ibis Hotel Köln Am Dom

The stay was comfortable, and the location is handy, right at Köln Hbf and directly in front of the Cologne Cathedral. The room and hotel have few amenities. It would be good to have a kettle and a few other things in the room, as most hotels generally do.

The views from the window were unbeatable, and the central location was amazing. We could get to the hotel straight from the train station without going outside, and the staff were excellent. Our room was clean and quiet, making this a great stop for one night. The breakfast selection could be better, but for a two-star hotel our expectations were certainly exceeded. It's better than many other Ibis hotels too.

We had accidentally booked the room for one person instead of a couple, but Mandal handled the mistake with great care and quickly helped us get the room we needed. He was kind, attentive, and professional, and his polite, positive manner made a big difference to our arrival and set the tone for a wonderful stay. We really appreciated his outstanding help and felt welcome. Please pass our thanks on to him.

The location is the only good thing about this hotel. The rooms are small and the beds uncomfortable, though we could accept that for a two-star place. The check-in was the worst part: cold, inefficient, and heartless. We booked two rooms and arrived around 9.30 am. When staff said the rooms weren't available, I politely asked if we could have one early because my son was unwell. The reply was simply that there was no room. We waited in the lobby and were lucky to store our luggage in the tiny cloakroom. I saw many groups checking out, so after an hour I asked again if we could get a room for my son to rest. They said no, the rooms would be ready at 12pm. Only then did I learn this wasn't about availability, but an unspoken policy that the earliest check-in was 12pm, regardless of loyalty status or someone's condition. My husband and I are both Accor Platinum members and were treated badly, so don't bother mentioning your loyalty status. After 2.5hours, staff gave us the rooms. While we waited, we saw other guests looking disappointed and anxious. The tiny cloakroom couldn't hold the luggage of both people who had checked out and those waiting to get into their rooms. The problem wasn't just the small storage space, but how the hotel dealt with the situation. Like I said, heartless.