Holiday Inn - the niu, Coin Frankfurt Ostend by IHG

I’ve stayed in hotels across much of Europe for years, and I’ve never had a check-in experience like this. We arrived around 12:30 on Wednesday, January 28th. No one at reception greeted us. We eventually explained that we knew check-in began at 3:00 PM and only wanted to ask whether a room might be ready, then left. When we came back at 2:46 PM, the same receptionist told me it wasn’t 3:00 yet, with no effort to help. At 3:02, I went back to the desk. He wouldn’t even look at me, and left me waiting around 6-7 minutes while staring at his screen. After a guest who’d arrived later checked in at the other receptionist’s side, I tried asking that receptionist for help. Instead, he spoke to a man who’d arrived even later and asked if he wanted to give up his place in line. I told him I’d already been waiting a long time. I did eventually get checked in, barely, and my vacation began with this awful experience. I stayed calm, though the rudeness was hard to take. The company should consider who it employs at reception.

The room was very small, the so-called queen bed was two twin beds pushed together, and the facilities were limited. I could have put up with those things, though. At checkout, they said they’d email my invoice. A month later it still hadn’t arrived, despite many phone calls and several emails. Each staff member sent me on to someone else, and I kept being told it would take “1-2 days.” Nothing came. One person even sent a marketing email in the meantime, so those messages clearly get through. This should have taken minutes to sort out, but weeks of back-and-forth got nowhere. The management seems incredibly disorganized and showed no respect for customers.

The location is the one real plus, though there are plenty of better-value hotels near the stations. The front desk attitude at check-in wasn’t great either. I’ve never stayed somewhere without an electric kettle in the room or a central water dispenser as an alternative. We had to ask reception to borrow a kettle. They handed one over reluctantly, and it looked really grimy inside and smelled bad.

The room and stay themselves were alright, and I didn’t have breakfast. But if you need an invoice for business, I wouldn’t book here. My stay was nearly two months ago, and I still haven’t received one. I asked for it at checkout and was told it would be emailed. Since then I’ve called several times, including the hotel and reservation hotline, whoever happened to answer, and still have nothing. The service has been the worst.