a&o Koeln Neumarkt

There’s a shared kitchen with a microwave, induction cooker, kettle, fridge, and utensils and dishes that you can use for free. You can also store luggage for free before check-in and after checkout. The four-bed dorm has its own bathroom and a hairdryer, but towels aren’t supplied. The Wi-Fi was very stable and the heating worked well. You have to make your own bed and put on the duvet and pillowcases. Under the bed, the storage cabinet only fits a 45-liter hiking backpack. There’s a bedside lamp but no charging sockets, and neither of the two USB chargers worked.

Breakfast was enjoyable, and I appreciated the four free drinks a day for group supervisors. The music in the common areas was nice too. Thanks to the whole team at a&o Neumarkt for a great stay. The staff were very friendly, the facilities were good, and the location was great. My room was comfortable and got cleaned several times, though the bedside table was dirty when I arrived. My floor was noisy every night, with other groups screaming and slamming doors at 1am. The windows were well insulated, so the construction outside my window didn’t bother me much.

The bathrooms were clean and the desk staff were lovely. The reception and social areas were nice too. My partner and I had booked a four-person room, and they put us together on two single beds pushed next to each other. Normally that would be a nice surprise, but it was still a four-person room, with a bunk bed right beside our double, which felt awkward.

I didn’t feel comfortable here and wouldn’t recommend staying. The bedsheets were messy and dirty, and rooms aren’t cleaned every day unless you specifically ask at reception. There are no bed curtains or power outlets, only USB ports. For storage, you get a drawer under the bed rather than proper lockers, but the space for a lock is so large that regular locks don’t fit. The kitchen key is another hassle: you have to ask for it, and getting it takes forever. The reception is always crowded, the staff aren’t helpful and often have a bad attitude. Random people are constantly coming and going, which made the place feel unsafe, and it seemed like some people lived there rather than just staying as guests. The location is good, but everything else was disappointing.