SanDiego1K

I will be in Cologne for one night this spring. I am considering the Dom, given its desirable location next to the Cathedral. What can you tell me about this property? Is it in good condition? Does it treat platinums well?

I have read the thread on the Four Points, and am not interested in staying there. I currently have the Marriott booked, as it has a very good reputation on the Marriott board. I will have not quite 24 hours in Cologne.

I will be coming from and returning to the Frankfurt Airport by train. How much is the fare RT?

skye1

As a Plat, I was upgraded to the Dom Suite, on the top floor, corner, with a spacious round living room with several floor-to-ceiling windows w/ balconies all facing the cathedral & a flat screen TV. The room was nice. It had a living area, with a couch & chairs, and a small dining table for two, a work desk wonderfully placed against the central floor-to-ceiling window so you can stare out the church while (trying) to get work done. It's got stationery, etc. The room is not plush, more of a simple kind of classy. Not a lot of artwork on the walls, few "decorator" items, etc. Quite frankly, open up the curtains to all those huge windows with the cathedral right there and the city beyond it and you won't care what the room looks like . The bedroom is separate, with a small alcove b/n the living room and the bedroom. The bedroom has it's own balcony, and the bathroom is off the bedroom, all marble, with brass fixtures,two sinks, and two sets of Hermes bath products. I got it on a decent Starpicks rate (and, IIRC, it was still on there yesterday--can't recall if it was the "old" Starpicks link or the new one).

On the hotel website, in the Guest Rooms section, the picture that says "bedroom suite" is an accurate take what I meant by the decor of the room. That little luggage shelf thingy in the photo was actually quite handy.

Conceptually, the cathedral is "between" the train station and the hotel. Maybe a 5 min. walk if that. The outside/front entrance is simple, since it's in a pedestrian area around the cathedral, there's no front porch or overhang where cars pull up to drop people off. . There is no Le Meridien sign anywhere that I saw, just a small "Dom Hotel" in brass letters above the one entrance on the cathedral side. It's the corner building on the opposite side of the cathedral from the train station. There is no in-hotel gym. I didn't eat at the restaurant, but have heard that it is, as to be expected at hotels like this, a bit pricey. The staff is absolutely fantastic! I can't say enough great things about them. If you can't get the top floor, there are other suites on that same top floor, OR, you can get a corner suite below the top floor.

Now, the cathedral bells do chime in the morning, so if you don't need that massive alarm clock, earplugs are your friend.

Getting to Cologne from FRA is a quick ride on the Deutsch Bahn ICE trains. Check out the German rail site for fares (the "DB for International Guests" is in plain english). There's more than one ICE which goes b/n FRA and Cologne. One gets you there in an hour. There's another that looks like it has fewer stops, but it goes a longer route & takes two hours, on a trip that winds along the river (it is definitely the more scenic route to be sure, but more time consuming, and I'd pass on it for such a short stay).

I'd be curious as to why you'd pass on the 4P. Yeah, there's some roadwork going on around it, but it's literally across the street from the train station, a bit closer to the train station than the Dom hotel actually. It is a nice 4-points, has a great buffet breakfast, great staff, etc. and is often a lot less in price than the Dom.

Flying Lawyer

Unrestricted 2nd class fare is 116 Euro return on the ICEs doing the journey in 54 minutes. The slower trains, using the track along the Rhine river, take two hours and cost 76 Euro return unrestricted. You can get non rebookable non refundable fares for 29 Euro one way (which might be a deal for your return to FRA).

The Dom is a classic Grand hotel. Last time I was there a got a phantastic upgrade to a junior suite with cathedral view. I like the place. You might wish to check AAA rates. The Marriott is certainly a nice hotel, however, ist is on the same side of the station as the 4P (you would certainly not like) is, however in a silghtly nicer area.

beaubo

Well. considering it is only 24 hrs, I thought the 4 Pts. was more than acceptable, plus they had a cash and points deal to boot. 2 min. walk to train station!

thelark

The Dom Hotel is ok. Stayed there a couple years ago as a gold and had a room with a spectacular view but it was TINY. I had a better stay at Excelsior Hotel Ernst (check out the Hanse Stube restaurant too) ^

Flying Lawyer

I believe this a matter of personal like of dislike In particular if I am in a location for only 24 hours (which are most of my stays) I want to be in THE location, step out of the hotel and have an "ahhh" experience and not enter a central bus station in the back yard of a railway station with drug addicts hanging around.

flying finn

I stayed at the DOM last November on a reward stay and was upgraded to the Peter Ustinov suite as a Plat. It is on the river side near the corner by the Dom on the first floor (second floor for us in the US). The stay was very friendly. I took the local gift, which was a nice wine opener and bottle stop set. Didn't eat at the hotel, but had an enjoyable time in the bar.

To get an idea on train reservations, you can use the following link. It is the Deutsche Bahn website. When looking for station/stops, Frankfurt Flughafen is the FRA airport and Köln Hbf (hauptbahnhof) is Cologne's central train station next to the Dom.

http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en

Man am I jealous. Cologne is my favorite city to visit

SanDiego1K

^ I completely agree - and I'll pay more to be able to maximize my experience during that short window of time.

The information about the superb location of the Dom compared to the Marriott was very helpful. I also see that the hotel is highly rated by Michelin. I'm going to cancel my Marriott reservation.

Thanks for sharing experiences with this hotel. I'll look forward to my stay.

HNL1K

Just spent my Easter weekend at the Dom Hotel. Great hotel and location, nice upgrade. No way for the FP to be considered.

Have fun!

ez311

I have a one night stay at the Dom coming up in a few weeks. I'm a little confused about the new low emission zoning in Cologne. Will I have trouble driving into the hotel with a rental car without the low emissions sticker? Can you be fined or ? How close is the parking garage to the hotel?

Thanks,
Eric

ez311

Does anyone have more info on the low emission zone?

Flying Lawyer

You will run into problem if your car does not have a sticker. You are simply prohibited from entering the town center and will be fined. Easiest (not closest) parking opportunity should be at Koeln Messe. From there you can take the train or subway to the central station. However, every German rented car should have that sticker by now.

The attached link explains the Berlin situation, however, change Berlin by Cologne and you will have the required information. The relevant zone covers all of the area you would consider to be the city center on both banks of the Rhine, exception is Köln Messe and the route into their parking lot.

http://www.berlin.de/sen/umwelt/luft...schuere_en.pdf

mauld

Just back from a one night stay at the Dom in Koln. As I ususally do, I called the day before to reconfirm and ask about early arrival. I was told all was fine, and as they were very light this weekend there should be no problem. My flight from EWR arrrival earlier than usual, and with the quick ride (15 min) on the train, I was at the hotel around 9:30am Sat morning. The desk agent, greeted me and said I had been upgraded to a large 'executive' room, but it was still being 'readied' and should be available in 30 min or so. I said no problem, as I had planned to take the train to Dusseldorf that morning, and so I'd just like to leave my bag. The agent actually said he could give me a small room to 'fresher up' and gave me the key to Room 131- which indeed was a single in the true meaning of the word, but it did have a nice view of the plaza outside. I washed up and left the hotel for my trip to DUS. I returned to the hotel aound 3pm, and a different desk agent was on duty. She informed me that my room was not ready, and that they 'unfortunately' could not offer any sort of upgrade as all of those type rooms were being given to guests who paid for that specific type. (I was paying a corporate rate for a Classic Double, but as a Plat, had hoped for an upgrade). She then suggested I sit in the bar and have a coffee while they looked for a room (an aside--- how does one determine that the hotel will pay or not for this 'suggestion'??-- I paid for my coffee ). Half hour later, I am back at the front desk, I am still being told no room-- they are having housekeeping issues and the rooms were not being cleaned quickly. I then ask to speak to a manager and mention that the original desk agent told me I had an upgrade to an Executive room-- so what happend to that?? They told me the Manager would be back in about 20 minutes and I should come back. In the meantime, the bellman brought my baag out and handed it to me! So I left the building fairly upset-- as I didn't want to spend another 4 euros on a coffee, and didn't know quite what else to do Just after 4pm, I come back to the hotel, (after walking around in the rain with my bag), and after many many attempts at the computer, they came up with a room for me!! They told me I had to just wait a few more minutes for a confirmation that it was clean, but that I did finally have a room. My room, 311-- as it turned out was a very nice one, with 2 terraces that overlooked the Dom. (I will be posting pictures soon). Shortly after I settled in, there was a knock on the door and they delivered up a nice bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne with a note of apology from the management. So all in all, it turned out ok--and the location and room was very nice indeed, but I was just upset by the general treatment I initially received and would hope that this was not a normal occurance.

PS- Here are some pics of the hotel, my room & the View
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...609/t_=6397609

SanDiego1K

That's a disturbing report, mauld, especially when I know what a pleasant and low key woman you are. And it's certainly not good treatment of a platinum.

As an aside, I'm with you as to never knowing who is meant to pay when the hotel suggests I have a beverage while they prepare a room for me.

Flying Lawyer

Sorry Mauld, it was not the hotel's but my fault. I am pretty certain I was in that wonderful room and requested a late check-out (after my original plan was an early departure)