Holiday Inn Nürnberg City Centre by IHG — Hotel in Nuremberg

We arrived after our flights from Barcelona via Amsterdam and a taxi ride from the airport(about 30€). Check-in was easy with no credit card/passport check, etc. German hotels aren't supposed to ask for passports any longer, but some still do! In Spain, they are now asking for bank account info? Due to my status, I was quickly checked in and given Room #533. I received 500 welcome points plus my breakfast coupon (due to my IHG Diamond status). Originally, I think I had booked a King Standard almost 8 months prior, but the hotel/system changed to Regular Standard. The guy who checked us in seemed to be "in training" and only went through the minimal motions (sorry didn't get his name). He said there were no Kings available?? even though the hotel was not full that 1st night? The room had a small Double/Queen bed by US/Canadian standards-too small for 2 adult males of average + size. The room was ok, otherwise. The bathroom had tub/shower combo plus toilet & sink. There was only 1 squeeze tube in tub (don't like body wash/shampoo mixture). There should be 2 distinct ones although they could use same liquid in each so who knows? The wifi was very good with a a strong signal most of time! On the second day, I complained about bed size and how I thought I had originally booked "King Standard" but got "Basic Standard". A great guy, Rishob Sen, then went above and beyond and found us a Premium twin room, #622. It was much better even though beds still smallish, but ok for 1 person each. The pillows also seemed better. The bathroom had separate tub & shower plus 2 sinks. There was more space in this top floor room plus the view was better part of neighborhood (including top of Ferris wheel at Christmas market) rather than strip joints in red like district as seen from 1st room! There was so much space to spread out; it was worthy of someone with IHG Diamond status. The guy who originally checked us in was not receptive of any upgrade and definitely did not go "above & beyond"!!!|Breakfast was mostly good. There was a egg station, but only Spiegeleier (fried eggs) were offered? I have never seen such that didn't at least offer "basic" omelets (cheese, veggies, one meat, etc.). There were many pastries with many jams/jellies, some cold cereals and cold meats, hot items including scrambled eggs and bacon, and more, including beverage (coffee, tea, hot chocolate) stations. There were water bottles to take to the table as well since I drink lots of water (leitungswasser) with each meal and when I drink alcohol as well. There were several rooms with seating, but too many loud children most of the time so it was sometimes difficult to find a relaxing place to sit. My coupon was dated for the 4 days we were there, and the lady took it on my final day. Overall, it was good for a Holiday Inn but offered fewer choices than the HI in Osnabrueck, where we stayed a few nights later. It was still better than most of the HI brand. We ate dinner all 4 nights in the attached restaurant: Brasserie and Bar NitriBizz. I will write a separate review on TripAdvisor. Note: I wasn't impressed with the dining options within a km but was very satisfied with the attached restaurant, including prices, options, and especially the dark beer!|In conclusion, once Rishob Sen got us the upgraded room, everything was great. Check-out went smoothly, and the bill was correct and included the IHG Food & Beverage credits that I had redeemed. Since I used IHG points (4th night free, depending on status), the only charges were from the restaurant. The location is in a "red light" neighborhood, but we never felt unsafe. We will definitely choose this place for a future visit but hope to return in warmer, dryer weather. Next time we will see the WWII history rather than the Weihnachtsmarkts, but it was good to see what we did see despite the weather. I also appreciate the help of everyone, especially Rishob Sen, during our 4 days there. ...

I must first start by saying I have stayed here several times and had a lovely stay. The staff has always been so pleasant.

This is why I hesitated to write this review but here it goes. I will state up front that if the staff would have been briefed (truthful) about their Air Cooling system, this all could have been avoided.

Our room was warm and the thermostat would not let us change the setting. We could change the fan level but not the temperature which was registering 24. The room was hot! We slept poorly that night but decided not to bother the staff until teh morning.

In the morning, I went down to the front desk and one of the staff members, I believe he leads the cleaning crew, accompanied us to our room and said that our thermostat must be working because he could not change it either. He told us he would call someone to fix it.

3 hours later, I started calling the front desk to ask when it would be fixed. I called at least 10 times and no one answered my call.

I then walked down stairs and waited in line behind 3 people checking out. When it was finally my time, the female staff member started helping me but after I told her my situation, another customer walked up and she told me "I'm sorry, could you come back in 5 minutes, I have to help the next customer because she is checking out and it is check out time. In fact it was 1130. I told her she should finish helping me because I was there first. She called the woman over and repeated I could come back in 5 minutes. I was not happy.

Then I walked back up to my room. I was not happy believe me you. Then when I went back down, there was a line of 10 people checking out. She of course said she could not help me again. I was very mad at this point and assured her I would be writing this review.

When I got on the elevator, the same guy from the morning was on it so I asked him when someone was coming to fix my air. A woman from the crew came to my room and did the same thing he did. She assured me the thermostat was working and told me she would call the technician. She tried and he did not answer but she said she would keep trying.

The technician did show up. He put a thermometer in the ventilation shaft and told me it was registering 16.9 degrees celsius so all was okay.

I stated that it was not 16.9 degrees in my room and even my thermostat was reading 26! He said, oh, those thermostats don't work, you aren't allowed to change the temperature. He also told me European air conditioners are not the same as American and we expect too much.

Well for one thing, the thermostat was working because we watched it continue to go up with the heat outside. Also, the metal ventilation system he stuck the thermometer in is probably a lot cooler than the room, but that air is not being pushed out into the room.

If the staff all knew the thermostats were not operational by customers, why didn't they just state that and why would they keep coming to my room and fiddling with it and telling me it was broken? Why not just tell me from the get go that they have a poor cooling system? I would not have been mad, I would have been disappointed, but I would not have been mad.

I was mad because I was told to wait my turn and then after waiting my turn, I was told others behind me were more important than my issue. By the way, I waited over 3 hours to come and talk to someone. Then I was told to go away and come back...to a larger line. I was mad because 2 different employees told me my thermostat was broken. The employee at the desk was not helpful or thoughtful. The others were great, but ill informed.

So, all of that being said, the hotel is in a fantastic location and is generally clean and aside from that woman at the front desk, every other staff member was kind and accommodating. The location, I must say again, is phenomenal. So if it is not too warm out, stay there and enjoy the hospitality.

If it is warm, you might want to stay some...

We stayed here for two nights (Thursday to Friday) in a King Standard room, and generally speaking the location is excellent for anyone who intends on roaming around Old Town. The hotel is clean and we had no issues with the amenities and staff were nice and attentive. I did not try the wifi, so can't comment there.||Our room was located at the back of the hotel, where we could see the Spittlertorturm. From this side we didn't have any noise issues. ||Normally I'd rate the hotel more to a 3, but I think for the price you will struggle to find something similar in terms of quality within the city walls. ||Pros:|- Price is amazing for a hotel that's inside of the heart of the city.|- Good location if you intend on walking around and spend your time in the Old Town.|- Convenient and large parking space. On our check-out date we were able to keep the car parked until 4pm(? I could be remember wrong) without extra charge. |- Breakfast was good. We ordered room service, but from what I understood the buffet has the same selection.|- Room and bathroom were clean, and the bathtub was good size to bathe in. |- Very nice bedding and comfortable pillows.|- Front desk staff were friendly and prompt at solving any issues or questions we've had. |- Complimentary sparkling water and apple soda. |- If you order delivery and made the mistake of forgetting to request for utensils, the hotel kitchen staff will gladly give you a set of cutlery.|- We had an ice maker on our floor, not sure if this is widespread. ||Cons: |- The coffee in the room is unfortunately instant. You can however get filtered coffee on the 1st floor. ||- The lights were kind of poorly thought out because the only way to turn off the entry-way lights was using the switch there. But the switch to turn off the entry-lights deactivated every other light in the room (except the bathroom). The switches near the bed could only shift the light from the lamps near the bed, to the entry way. So if you're someone who needs a night-light or prefer a light in case you wanted to get up in the middle of the night, it ends up being inconvenient because we found the entry-way lights a bit too bright for our liking. ||- Rather than a curtain, the shower has a revolving glass door to block the water. Unfortunately, the glass door isn't very efficient and it was common for there to be a pool of water after a shower. Whatever towel we laid on the floor would be drenched afterwards.||- Their "King Bed" is just 2 twin beds attached together. The beds were sturdy so they didn't move while we slept, it just feels misleading. Since we were just two the gap in the middle was fine: but for those looking to share the bed as 3, I'd find an alternative. ||- It can get quite busy at the front desk. So even simple inquiries may eat up a bit of your time.||- One of the elevators was out of service during our stay. The other one was functioning, but also seemed to have its own issues, because it'd stop at every floor. This would lead to pretty big traffic in the elevator, especially during check-in/out times.||- The hotel is located at the red-light district, you'd find it on the left side of the hotel's entrance. While we had no negative experience with this, it is something to be aware of. And because of it, the area definitely feels sketch compared to every other parts...