Apartments an der Kö

I liked the place and would stay again, and the room was nice and quiet. The check-in problems did make me nervous, though. Like several other guests, I never got the promised confirmation code email and had to call. A girl sent me the code, but it didn't include my room number, so I had to call again. That took time, and calling a German number may be uncomfortable for some guests. On checkout day, a worker opened my door and came in an hour before the scheduled time. That felt very strange and uncomfortable. After reading other reviews, I'm still puzzled that the hotel doesn't send the check-in code it promises. It should be easy for an employee to check, but it can cause guests a lot of trouble.

The main thing is, at least you don't get robbed. The rooms are tiny, and the elevator was broken. My 71-year-old mother had to climb six floors. Please put some CPR manuals in the stairwell for the next person. When we were looking for the place, my mother said, “Look, there’s a hotel, maybe that’s it,” and I thought the house looked abandoned 🤣

We lost an hour trying to get in before giving up and finding another hotel, and I really hope I get a refund. I had booked a room at Apartments an der Kö through Booking.com, but there was no reception desk, only directions to get an access code after registering with a QR code. Each time I entered my details, the system said it couldn't find my reservation. We asked passersby to help us call reception, but the line kept disconnecting after the answering machine. There was no technical support option either, so we had no way to reach anyone. The whole experience was frustrating and stressful.

The location was good, but we had doubts about safety at the complex. We waited 30 minutes past the normal check-in time, then saw that the room and building were nothing like the Booking.com listing and cancelled on the spot. Our booking was non-refundable, but customer service said to send photos and cancel through Booking.com to request a full refund. I did all of that, but they offered to refund only one of our two nights. After I politely asked several times for the full amount, they stopped replying. I still haven't received even the one night they offered to refund. There's been no response at all. We want our money back.