Free daily buffet breakfast
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Reviews of Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln Altstadt

3 out of 5
Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln Altstadt
Mathiasstrasse 21, Cologne, NW

Reviews

6.8
Rating 10 - Excellent. 118 out of 1000 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 361 out of 1000 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 326 out of 1000 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 122 out of 1000 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 73 out of 1000 reviews" "

7.0/10

Cleanliness

7.4/10

Staff & service

6.2/10

Amenities

6.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

6.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Nicole

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good location, 20 minutes walk to central train station and restaurants nearby. Quiet, warm and comfortable. Only downside was that when we arrived, no one was at reception. We tried messaging the reception's number but the reception does not have WhatsApp so we could only contact them through the Expedia messaging system. Receptionist arrived 5-minutes later.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

8/10 Good

Paul

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
No thrills hotel in good location.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

8/10 Good

Katja

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Staff & service, amenities
Good hotel,very friendly and helpful staff. Only downside is that the hotel advertises for free drinks if you don't let your room het cleaned, but there where no free drinks and the staff doesn't know anything about it although it's on a flyer in the room. So don't expect any drinks, just let your room get cleaned.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2024

6/10 Okay

Robert

Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service
Breakfast ok,location ok but hotel has a very tired appearance. Room basic and in need of modernisation.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

8/10 Good

Glyn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Staff always welcome you checking in / out order taxis 🚕 on request arrival within less than 5 minutes
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Matthew

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2023

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Would not recommend
There was absolutely no hot water. Any day and any time we tried it was freezing. The double bed was just two beds shoved together and they would split apart at night. Spelled weird, in the gay sex district despite not being advertised, breakfast didn’t even have coffee
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023

4/10 Poor

Shay

Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Ronald, Muswell Hill

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excellent for the Christmas markets. also the Ramen restaurant across the road is highly recommended. Not sure I can cope with a single bed anymore though (my only complaint).
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Conor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel. Quite close to everything. Very friendly and efficient staff.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

4/10 Poor

Magnus

Business traveller, Travelled with partner
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Very dated and is in need of renovation.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

2/10 Terrible

Lukas

Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

6/10 Okay

Roy

Travelled with partner
No parking garage attached to this hotel. At check-in I was given a piece of paper with a garage location 3 blocks away. This garage is for residents and guests of 3 other hotels. Definately not the place to stay if driving a car. Breakfast was sufficient.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Felix

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Some fun bits of architecture. Hotel was okay. Very nice italian restaurant opposite, but also surrounded by sex shops. Staff were excellent - partner was ill and they were very accommodating, fetching tea, dry toast etc

8/10 Good

Ronald John, Muswell Hill

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Could do with some tea/coffee facilities in the foyer and fresh fruit at breakfast. Area is on the edge of the red light district but still quiet (at least in winter). Easy walk from the main railway station (straight through a couple of Christmas markets if you time your trip right). Under five minute walk to Heumarkt bus/tram stop, which is at the edge of the main shopping district, and the same distance from the Chocolate Museum. Breakfast was filing, but the only hot food was boiled eggs. The room was small, but the bathroom large and clean. Staff were excellent and this is a good value hotel, especially if you're here for the festive season.

8/10 Good

Goran

Liked: Staff & service
Great location but hotel is outdated
Older hotel with outdated rooms. The location and staff are great.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Conor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022
Response from Your team of Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln on 21 Sept 2022
Dear Conor,thank you so much for your positive review. We are more than happy, that you enjoyed your stay to 100 %! Your praise is the best reward for our team as we all work hard day by day to meet your expectations. We would have loved to know what you liked most.We hope to see you soon again.Best regards,Your team of Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness
Good basic hotel
Good basic hotel convenient for city sightseeing and for strolling along river. Room basic, clean and with comfy beds but we found noise from street below made it hard to sleep. Bathroom clean and good shower. Breakfast included was a bonus and ample for a days touristing. Only griie was that staff member was unable to resolve getting room safe open because he was new so had to go without.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2022

8/10 Good

Roosevelt

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good centrally located property
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2022

10/10 Excellent

Conor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2022

8/10 Good

kevin

Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service
Nice location
It was okay, the area was great but the hotel could use some updating.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2021

2/10 Terrible

Janice

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not wot is advertised
I’m sorry to say my stay wasn’t wot I expected on arrival they was digging the kitchen floor up to we had the banging to contend with on the 7 days we was there we only had hot water for one day apparently they had had problems before we arrived if they would of informed us we would of chosen a different hotel and instead of the continental breakfast as on the website there was only prepackaged sandwiches coffee carton orange and yogurt it also states there is a bar NO BAR TO BE FOUND I contacted hotels.com which wasn’t very helpful at all said they could give us a discount voucher to spend on our next booking in the current crisis I think j hot water is essential and not to even be offered a kettle in your room is just not exceptable the only good point about this hotel is the location I will not be booking again
Stayed 7 nights in Dec 2021
Response from Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln on 29 Dec 2021
Dear guest, Thank you very much for your feedback. We are sorry that we did not meet your expectations. Unfortunately we can not offer the usual service due to the pandemic. We hope to offer a full breakfast service again soon and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. With kind regards Your Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln team

4/10 Poor

Marino, London

Travelled with partner, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
This is my forth time staying at Novum. Location was close to party venues, xmas market, and other attractions but the conditions of this hotel are getting worse. Room is basic, wires connected to some handle on the wall, curtains broken. My breakfast was included in the price but guests were not allowed to consume it at the restaurant. We had to chise and pick up our food such as sandwiches (horrible taste and poor choice) some packed cakes. Tea and coffee. By the way, We had friends staying somewhere else and all had breaky at the hotel restaurant. Staff was nice and friendly. I will ever stay there again they better give it a big refurbishment cause like that is a big disgrace and also overpriced for what yhey offered.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2021

6/10 Okay

janko

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Even the Covid situation, the breakfast was totally tasteless. Packaged things as they were chosen to be eaten as little as possible. We only ate food the first day. The next few days we only took juice and coffee
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2021
Response from team of Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln on 1 Nov 2021
Dear Janko, Thank you for your review. We regret that you were not completely satisfied with our service and we apologize for the inconvenience. We will forward your comment internally. Hopefully you will visit us again. Best regards, Your team of Novum Hotel Ahl Meerkatzen Köln

2/10 Terrible

EUGENE

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 6 nights in Sep 2021

4/10 Poor

Dale, Mesa

Travelled with family, Business traveller
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This property is surrounded by gay bars and sex shops. Very old hotel with cranky people that do not help much when you make requests. Overall it was not worth the money we paid for the room. The only good thing was it was in walking distance to Heumarkt that had good restaurants.
Stayed 5 nights in Sep 2021

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Avoid.
Do not book this hotel. Absolutely no flexibility whatsoever shown during current pandemic regarding re-booking rooms at a later date - unless we paid full price again! Also a complete lack of communication for four weeks - only responded when hotels.com became involved. Other providers for the trip rebooked at either no or low cost - not this hotel. Those companies know that if you treat your customers fairly during the pandemic, those customers will stick with you in the future. We offered to make a small contribution to rebooking to next year - they came back requesting the full amount again. I wish the staff I dealt with well for the future -they will need with management’s aproach.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2020

4/10 Poor

Dalal Bajes

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Rian

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Place to Stay
Fantastic overall. Reception staff were very friendly. Room was lovely and clean - no fridge or air con that I could see. Breakfast was free and it was fairly decent for a hotel breakfast.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2019

4/10 Poor

Mower

Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very old property in desperate need of modernising. Room was extremely hot and pillows uncomfortable. The price we paid was definitely not for a budget hotel, yet the facilities reflected that. The breakfast was adequate, but could have done with a wider selection.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Short walk to xmas market in altstadt and access to tram network which made getting around easy. Our main reason is for market access
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2019

8/10 Good

Valerie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Short family trip for the Markets so spent little time in the hotel. The main issue was the very thin duvets and pillows but we managed for the 2 nights we were there. Also there was no kettle and tea and coffee which is unusual as every other hotel has supplied these. The breakfast was fine and the dining room and hotel and bedrooms clean . Easy enough to walk to the Markets and the Cathedral. Taxi back to the train station very reasonable. Would probably upgrade hotel if visited Cologne again but it was a budget one so can't expect miracles.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Location . Close to nightlife and trams and christmas markets.
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities
Good location but old carpet, small beds, worn out furniture and thin walls.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2019

6/10 Okay

Vickie, Skelmersdale

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Its a lovely hotel just lacking in some parts no tea or coffee in the room or nowhere to get a warm drink have to go over the road to the corner shop there is no food afters breakfast and no bar if they added some of these it would be a fantastic hotel to stay in. Staff are lovely and are very happy to help in anyway they can.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2019

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good central location but terrible in every other aspect
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2019

4/10 Poor

James

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The smell from the bathroom was horrible! Pillows were terrible!
Stayed 6 nights in Sep 2019

2/10 Terrible

Iain

Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

8/10 Good

Shaun

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 8 nights in Aug 2019

10/10 Excellent

Adrian

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A great choice in Koln
A great hotel in a very old building. Excellent breakfast and great helpful staff.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Amenities
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2019

8/10 Good

Elvia, Texas

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Hotel is part of an old building adapted to be a boutique hotel. Rooms are very small. There is no air conditioner. It is located near the marketplace and the Rhine river. Public transportation and attractions are at walking distance. Overall, it is okay for a short stay.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2019

10/10 Excellent

Matthew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best Breakfast ever!
The bathroom was tiny and the toilet leaked on the floor a bit... The bed was against the wall. The staff were the finest, kindest ever... And the breakfast buffet was the BEST IN EUROPE! VERY SATISFYING!
Stayed 2 nights in May 2019

8/10 Good

Asela

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
WiFi Internet connection is very poor
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Overall is ok
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

David

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
Simple European Hotel.
A very simple European room. Good breakfast. Customer service was great.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019