Express by Holiday Inn Essen City
The hotels is a three floor building in U-shape and located in the center of downtown Essen, just a block from the pedestrian zone and a short subway ride from Essen Main Station. The Colloseum Theatre is across the street from the hotel, so the location is quite good.
The hotel has 153 rooms (75 single bedded rooms and 78 double bedded rooms) of which are 98 smoking free.
You enter the hotel through a spacious entrance lobby built as atrium. There are some lounge chairs and in one corner is a small internet terminal to check E-Mail. I would not call this Business Center like the homepage of the hotel did for some time.
Check-In is right hand side of the entrance. Like in many HIX there is the bar area right adjacent to the check in area together with the breakfast area. This part is really huge and lacking any sort of positive atmosphere. I could not tell, why I have this impression, but I think it is the seize and the movable walls in the back part of this area which gives them more the feeling of a conference room rather than a hotel lobby. A nice touch is, the breakfast buffet is a bit separated from the table.
One meeting room is available.
A parking garage is available for 10.00 EUR / day.
Stays: 08 December 2004
direct link to hotel:
Holiday Inn Express ESSEN - CITY CENTRE
Arrival Date: 08 December 2004
Departure Date: 09 December 2004
Room type booked: Standard
Rate Plan: Best Flexible Rate
Room Number: 229
Room Rate: 77.00 EUR
Status of Guest Program: Base / Blue
The Express by Holiday Inn has single and double rooms. I hat booked a single room and got it.
Check in was okay, I was the only guest checking in and so it was no wait at all.
Like in many Express by Holiday-Inn the rooms are small and the interior is only basic. The arrangement of furniture in this room was quite a bit different from what I got in the rest of the HIX hotels I have stayed in so far.
The entrance is as usual with the entrance to the bathroom and the clothes rack. The tea and coffee facilities (of cheap quality) are placed this time not near or at the clothes rack but at the working desk, which is a smal triangle table at one corner of the room. The television is also placed there. This is a bit annoying as you are short of power outlets and it is not really nice to sit in front of a tv screen and even have not really space to open a laptop.
The single bed is placed on the other side (wall to bathroom) with a smal bedside table with television and reading lamp. As this is the only telephone in the room and also has the dataport you have to place the phone on the floor to use it (or place the laptop on the bed). That is room design as it's best...
The bathroom is normal; it had a shower cabin with a curtain and a toilette. The sunk was in the corner. Towels were available (only one large and one small towel which does not smell really fresh (as if the had placed in a room where someone smokes a cigarette).
The hairdryer was placed in the room
Bed and furniture were okay. The windows seems to be triple glazed since I did not hear any noise of the street.
Breakfast was okay. Since I have been early (second guest at breakfast), I did not notice any leak of service.
My overall impression is not the best. The room interior is weak (though I am not sure, if every room look alike). It has no atmosphere and any decorative element is missing. Tea and coffee facilities are really of cheap quality and the television placed behind the working desk it the worst place (aside would be much better). I am not sure, if I will return in this property, since the nearby Holiday-Inn is not that more expensive.
