Empress Hotel

For €300 a night, this was by far the most expensive room of our nine-day stay in Germany, and I expected much, much better. One window had no blackout covering, so the room never got properly dark, and the bed was uncomfortable. At least there were enough towels and blankets, and the heating worked. The bathroom smelled strange, and there were several hairs on the sink and floor when we checked in. The shower needed adjusting over and over, the hand soap leaked, and there was nowhere to leave anything on the sink ledge. The toilet paper was poor quality. Nothing in the kitchen worked apart from the mini-fridge. When I asked about the heater, the woman at the front desk was condescending and asked, “But do you need it?” Yes. I come from a much warmer country, and at 7°C (40°F), many guests would need heating.

The hotel is exquisite, and the front desk staff are friendly. Still, the chandelier in our room stopped working on the third night. We asked for it to be fixed, but by the fourth night it still hadn't been repaired. There's a restaurant on the ground floor. It was noisy even after 10pm or 11pm, and when staying on the first floor you could smell cigarette smoke.

I arrived late, after the front desk had closed, and found my key in a keybox, which was no problem. I was there for one night on a business trip and had booked at short notice, so there weren't many rooms available. Mine was a very spacious maisonette, with a kitchen and living room downstairs and an upstairs bedroom that could sleep four. It faced away from the street. The beds and bathroom were clean. Breakfast was a nice buffet with good coffee, though it was a little crowded.

The staff were very friendly, and the location worked well. The metro is two minutes away, and it takes about 15 minutes to reach Marienplatz. I stayed in a standard studio, which had everything I needed for a comfortable stay. A very good experience, everything was perfect.