Excelsior Hotel Ernst
Cologne, Germany
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About the Hotel
Nestled among the church spires of Cologne, Germany, not far from the Rhine River, stands the exemplary Excelsior Hotel Ernst. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, this historic hotel, one of only a few buildings in these parts to survive World War II, has been part of the cityscape for nearly 140 years. Its luxurious rooms and excellent service have earned it both a loyal following and flawless reputation, as well as inclusion in Conde Nast Travelerâ€(TM)s Gold List.
Location
Excelsior Hotel Ernst
Trankgasse 1-5, Domplatz
Cologne, Germany
P50667
Nearest Airport: CGN
Features and Amenities
Reviews for Excelsior Hotel Ernst
So 1999-ish
Poor experience overall. First the positive: All staff is awesome. Everyone couldn’t be any friendlier. Breakfast is awesome. And they offer a good night hot chocolate or hot milk with honey for kids. Which is a nice touch. The rooms is where it goes downhill and the way staff approaches it. Booked a deluxe room, around EUR 500 a night, and the room’s carpet is just disgusting. We didn’t want to take off our shoes. It has some major stains (see photo) and overall just felt dirty. That’s an issue. But the real issue for me then is when staff at the reception pretends like they’ve never heard of this and are all surprised that there may be stains. Dude, that stain, on that overall totally worn carpet, looks like it’s been there for years. So that really threw me off. He gladly still charged the full 500, of course, but offered a stale Christstollen to make up for it. Crazy. The other thing: The shower. Highly dangerous and you’ll need to be acrobatic (photo). Plus, the water goes everywhere and you’ll for sure flood half the bathroom. But… I’m complaining about that part since 2008 when I started staying there for the first time. Excuse was always: We’re renovating. Here we are, 17 years later… Location is awesome. Only reason to stay ( besides I’m not sure if there’s an alternative overall if you’re looking for that level of service - minus the receptionist who gaslight you).
BigTraveler002
Great location and good customer service
So glad we checked into this hotel, after our nightmare at the Hilton around the corner. We really enjoyed our stay here and recommend it for the following: 1) Location = 5/5 as it’s like a 2 min walk from the central station and so close to the Christmas markets. 2) Check-in = 5/5 a very warm and helpful welcome. What’s great is they allowed us to check in early. Thank you! 3) Room = 4/5 it was very spacious, clean, functional, standard amenities of large bottles of: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, earbuds, make up pads, tissues. The reason for the four is that the aircon was playing up and making so much noise so the heating was only capable of one setting which was very hot, therefore it made sleeping difficult. Someone came to fix it immediately and was great, but told us that it was old. We were just glad the noise was gone. Nice slippers, towels good but no robes. Also no tea or kettle in the room. You need to ask for this at the desk. No bathtub. 4) Afternoon tea = 4/5 fresh sandwiches, four small raisin scones great pianist and we asked for more sandwich’s and she got some even though they don’t replenish these, is what she said. It was €150 for two with a glass of champagne. 5) Customer service = 5/5 very friendly and helpful staff. 6) Checkout = 5/5 very easy and they offered us water too. Nice and helpful. I recommend this place for the location and helpful staff. Everyone had a smile on their face and wanted to help you with anything. They gave us a free welcome drink in the bar and a lovely welcome plate of treats in the room with a thoughtful card. Thank you.
Leezz - London, United Kingdom
Superb - without doubt the best in Cologne
Classically German flawless excellence with 9/10 Christmas spirit. Renovated suite was excellently done. Some roundabout pricing on upgrade / to a suite which turned out to be a large junior suite. However absolutely no complaints. Standout superb service from Hae Nam, Sasha and the concierge team who organised very complex Reservations during the Christmas period. The Charles bar is superb. Breakfast is higher quality and more comprehensive than many grand capital city hotels. Overall, an extremely impressive experience.
ACARSW5 - Singapore, Singapore
Trying to sleep at a beer garden
It was like trying to sleep above a beer garden. Below our room in a gathering room, live music is still playing and it’s 12:50 in the morning. I thought I was supposed to be staying at the nicest hotel in Cologne. I would have been better off trying to sleep at the train station. Went down to the desk at midnight to see when it would stop. No luck with that.
Gregory W
Amazing hotel, even better views if you splurge
My family of three returned to this hotel for a one night stay. We wanted to hit the Christmas markets and do some shopping after a trip to Portugal before our flight home out of FRA. I booked a Junior Suite Cathedral view room; definitely not inexpensive but an amazing room with an even better view of the Dom. We arrived early in the morning and knew our room wouldn't be ready, which it was not. We dropped our bags and set out for some Christmas markets in surrounding towns. We returned to the hotel around 5:30, checked in and were given the key to room 301. This room is huge and amazing. They had the sofa bed made up for my daughter and there was a pair of slippers waiting for her. There is only one bathroom, but it is large and has a great shower. The sitting room is just enormous even with the sofa bed pulled out. The bell staff had delivered our luggage, which is always a welcome service. The highlight of the room is the view of the Dom, right across the street. That view is made even better with the three (yes, three) small balconies. The room temperature was easily controllable, the shower pressure was great, and the bed incredibly comfortable. We had drinks at the bar in the evening. The only minor ding I would give the hotel is that the service in the bar seemed a bit off compared to our two night stay in 2024 and I noticed they had replaced the elegant leather coasters with paper napkins. Not a big deal by any stretch, but a noticeable change to me. We had breakfast in the restaurant in the morning. It isn't the biggest spread that we had on the trip, but it is plentiful and has something for everyone as well as order off the menu egg dishes. Everyone that we encountered was excellent, helpful, professional and friendly. We love this hotel...absolutely love it. And we all agree that in all of our travels, the view from this room (the exact same room we had last year fwiw) is the best we have ever had. The convenience to the train station is also amazing; exit and you're in the hotel in an easy three minute walk (if you walk slowly). Thanks for a / another great stay!
MikesWanders - Charlotte, North Carolina
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