Leonardo Boutique Hotel Duesseldorf

The staff were excellent and very helpful. The hotel was clean, with good quality food, and the room had a decent amount of space. The bathroom, though, was quite small, and there weren't USB sockets, so overseas travelers will need power adapters. It's conveniently near the railway station.

Breakfast had a great range of food, though the small dining area got crowded when people were waiting for a seat. We were there for Düsseldorf's Christmas markets, and the reception's Glühwein and cookies were a lovely gesture. Staff were friendly and helpful, and the hotel seemed well maintained. We had a Superior room, which was a bit bigger than our friends' Comfort room. Our bathroom and especially the shower were quite small, but everything else was fine. The hotel is within walking distance of the City Center and worked well for a short stay.

The lounge bar bartender was really friendly, and breakfast had a good range of choices. The rooms are spacious enough, clean, and have modern equipment and a mini-fridge. The bathroom has been renovated, though the shower booth was a bit awkward for a large guy like me. I could manage, and it didn't bother me much. A good experience overall.

The Whiskey Basil Sour was delicious and balanced, nearly perfect. It was the bright spot in a first visit to the lobby bar for drinks on a blind date, an evening memorable mostly for the wrong reasons. I asked for discreet seating, but the one inexperienced person handling the bar, maître d', and waiter duties put us at the most exposed bar seat. I eventually found a more secluded place myself. They only had bottled Altbier, and it came warm, so we sent it back. Asking for snacks seemed to confuse him. He said there weren't any, then when I asked specifically for chips, he said he'd have to find them. He came back and tossed two packets on the table. When I asked for a bowl, he brought two. By then it was more funny than irritating. Splitting the bill was another hurdle: he left the card machine on the table for me to use. For a tax receipt, he sent us to reception and told us to wait. After a long delay, we went to the desk ourselves and got an A4 printout that didn't look like a standard invoice. The evening was unintentionally amusing, but the service was well below what I'd expect at a hotel bar. One excellent cocktail couldn't make up for the lack of professionalism.