Hood House

This hotel is very good indeed, but needs a few improvements to be perfect. What's good about it? It's located in a very nice area of Hamburg close the city centre and very close to the Alster lake. The area is mostly residential with lots of local amenities (shops, restaurants) nearby. We really liked the decor of the room. Bed, bathroom, kitchenette: all very good. The hotel allowed us to stay in a double bed room with 2 adults and a child (we brought our own travel cot). Breakfast in the Copenhagen Coffee Lab was amazing. A very nice German breakfast with lots of breads, youghurt fruit etc etc. What could be better? The blinds let in a lot of light from the side. In our room, sunlight was exactly directed towards the pillows. For light sleepers, that might be a pain. During hot summer days, it can get quite warm in the room. While the window opens, it does not open very far and this makes it not as easy to cool the room down in the evening. We're happy for there to be no airconditioning, but the window design should allow for the window to be opened much further. We do appreciate that people in Germany are much more direct than in some other countries. But we witnessed a supervisor arguing with a staff member (housekeeping?) about a contract right outside the hotel at the front entrance. That is not OK.

Pros: everything is still shiny and new, friendly staff, kitchenette in the room which I found very helpful. They allowed me to check in early and looked after my luggage on the day of departure. Cons: my window looked directly onto an office building which was opposite and quite close. I could see everything they were doing and vice versa, so I felt that (especially as a female single traveller) I had no choice but to keep my curtains closed during my entire stay. For that reason I will not return.

Booked for an accessible room. There's no way to the hotel without steps, or an outside lift that's operated only by staff. It's out of sight of the hotel, so if you are travelling alone, there's no way to get in. If you leave, and want to get back in? Same problem. It's a new building, why isn't there a ramp?! The room was OK, but microwave, crockery and glassware were on eyelevel shelving, so inaccessible for anyone using a wheelchair. The Blackout blinds have gaps, so aren't effective as light from neighbouring building, and sun comes in anyway. No aircon, or temperature control, so it's hot and stuffy. Only window to open is huge, and lets in all the street noise. Really really disappointing.