Hotel Schwan

This was a waste of money. The place was badly managed and nothing like the pictures. There’s no elevator, which they only tell you at check-in, so you have to haul your bags up two floors on a creepy spiral wooden staircase. Nobody was around to help. The room had no toilet of its own, just shared toilets, and they didn’t provide water. They advertised free Wi-Fi, but it didn’t work at all, and the TV had no international channels. We only went for one night because the other options were full. At the listed location, a man sent us somewhere else. My friend went there, where the receptionist told him to pick up keys. We carried our luggage over, only to be told by the receptionist to take the keys back to the original place. It was so irritating. They could have simply explained the procedure.

I’d warned them I’d be arriving late and had confirmation by email, but at 11:20 p.m. there was nobody there. The phone and bell went unanswered, and nobody replied to my email. A sign in the window sent me to another hotel that was also closed for the night. Aachen was fully booked, so I ended up sleeping in my car. That’s never happened to me before. Total disgrace.

It was okay for a night, and the highway nearby made it easy to reach. The place was friendly but overpriced, with a shared bathroom on the floor for everyone. Some corners need renovating.

The place looks a bit run-down, though the pizzas are pretty good. You can only pay in cash, no cards.