Swissotel Dusseldorf / Neuss - Neuss, Germany 

The fact that this is one of the more difficult reviews that I have written and posted on here I think provides a perfect summary of the Suissotel Neuss. Not because the hotel was particularly bad, or because I feel aggravated, but more because whilst the hotel didn’t fall down on anything significant, it didn’t have any ‘wow’ factor either. Now whether that’s because it is predominantly a business / conference type hotel, and accordingly simply has to accommodate it’s various delegates in a reasonable degree of comfort I don’t know, but even in such circumstances I would have expected something to have stood out. Unfortunately nothing did and may stay will soon be lost to the depths of my memory. The reason for my stay was to attend a 3 day training course in Neuss City Centre, and this was the hotel recommended by the training company. Therefore in some senses, I was like any other delegate attending a conference or fair in either Neuss or D?sseldorf. As always, I read the previous contributions before I went, and am pleased to report that in most areas I can wholeheartedly agree with the comments made. Therefore I will only try and add my personal observations which may not have been covered. The hotel is somewhat remote, and whilst it is located on the banks of the river Rhine, this is nowhere near as romantic as it sounds. In this part of Germany the countryside is relatively flat, and the river is principally just another transport route. Although there are footpaths on both sides, one soon gets bored of looking at the various commercial craft travelling north or south. Whilst the hotel does have a large car park, if you are reliant on public transport you will face a 5 – 10 minute walk to either the nearest tram stop or the S-Bahn station. Neuss is a further 10 minutes away by tram, whereas central D?sseldorf is 15 minutes by S-Bahn train or 20 minutes by tram. However the public transport system is very good, and runs from very early morning to late at night. However as this is principally a commercial area, I would not advise arriving at night by this method unless you know exactly where you are going. The room was comfortable, clean and tidy with a view across the river and D?sseldorf. However I struggled to connect my PC to the internet as my company’s policy is to disable wireless connectivity and the only telephone connection was an ISDN line which my PC’s modem could not recognise. The quality of food has been commented on before, and I can only concur with previous contributors about the quality, which was very good. However I did eat in the restaurant one evening and would make two observations. Firstly, I was one of only three people eating in there, so we ended up with more staff than guests. Secondly, there were only 3 main course choices on the menu; lamb, steak and fish. For a hotel of this size, I would have expected more. The ‘unhelpfulness’ of the staff has also been commented upon previously. However I found them all to be polite and cheerful, always saying ‘Good Morning’ as you passed. Any questions I had were promptly and politely answered. Basically I could not find any fault there. However again, they did not stand out as providing exceptional service. So, in summary, a competent hotel that does nothing particularly bad, but does nothing particularly good either. If you are staying there because of a conference in its neighbouring conference suite, then you will be quite comfortable but unless you make a particular effort, may well find you do not set foot outside of the building. However if your stay is for personal reasons, unless you have your own car, the walk to the tram / train stations is just a little bit too far to be considered convenient, and the whole experience is unlikely to remain in your memory for years to come.

Como íbamos a ver un partido de la Copa de la UEFA en Leverkusen, aprovechamos para estar varios días conociendo la zona de Düsseldorf y Colonia. En [----------] había una oferta especial que nos salía la noche a 46 euros, así que, viendo que era de 4 estrellas y estaba justo al lado de Düsseldorf (teníamos coche alquilado), nos lanzamos. Está claro que el precio baja tanto por no estar en pleno casco urbano de Düsseldorf, pero creo que merece la pena, y más si vas a hacer turismo por esa zona. El hotel está muy bien, calculo que tendrá 20 años o así, pero estaba en muy buenas condiciones, la habitación era bastante grande, estaba limpia, tenía televisión, un baño amplio... vamos, lo corriente en un 4 estrellas. El edificio se sitúa a la orilla del Rin, y desde la ventana de la habitación se veía el skyline de Düsseldorf al otro lado del río, marcado por su gran torre de comunicaciones Rheinturm de 240 metros (subida obligada, por cierto, tiene unas vistas impresionantes). El servicio de habitaciones muy satisfactorio. Un día no teníamos pan para cenar (nos montábamos la cena en la misma habitación con embutido al vacío y demás víveres), y nos subieron en cantidad suficiente, de varios tipos, y con mantequilla! Otro día bajé a recepción a pedir también pan, y esa vez me sacaron de la cocina de gratis. Para ir a Düsseldorf, debe de haber un tranvía que para al lado del hotel, y cruza el puente del Rin, aunque no lo usamos porque íbamos en coche. Colonia está a unos 40 kilómetros, y se llega perfectamente por autopista. Por cierto, el hotel tiene plazas de parking, pero en la calle había sitio suficiente, ya que es una zona poco transitada.