Cologne Hilton
The Hilton Cologne is located near the main station and only a short walk from Kölner Dom (Cathedral of Cologne) and the beginning of the pedestrian zone. The seven storey building was a former post office building. The building in the style of the 50ies was renovated in the late 90ies and reopened as Cologne Hilton.
The parking situation in front of this L shaped building is like at many hotels in downtown Cologne not the best, but the hotel is offering an underground parking for a fee.
If you enter the hotel, you are standing in the midsized lobby. The check-in desks are on the right side, while a “Sixt Rental Agency” is on the other side. There are several desks available to check in guests, usually there are working two agents during the day (in peak time during a convention, the number of staff could be higher). There are some lounge chairs placed in the lobby and also some tables. There is another lobby half a level above the check-in area, where also beverages are served from the nearby
bar. In this area is also located the entrance to the bar called “Ice Bar”(“Ice Bar” due to the Ice on the bar counter). The bar is open in the evening serves cocktails and there is a happy hour in the early evening and another one in the very late evening close to midnight. Here is also the entrance to the restaurant “Konrad”, which is open daily from morning to evening and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The interior style is nice, it is modern and a combination of warm and dark colours with a lot of furniture made from wood. A very light Scandinavian touch so to say.
Conference facilities are located in the first floor right hand side of the lobby. The gym is located in the basement on the far right end of the building.
There are two areas with elevators, one on the far left and another one on the right side of the building. The later one is the more hidden elevator, which is also the elevator for the access to the gym and the underground parking.
Breakfast in the “Konrad” is served as American Buffet with a huge selection of warm dishes like scrambled eggs, hashed potatoes, sausages, bacon, beans and cold dishes like salmon, vegetables. Cereals area available as well as jam and marmalade, a selection of cheese and bread, rolls and pastries. Tea is served from a samovar while coffee is brought by restaurant staff as well as juices. Juices are also available for self service. The restaurant is nice and the interior is also modern and nice in warm colours.
Stays: 17 August 2007
direct link to hotel: Hilton Cologne
Arrival Date: 17 August 2007
Departure Date: 18 August 2007
Room type booked: Hilton Guest Room (King)
Rate Plan: Net direct Rate
Room Number: 522
Room Rate: 89.00 EUR
Status of Guest Program: Gold
I arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon and was greeted by the agent at the check in desk. I was asked if I had a nice trip to Cologne – a more personal touch than in other hotels. Check in was fast, but I was not told if I got an upgrade to a better room. However I was explained where the restaurant was located and that the fee for breakfast was waived during check out as I am HHonors Gold. The way to my room was explained and
I was on the way to my room.
My room was facing the street and from my first impression this was an upgrade. I had seen the standard rooms of another flyertalker back in 2005. The room is decorated in light brown colours with a wooden floor. The style was again a light Scandinavian style with accents of the interior style of the seventies. I like this style, as it was not the usual hotel room interior you find in every chain hotel between Amsterdam and Zurich. The room was higher than average with very big and high windows. From the
corridor with the closet on the right side one reached the bathroom.
The bathroom a bit of the smaller side had a bath, toilet and sink. A hairdryer was available as well as small make-up / shaving mirror. The style was modern and the glass bricks gave the bathroom a bit natural light from the room. A nice touch. Bathroom amenities were available (Crabtree & Evelyne) and towels for two persons. Bathrobes and slippers were placed in the closet in the entrance area.
The safe was placed in the closet together with iron and ironing board. The safe had an international power outlet, which was a really nice touch. The minibar was adjacent to the closet at the entrance to the room. On the left side was the bed with two bedside tables and reading lamps. There were two additional reading lamps in the ceiling. A bit irritating was that the switch on the right side was for the light on the left side and vice versa. I was told during check out, that this was indeed correct, as the
interior architect thought this was better for reading. Obviously this means one was disturbing the partner on the other half of the bed … However, as I was alone, this was okay for me. The bed was comfortable and I had a good sleep. Air condition caused some noise, but no draught. One could open the window, but this area is a bit noisy due to the near station. Therefore during the night it is not really an option to open windows.
The desk was placed on the right side and had several power outlets to use. A reading lamp was available as well as a LAN connector. LAN / W-LAN were available for a fee – something I think the high end chains should offer for free nowadays, too.
Tea and coffee facilities were placed on the right side of the desk.
Two lounge chairs with a table and a reading lamp was placed in front of the window. The amenity was fresh fruit and a bottle of water.
The room was in mediocre shape with several scratches at the furniture, on the wall and the wooden floor. I think a downside of the light interior and the white walls.
Breakfast in the morning was of mixed impression, as they were running very late – I think nearly 45 minutes – as I was there at 7:20 and not everything was available. I was later told two members of staff could not come because they were ill causing a huge delay. Well something, that could happen.
Check Out was fast and one apologized for the lack of service during breakfast.
