My home for three nights was the Accor operated Ibis Budget which was coming in at just over £30 per night which I thought was very reasonable. It’s a short walk from the city centre of around fifteen minutes, so is conveniently located.
The little shop fridge area near the reception desk. The team member who was checking me in was friendly, although he was chewing gum quite aggressively which added to the whole experience for everyone.
There’s a bit of an effort to add character to the corridors.
The room is basic, but it’s cheap, so I’m easily pleased.
And from the other side of the room. That shower arrangement has been controversial in Ibis Budget hotels for years, but it’s being phased out now and they’re building enclosed bathrooms.
This is the photo of the city that has been placed over where the television used to be. Not that I ever turn TVs on in a hotel room, but they’ve upgraded the size of the screen.
Now this I think is brilliant. Very often in Accor hotels they will offer 100 points if you don’t have the room cleaned, which I usually take. However, hotels sometimes forget and have to be reminded and it’s all quite awkward getting the points sometimes.
Anyway, they take a different approach here, if you don’t have the room cleaned, you get a free drink from the earlier mentioned fridge. I thought this might be a faff to claim, but they pop a little card under the door which is the voucher that guests can claim their drink with. The offer includes all drinks, so I was pleased to get a couple of different beers for free.
All told, I very much liked this hotel as it felt like decent value for money. There were no noise issues internally or externally, with the team members being friendly and engaging. The online reviews are a little mixed, but they are often people expecting a rather more decadent room than is actually offered. I think the word ‘budget’ might be a clue here…
One one star review noted:
“Hardly anyone has a decent level of english…is it because Germany is self-sufficient and is thus not in need of tourists… shame on you”
Although the team members I encountered here spoke perfect English, there is a level of arrogance in thinking it’s shameful when they don’t.
“This hotel is right next to another ibis and the staff isn’t trained to guide customers to the right ibis”
There is a subtle clue that one hotel has an enormous “Ibis” sign and the other one has “Ibis Budget”. It’s not clear how staff are really meant to help customers who go wrong other than point them towards the correct hotel…..
Anyway, I’d stay here again, although it’s clear that the prices are ramped up considerably when there are trade shows on in the neighbouring buildings and I would be displeased to pay a lot of money to stay here. But when it’s keenly priced, all feels well.