Four Points Hotel Central Koln - Cologne, Germany 

I was never actually meant to stay in Koln at all. Unfortunately due to floods and storms and all sorts my train from Munich was delayed, with the knock on effect of me missing my connection to Brussels and subsequently the last Eurostar back to London. DBahn Service desk in the entrance to Koln Station changed my tickets for the next day and booked me a complimentary night at the Four Points within minutes of finally reaching Koln 2 hours late - full marks to them for excellent service on a particularly bad day. This also means that this review doesn't cover 'value for money" as I have no idea how much the room would have cost. The hotel is round the back of the station by the taxi rank and the whole area is a bit of a building site at the moment which doesn't really help the front of the hotel but inside was a different matter. The staff were helpful and polite, sorting out an alarm call and offering to make me up a breakfast package to take with me the following morning as I was leaving very early to get back to London. The room was a single so not the biggest room in the world but with everything you'd expect to find in a modern tourist/business hotel. The bathroom was huge and filled with light from the huge frosted windows. It all looked pretty new and had a bath which was great after such a long frustrating day of travel. And it was very very quiet. In terms of location it's a good choice, Koln Station is very centrally located. The Old Town, the cathedral, the main shopping streets etc are all walking distance from there and the station literally a minute away.

Honestly, I don't like writing this letter, but what happened there and the (non) outcome of it reflects how this hotel deals with their customers. We booked 4 rooms for business. Working for VF, we travel a lot and being an SPG member and loving their hotels, I suggested this hotel. Overall the property is an OK business hotel. Now here is the story. After checking out and driving back to Antwerp, I noticed as I arrived home when I opened my briefcase to get my keys, that stuff was missing: a Louis Vuitton document holder, an LV by Murakami keyholder, an LV coinsholder, a Victorinox credit card pocket knife, a Mont Blanc pen and my iPod. The weird thing is that "they" took out the papers from the documentsholder and the keys from my keychain and threw it in my briefcase! So this is not just a thief, but someone who took this for personal use. A real thief would have taken my phone as well or the entire briefcase. I immedaitely contacted the hotel and explained them the situation. They never contacted me, I always had to phone or mail myself first before they contacted me. Eventually Mrs. Alberts (hotel manager) contacted me. I provided a police statement, invoices from the goods (not all of them, since a few were gifts) and everything they needed. To make a long story short: they checked the entrance to my room and besides me, nobody had entered, so they were very sorry for the inconvinience caused, but they could not help/refund/make a gesture. In other terms, it seems to them I made up the whole story. I am appaled by their behaviour and the way a customer is treated, especially from a respectable house like Starwood Hotels. Of course we/I will continue visiting their hotels, but in Cologne we'll choose another property, because this story leaves me with a sour taste. Just to warn fellow travellers not leave anything in their rooms. Kind regards, G.L.