Stage 47 - Dusseldorf, Germany     

We stayed for a weekend. Before we went we had written to the hotel and asked if they could recommend some places for us where we could get a good meal. Miss B from Stage 47 had quickly responded and recommended the local mini brewery “Schumacher” in Oststra?e for dinner on Friday. It’s a 5 minute walk away from the hotel and they served very good Dusseldorfer Altbier (the local beer in the city) and excellent regional food. We ended up staying there until they closed, chatting away with the locals at our table. The Schumacher Alt is a must, go and take a drink there! Saturday we went around town and we went for another Alt bier at Uerige. Great place as well, and really good beer. After a long stroll “all over” town we went for sushi. Some people we met Friday told us that Dusseldorf has one of the largest Japanese populations this side of the ocean. Some 60-70 000 Japanese lives in D?sseldorf(!), and what does that mean? Great sushi! Head down to the Japanese part of down and get great noodle soup at Narivar, or sushi on the other side of the street (KlosterStrasse). In the evening the hotel had booed a table for us at Monkey’s South. Again an excellent place with fantastic food, and wine. So; This city is filled with nice people, great beer, and surprisingly good food. Now: You want to know about the hotel right? The Hotel is great value for money. Our room was huge, with a big bed and even a “chaiselong” (a huge comfortable chair). It's a kind of like Hotel Night in New York (look it up), but the room was 5 times bigger and lighter:-) The bathroom was small compared to the room, but totally fine. No bathtub, just a shower. If you are familiar with rooms in the likes of Paris, London, New York then you are up a for a spacous surprise. Breakfast is good too, and we though the service we got with restaurant reservations etc was excellent. Furthermore it’s centrally placed, and it’s a short (and safe) walking distance to all places of interest. The only thing that pulls it down from “excellent” is that it probably needs a bit of a brush up some time during 2008. We would stay the same place again. And that’s the best review a hotel can get, isn’t it?

We stayed for 4 days on a shopping trip before Christmas. I selected it on the basis of the reviews here. We got a split level suite. The decor is black. The lighting is VERY dim. Those two facts don't combine well. There were roadworks going on outside and the receptionist never told me that when I was asking if the street side rooms were quiet. Its double glazed so it was pretty quiet but we couldn't open a window in the afternoon because of the dust and noise. The parking is NOT attached to the hotel. Its about 300 metres away. Again, when I had asked about the parking on the phone, she neglected to tell me that. The breakfast was VERY poor. There wasn't even any fruit salad or ripe fruit. There was free wifi but it only worked in the (tiny) lobby. Finally, the room was very dusty and our kid got asthma attacks during the whole trip and for about a week afterwards. In case it wasn't clear, I will not be going there again.