Refugium de Luxe — Hotel in Cologne

made a reservation by booking and called for some extra intell'. hennes called me back and was friendly and gave good and sound information. parking is free on the streets IF you are able to find one. a true disaster in german cities these days. there are no parkinggarages in the neighbourhood! the appartmentbuilding is located in a pretty busy street with traffic and trams. i was lucky to have a studio in the backside of the building with view on a patio/square. otherwise...no open windows because of trafficnoise. i asked for a checkout at 12:00h and that could be arranged. but no word or confirmation about that anymore at all by sms. there is no reception, so all communication is done by phone and sms. ||||when entering the building i noticed that there is NO elevator. on booking.com there is not even once a remark about this. so seniors or people with heavy suitecases...you better find a different place. when i mentioned this on the phone, i got as response: "yes, you are right. but you know...people don't read well at all..."||my studio was on the 1st floor, so i thought "lucky i am"...how wrong i was. the studio was pretty stylish equipped and clean as clean can be. but than i found out that the TV's(yes 2 in a 30m2 studio!) were not working. the deluxe-brand promise was already a bit fading. i needed to iron(bügeln-funny word) my suit and found out that there was neither a board or iron in the studio. so i called them again. a friendly lady on the phone sent me a cleaner to help me with the remote control and she brought the iron and board as well within 5 minutes. the cleaning lady mentioned that the tv's were already not working the day before(?). so strange. something is broken.....and you leave it like that for the next customer? so it may be luxuary from the inside but if this does not reflect as well on the mindset of staff, you better book a youthhostel in the city. i have seen a few appartments and hotels the past 4 years but never did i experience this before with loewe tv's. so i called again and received some friendly appologies and the solution was to move to another floor. guess what? the 3rd floor! 63 stair steps....bye-bye to my luck.... i was very happy that the cleaner carried the ironboard, iron and my handluggage. the studio on the 3rd floor was an exact copy of the 1st floor studio. all looked fresh and clean on first sight. when taking a shower i noticed a big ugly spot on the sink. that was a real turn-off. ||||although the place is pretty new, they missed the opportunity to make it soundproof. i could follow all afternoon the conversations of my neighbours. the entrancedoor has space underneath the door and therefor also not well equipped.||||what raised a big questionmark, was the fact that this studio did not have a desk/table with chair to work at...||||resume: -nice stylish furnished place|| - quality control totally not in line with the deluxe promise|| - callcenter staff friendly and is helpful finding solutions|| - all communication by phone and sms|| - NO stairs!||||advice: - ok for short stay and a night sleep, away from the city center. take care of your condition before you book and check the room first if everything works and...

Fine stay for a night in Cologne, but I wouldn't recommend staying in this place for any longer than that. The room hadn't been cleaned that well (lots of dust, a dead wasp on the ground, dirty walls and curtains, etc). There are no facilities or breakfast options - no kitchenette nor breakfast hall, no (bi-)daily cleaning. However the price is not lower than that of the nearby hotels. Moreover: no way of cooling the room in the summer, no insect screens for the windows, no elevator to get your luggage to the second floor, quite a small room, weird smell in both the room and bathroom. All in all fine for a night but not comfortable to stay in any longer. Location is also not great. Wifi signal works but is very weak.

The bed was...

Hospitality at its finest! We had a last minute trip to Cologne, and we forgot to bring a lot of things. The apartment had everything we needed --- hairdryer, iron board, and a lot of towels. Their coffee's real good too! We didn't have much time to cook, so we are grateful for the restaurant recommendations given by the owners. They take good care of their guests... they make you feel like you are staying with family. Going to the Cologne Cathedral and Chocolate Museum were highlights of our visit. Both are very near the apartment. You can do a lot of shopping in the Schildergasse area. Don't forget to try out Kölsch beer, Mettbrötchen, and Himmel un Ääd when you...