Hotel Residence Hamburg

The hotel's location is in a dodgy part of the city, though it's only a 10-minute walk from the central train and bus station. They offered free drinks to make up for the inconvenience they caused. The staff were extremely dishonest. The day before our booking, they tried to cancel because of a supposed water pipe issue. I was traveling with a child and told them they needed to find us another hotel at their expense if they were cancelling. We didn't accept the alternative they offered, which was an hour away, so they gave us the room we'd originally booked and paid for. As expected, there was no pipe problem. They had simply overbooked and tried to make us deal with their incompetence. After room service, we found a cockroach in the bathroom. There was no air conditioning in 2024 and no soundproofing, so in summer you have to sleep with the windows open. The hotel is right across from a main street, and ambulances, cars, and people talking loudly as they pass by, drunk or not, woke us during the night. There's no elevator, so you have to carry your bags. Good luck if you're on the third or fourth floor.

The room itself was fine, though there was some mold in the bathroom. The only real plus was being close to the main central station. There's no elevator, and I was put on the fourth floor, which isn't friendly for disabled people. The receptionist was mediocre, but a very kind employee carried my bags downstairs, so I'm giving two stars. For the price, you can find somewhere better.

The included breakfast had a large selection, which was the one good thing. The price is cheap, but this is a pretty terrible hotel. The room was OK, though the dirty net curtains and old regular curtains were disgusting to touch. The hotel is on a very busy road, so with the window open there's noise all night. There was one shared bathroom for I don't know how many bedrooms, one floor up, and each time I went there was a queue. The floor was soaked every time, with other dirty towels lying around. I've stayed in backpacker hostels with much better facilities.

We booked at Wikinger Hof but were given a room in "Hotel Mercedes". The people working there were nice, and it's cheap and near the main station, though the neighborhood isn't clean. I wasn't expecting anything fancy, but the hotel needs more renovation, especially around the entrance, carpeting, and wall coverings. The carpet was awful, and I felt uncomfortable walking barefoot in my room.