Hotel Merian

⭐ Hotel Review: Merian Hotel, Cologne I stayed at Merian Hotel in Cologne, and I must say — the location and price were unbeatable! 📍 Perfect Location The hotel is just a few minutes’ walk from Cologne Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) and Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom). It’s incredibly convenient if you’re traveling by train or planning to explore the old town on foot. You can easily walk to shops, restaurants, and major attractions in under 10 minutes. 💰 Excellent Value for Money For such a prime central location, the room rate was very affordable. It’s rare to find a hotel this close to the station and city center at such a low price. The room was basic but clean, and included breakfast, which made it an even better deal. 🛏️ Room Tips Rooms facing the street or train station might get a bit noisy, so I recommend asking for a quiet room facing the courtyard if you’re a light sleeper.

Great location. Clean and tidy room- worth the price. However, had the most astonishing experience in my life with a male receptionist called Sahsa Grass. Room check in time 15:00. I arrive around 14:20 (I'm yet to have a say in the DB schedule). The front door was closed. Ring the bell. A man opens the door and looks at me like "wth do you want?". No hello, no welcome and no smile. Me: *smile brightly to compensate for his unenthusiastic welcome* Hi, I have a booking here. Sasha: There are no bookings till 3. Me: I know. That's fine. I can just wait in the waiting area. *smile* Sasha: This is not a waiting place, THIS IS A HOTEL. Me: Hotels have waiting areas (lobbies). *pointing at the lobby* what is that for then? Sasha: it's for guests. Me: what am I then? Sasha: you're only a guest from 3pm. * I was dumbfounded at this point. Is he actually being serious right now* Sasha: I'm alone here, I have to go up and down. I can't let you wait inside. Me: *dump my luggage on the landing infront of the door* I'll stay here then. *NB temperature outside over 35°C* *Sasha shrugs and closes the door* Around 5- 10 minutes later I ring the bell again and ask for a refund. There was absolutely no way I could stay in a place where I was treated this poorly. Sasha: it's not possible. You are free to go anywhere, no one's stopping you. But no refund since it is your decision to leave. Me: the only reason I'm leaving is because I'm not happy with your customer service! *Sasha repeats some of the things he said previously. And raises his voice. I raise mine above his.* Me: You don't get to speak to me that way. No one does. *pull out my phone to record this incident. Tries to shut the door on my face. I keep my foot. He still pushes it against me- thus, officially physically assaulting. A few minutes later another guest enters the hotel. I tell him what had just happened. He is shocked. Asks me to come in and speaks to Sasha on my behalf. Sasha repeats the same. The guest lets me wait in his room- note, I was parched and visibly drenched in sweat in the heat. The next receptionist Jasmine takes over shortly afterwards calls in to inform my room is ready at around 2:45. She was profusely apologetic for her colleague's behaviour and escalates to the owner. NOTE: SASHA WAS ACTING LIKE THE OWNER but the owner is a lovely gentleman of Chinese ethnic origins. He comes down the following morning and profusely apologises for my experience. Offers a full refund, free breakfast and a bag of brownies. I only accepted the latter as not to hurt his feelings and tell him it's my dignity that was injured (these things can't compensate for that). He says Sasha has previous experience as a receptionist and he's surprised by his behaviour. If this were to recur he would be sacked. But now looking at previou reviews looks like I'm not the first. Don't let this put you off though. I would have given a 5 out of 5 (exceeded my expectations for the price) if not for Sasha Grass (photo attached). Leaving this note as no guest deserves a holiday ruined and no employer deserves a business ruined because of a sorry excuse of a man like this.

simple but room is clean and nice and big and close to the train station!

Location Good & if can have air conditioning will better

Greay choice for 1 traveler, quite close to the main train station