited birthday cake for the SO!

dabbagmm

Baden Baden, Colmar, Freiborg, Titisee, and mostly Black Forest day excursions. Therefore, as "NJUPINTHEAIR" thankfully highlighted, Karlsruhe is a better location.

The lounge is a plus for Heidelberg Marriott, but it will be ok to forego if Karlsruhe RN offers decent complementary breakfast as the hotels does offer free minibar daily.

Frankly, what's bothering me is the parking fee and I was wondering if I'm able to find cheeper or free parking near the hotel (fyi: my stay will span over a weekend).

Room configuration and possibility of mega suite upgrade is also a deciding factor. With a family of 5, it would be a big plus if I'm upgraded to a big/multi-room suite instead of paying for two standard connected rooms.

kcmd

My Marriott experience has been limited to FRA and always found the lounge to be excellent and the staff to be above par.

a91996

Spent 5 nights in the Berlin Marriott in June-14. The lounge was the best Executive Lounge I have ever seen at Marriott. The staff was fantastic, the food great at breakfast and dinner and the beverage choices were nice. The location was also perfect to walk the city sights.
I would definitely stay there again.

pewpew

I stayed at the Ren in Karlsruhe for a night before continuing south. I can't speak to anything other than the fact that elites are generally upgraded to rooms with complimentary Minibar use, and the breakfast is great--there's a really good selection. For the breakfast alone, if you get a good rate, I'd recommend it. It's not that far to get back on the Autobahn either. Note that parking is around 17€ per night though. I think you may be able to find cheaper parking nearby, but I'm not entirely sure.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Freiburg and Titisee are great. I did them while staying in Zurich on a day trip. You may want to check out the Alsatian wine road in the summer. Each small town hosts a wine festival on a weekend in the summer. Pay one price get your hand stamped and you can drink as much as you like as well as leave and tour around -- as long as you are capable of operating a car -- and then return to the village and drink some more! See: http://www.ribeauville-riquewihr.com...wine-route.htm

It is also pricier in points or cash and has a higher parking fee, but you may also wish to check out the C/Y Basel. Save a 1/2 hour to Black Forest area in Germany as opposed to Karlsruhe but even though parking more expensive and no breakfast -- you save on petrol.

Also, don't know your interests as well as whether you are interested in making a somewhat farther day trip, but the city/town of Nancy, France is a must if you like Art Nouveau architecture. Nancy was and is a big agricultural producer and since nature was a big influence on this style of art the city was a natural for hosting such artists. Many surviving private residences as well as office buildings are in this style and there is actually a self-guided walking tour pamphlet that I believe you can pick up at the tourist information office. In addition, they have a truly grand plaza lined by sumptuous Rococo buildings that one of the Louis' built for his father-in-law who was the deposed King of Poland who had his court in exile here befitting someone of his royal personage. It is a nice place and not many go there as it is a bit too far for those who go mainly to Paris.

Enjoy your trip!

nacho

You can park free close to CY Basel (there is a small road from Basel SBB down into a field, no 'no parking' sign and we have seen cars parking there, or park at Basel SBB (I think it's something like 4 CHF/day).

Nancy is quite a bit of a distance from Black Forest - we drove from Baden Baden it took is 2 hours to get there. There is no Autoroute all the way there and if you are stuck behind a 40km/h vehicle then you are SOL.