Ehrenstein Castle

Our second time here - it’s an old school great German spa hotel, with the exceptional sauna complex (which includes rituals every hour from 13.00). It’s dated at parts but that’s compensated with the very fair value. The breakfast was plenty, the service kind and welcoming and the room large and clean. We will come back.

Stayed at this hotel due to its close proximity to the Cologne Christmas Markets and because we required a triple room. The location of the hotel is convenient - close to tram stop and a few mins walking distance of the Christmas Market at Heumarkt. There is also a great Brauhaus just around the corner for German beer and food. However, the hotel is on a main road and the traffic was incredibly noisy - even after midnight you should expect to hear drunken shouting, sirens, fast cars driving past etc outside. Our room was also located opposite the elevator, so we could hear every guest on our floor using it and all of their conversations. On our second night a male guest was very loud returning from their night out and as they got off the elevator around 2am they purposefully banged on our door very loudly which was a little scary (I assume they were drunk). If choosing to stay here, keep your doors firmly locked and pack ear plugs if you want any sleep. In terms of cleanliness, it was quite a dusty room. The sink was very slow to drain water. There was also occasionally a “dirty pipe/sewage” smell in the bathroom - I imagine the sinks need some drain unblocker/cleaning products! Beds are quite hard and pillows are very lumpy. On a positive note, the staff we did encounter seemed friendly - check in and check out was quick and easy. Overall, we chose this hotel purely for location and convenience, but would not choose to stay here again.

The Reception staff much improved since our last visit. They were very friendly and helpful. Hotel is comfortable and in a great location. Parking continues to be a problem - there isn’t any! You need to pay and park on the street which is 5-10 minutes walk from the hotel.