BayArena

A very no frills room in need of a good cleaning and some updating. The elevator wasnt working, which seems to be a common occurance according to reviews. We stayed on the 5th floor, which was a bit of a trek with luggage. The location was convenient if taking transit, just a couple mins from the stop, and a short walk to the town centre. The bed was comfortable. Breakfast was pretty good.

Our second time here - it’s an old school great German spa hotel, with the exceptional sauna complex (which includes rituals every hour from 13.00). It’s dated at parts but that’s compensated with the very fair value. The breakfast was plenty, the service kind and welcoming and the room large and clean. We will come back.

Stayed at this hotel due to its close proximity to the Cologne Christmas Markets and because we required a triple room. The location of the hotel is convenient - close to tram stop and a few mins walking distance of the Christmas Market at Heumarkt. There is also a great Brauhaus just around the corner for German beer and food. However, the hotel is on a main road and the traffic was incredibly noisy - even after midnight you should expect to hear drunken shouting, sirens, fast cars driving past etc outside. Our room was also located opposite the elevator, so we could hear every guest on our floor using it and all of their conversations. On our second night a male guest was very loud returning from their night out and as they got off the elevator around 2am they purposefully banged on our door very loudly which was a little scary (I assume they were drunk). If choosing to stay here, keep your doors firmly locked and pack ear plugs if you want any sleep. In terms of cleanliness, it was quite a dusty room. The sink was very slow to drain water. There was also occasionally a “dirty pipe/sewage” smell in the bathroom - I imagine the sinks need some drain unblocker/cleaning products! Beds are quite hard and pillows are very lumpy. On a positive note, the staff we did encounter seemed friendly - check in and check out was quick and easy. Overall, we chose this hotel purely for location and convenience, but would not choose to stay here again.