Mercure City Centre, Dusseldorf, Germany – review written 24 April 2017

I'd like to call myself a 'biscuiteer', but having mistaken a small, wrapped block of hard foam designed to clean shoes for some kind of free snack, possibly even a biscuit, I think I’ve seriously failed the entrance examination.

I'm safely ensconced in my room at the Mercure City Center Hotel in Dusseldorf and I thought I'd scout around for freebies. That's when I encountered what I thought was a biscuit. Life can be infuriating. There's not much for free: a sachet of premium peppermint tea, two elongated sachets of instant coffee, some 'Zabielacz de kawy creamer' – that's powdered milk to you and me – and a couple of sachets of sugar. Oh, there's also a bottle of Evian mineral water.

Hoteliers get a little angry when I suggest that a locked minibar means they don't trust their guests, but I hate that unmistakable feeling of exclusion – ‘keep out!’. There's a couple of locked doors, one being a small safe that has been rendered unusable, and the other some kind of fridge, which I'm guessing is either empty or jam-packed with beers and wines and wasabi nuts, but just not for me. I wonder if they thought, 'hold on, we've got Moggridge staying with us, lock the minibar and don't give him access to the mini safe either, he’s got nothing worth nicking'. There must be some kind of policy decision that says 'lock the fridge and the safe and don't leave any keys floating around'. Annoying, yes, but so far I have very little to complain about, apart from trying to find the elevator after I checked in. One of them was out of order so I was directed along a corridor to where I would find another, but I got lost and had to ask for directions. It turned out the lift was up some stairs, on the first floor, so I figured what was the point? I walked instead and soon found room 211, which was absolutely fine. There was a carpeted floor, a single bed, a flatscreen television, power points, a telephone (that worked!) and various leaflets. The bathroom, of which more later, was small but perfectly adequate.

The hotel was under four minutes' walk from Da Bruno, my all-time favourite Italian restaurant (turn left on leaving the hotel and keep walking). I had booked my usual lonely table for one, but advise anybody reading this review to go there, it’s the best.

Breakfast was good, but the surroundings were too white and bright for my liking. There was a glass roof letting in the sun, which was fine. They had everything one might expect from a hotel breakfast offering: sausages, scrambled egg, sautéed potatoes, mushrooms, boiled eggs, cooked meats, a variety of breads, including croissants, yoghurt, fresh fruit, cereals, tea and coffee and fresh fruit juice, not forgetting cake.

Every day (I was here for three nights) I chose a bowl of fresh fruit and a bowl of yoghurt plus a banana, some scrambled egg with sautéed potato and mushrooms and a cup of English breakfast tea. Tea is always such a faff as it is contained in a sachet that needs to be opened – sometimes a big problem – plonked in a cup into which hot water must be poured and so on; that's the problem with self-service, I tend to get fed up with the process.

But I won't complain too loudly about the Mercure City Center because it's a cut above other hotels in its price bracket, so the only causes for complaint that I can see are the locked safe and minibar, the unruly coathangers – you know the ones I mean, not proper hangers with hooks but those you can't get off the rail. Again I find myself thinking that the hotel doesn't trust its guests – they can't trust them to tell the truth when asked "did you use the minibar?" so they lock it; they don't believe their guests will have anything worth putting in a safe, so they lock that too, and because they think their guests will half-inch the coathangers, they provide the unruly variety.

And there were issues with the bathroom too. Well, not the whole bathroom, just the hot water situation, particularly in the shower: it wouldn't warm up and the only way to make it hot enough was to turn the lever in such a way that the flow was severely limited to little more than a dribble; it was the same with the sink tap. It made showering less of a pleasure than it might have been, that's all, but still it's another negative to add to the locked minibar, the locked safe and the unruly coathangers.

The Mercure City Center does have a restaurant, the Four Seasons, adjacent to a small and cosy bar where I enjoyed a couple of dark ales prior to dinner outside of the hotel in my all-time favourite restaurant, Da Bruno. I have, however, experienced dinner at the Mercure and it’s fine.

So, in summary, you can’t really go wrong with the Mercure City Center: it’s close to Da Bruno (an excellent Italian restaurant I have reviewed already), it’s close to Dusseldorf Central Station which is only a short ride from the airport and you’re only a 20-minute stroll from the Alt Stadt, or old town with its many bars and restaurants, not forgetting the shops.

Lastly, of course, there’s free WiFi and if you haven’t got a computer there’s one close to the front desk.

Schellenberg Hotel, Dusseldorf, Germany – review written 16 November 2015

My first experience of the Schellenberg hotel in Dusseldorf was as a dinner guest of a colleague in October 2013. I distinctly remember what looks like an unassuming establishment from the outside turning into a very pleasant experience inside: one of those moments when I wished I’d booked a room myself.

The Schellenberg is a low, squat, almost boring building lounging on the banks of the Rhine. Its restaurant (which doubles as the breakfast room) offers wonderful views of the river except during the winter when all you will see over dinner is yourself reflected in the large picture windows.

If you have business in Dusseldorf’s ‘Messe’ or, indeed, its convention centre, the Schellenberg is the place to be because it’s across the road and will take you all of five minutes to reach your destination. An added bonus is its close proximity to the airport – or flughafen, as they say in Germany. In short, it’s very convenient.

Check-in was quick and straightforward and I was directed to my room, which, rather disappointingly, was outside.

Whenever the word ‘outside’ is mentioned in a hotel context my heart drops. I've just come from 'outside' I don't want to go back out there! Show me to the elevator, tell me the number of the floor. "That's room 608 on the sixth floor, sir." But oh no! My room was 'outside'. “Follow the white wall and turn right and then walk down the stairs”. It was like something out of No Country for Old Men or My Name is Earl.

The room (room 27), however, was fine, although I hate – with a vengeance – rooms on the ground floor that open out onto the 'street' so to speak, as I never planned on staying in a ‘motel’. The room opened out into the fresh air, the outside world, not a hotel corridor, and I don't particularly like that because it means that people can, if they so wish, linger outside my hotel room in the early hours and, if the curtains aren't drawn, even peer in and watch me sleeping – and I don't want that.

There are paper-thin blinds that are see-through, meaning that if you're outside loitering with intent – and the curtains are not drawn – it is possible to look in at the person in the room. .

But outside of that problem it's not too bad. I felt mildly inconvenienced when the hotel receptionist didn't give me the WiFi details before packing me off 'outside' to seek out my room (I had to go back 'outside' to ask for the code) but other than that it's very nice.

Roomy – now there's a good word – a decent bathroom with a walk-in (as opposed to a step-in) shower, a sink with a proper plug, everything works.

There’s a mini bar, a decent-sized wardrobe, flatscreen TV and so on; nothing to complain about.

There were 52 television channels, but only CCTV News was in English. CCTV News is some kind of Africa-centric channel, a kind of African CNN or BBC World. 

Dinner was wonderful – prawns to start (a little tasteless) followed by cod with polenta and a raspberry mousse dessert. Throw in a glass or two of Malbec and a large bottle of mineral water and I was at peace with the world.

At breakfast I was able to take full advantage of the Schellenberg's riverside location. I sat there, having collected everything I thought I'd need – cereal, fresh fruit, a pastry, scrambled egg and a pot of tea – and watched these huge barges pass by; they were passenger barges, designed for river cruises, and they were very long. Some had rooms so I'm guessing there are overnight river cruises along the Rhine; now that's something I'd like to do.

Viking River Cruises was one of the operators and there was another barge moored up on the bank below the hotel. At first I thought it was part of the hotel: extra rooms, perhaps; but soon its engines started to churn up the water and it disappeared up river.

On the opposite bank there were what looked like gently sloping 'sandy' banks that were almost beach-like in appearance. It was probably mud, not sand, but it didn't look very muddy and I'm guessing that in the summer people might enjoy lying there, taking in some rays, but it was mid-November and the 'beaches' were deserted.

Breakfast was pleasant enough and so was dinner. The entire bill was just 189 Euros and I later returned for an excellent lunch of soup followed by salmon and another couple of glasses of Malbec. Perfect! And yes, I would return.

Leonardo Hotel, Ludwig Erhard Allee, Dusseldorf – review written 6 November 2014

Oddly I’ve stayed in this hotel four times now and this is the first time I’ve put pen to paper in the shape of a review. In many ways I’m glad of this because there is now no excuse to provide a shoddy review based on the fact that I’ve returned time after time and have enjoyed the cosy predictability of the place.

The first good thing about the Leonardo is it’s location. In fact that great thing about Dusseldorf is the closeness of the airport to the centre of town and then, in turn, the great thing about the Leonardo is its closeness to the central railway station, Dusseldorf Hbf, which is literally a five-minute away.

Imagine, therefore, my relief when, having suffered from food poisoning while in the Netherlands, I knew that once I jumped off the train at Dusseldorf I would be tucked up in bed in my hotel within minutes.

The check-in was easy and very friendly. The woman on the front desk even recognised me as a past guest and not only welcomed me back but offered me free WiFi instead of the usual payment. I gladly accepted the offer.

As for the rooms, they’re always good and this time was no exception. I was staying in Room 501, which had a comfortable bed, a decent television, a spotless and spacious bathroom and plenty of space.

On past visits I’ve always been a little disappointed with the food offering in the evening, but even that had been improved: there was greater choice on the wine list than before and the food seemed to have gone up a notch in terms of quality.

Don’t get me wrong; the food had always been of an acceptable standard but perhaps a little run-of-the-mill. Having said that it’s food you can rely upon, it’s not overly fussy and it does the job, it fills a void. However, on this visit, my third or fourth I can’t remember, it seemed a little better, but I admit that I looked into the restaurant from the lobby, noticed just one other guest sitting there and thought I’d try my luck outside. Having gone all of 50 yards down the road, I turned back. It was far too cold to go searching for restaurants so I headed back to the Leonardo, ordered the mushroom soup followed by a lamb curry, a small carafe of Cabernet, a mineral water and a shot of Killepitsch, a Schnapps-like drink made from herbs and only available in Dusseldorf, nowhere else in Germany. It had the consistency of cough mixture, was very warming but also very strong (42% abv) and clearly a beverage for the heavy drinker, normally accompanied by a pint of beer.

I’ll be returning to the Leonardo again of that I can assure you. Why? Because it’s friendly, homely, comfortable, the staff are polite, the vibe is good and I love it. Furthermore, I heartily recommend it to Trip Advisor readers looking for a decent safe bet which is well-located virtually next door to the central railway station.