Ruby Ella Hotel Cologne — Hotel in Cologne

I don't think I ever had such mixed feelings about a hotel I've stayed in. It is nice on the outside, it is well placed, the inner yard is quiet, it's got parking, it's clean... but it misses some essential things that would make it a very good hotel, especially when traveling for work. They have an own concept called "lean luxury", two completely opposite words meaning in real life that: the walls are "industrial style", there's no carpet, the ambiance is cold (low temperature as well as figuratively cold), the sink is literally 1 meter away from the bed and you have to do your own check-in on a screen at the bar. But they provide some non-essentials as a Marshall speaker and a Marshall guitar amp, in case you wanna grab a guitar from the bar and "jam" in your room. Guys, I'm traveling for work and I don't want to find the next "Sweet Child O'Mine". The bar downstairs (that serves as a reception) is really good, cocktails are amazing and I'm all in for the "free drink" offer instead of daily room cleaning. But the breakfast feels a little incomplete and the personal could be a bit more helpful. All in all, Ruby is an amazing bar & lounge that has a hotel attached to it. Some might like the concept, but I think there are places that might be more suitable for the average business traveler. I hope that you'll work towards improving the concept, the location and design are already...

Room was spotless and had decent amenities. Would much rather have had a TV I could connect to my own Netflix etc. than a pointless Marshall speaker. The Galley idea is great, but please provide proper tea... those of us from non-American English speaking countries drink English Breakfast Tea.

Love the free cocktails in lieu of having the room serviced, great initiative and the cocktails were absolutely delicious. Huge selection at the modern and interesting bar.

All the staff we encountered were warm and welcoming and spoke perfect English.

The self check-in was a bit annoying, given that there were two staff members right there staring at us while we were muddling through it. Seemed a bit pointless. Put it by the door or something if staff aren't going to check you in. Also felt some of it was a bit redundant in that I had already provided details like name and address etc.

Breakfast at 24 euro per person seemed absolutely extortionate considering you could get a gourmet breakfast for less for two people in any of the numerous places around the neighbourhood. For what I saw of the mostly continental breakfast, 12 euro max would be what I'd even consider paying.

Location is great, Belgian Quarter is beautiful.

Overall a good stay and decent concept that needs a bit of tweaking to take it to the next level! We...

Save yourself a poor experience and stay away from this one!

I regret my decision of staying here. For the money I paid I could have stayed at the Marriott, but I chose Ruby because I thought it had more flair. WRONG!

It’s extremely expensive for what it offers. There’s no phone in the room so for every little thing you have to come downstairs to the reception. I was ready to go to sleep and noticed the sink in my room was clogged, so had to go downstairs in my PJs to get it fixed because I needed to brush my teeth. Then the shower head was pointing towards the wall and it would not stay fixed. What do I do now? Rush again to the reception? The pillows are totally malformed. I asked for another one and they just say “they don’t have anything else”. You have to pay for EVERYTHING: extra towels, drinking water. I’m on a business trip and have a double room, so my partner joined me for the weekend. We’ve done this 1000 times in different hotels and cities and never had to pay anything extra, but not at Ruby! Here you better get your card to be charged for anything that is not the right to sleep in your room.

The personnel is nice but the hotel is clearly understaffed and has pretty inflexible rules, so they can’t deliver the service expected of a...