SMARTY Cologne Dom Hotel | Boardinghouse

Location OK. Checking was confusing. Price is poor. Far too expensive. Room was dirty, the drain smelled strongly. Staying overnight like that is no fun at all....

Superbly located, within walking distance of the main train station and the cathedral. Very friendly staff; we were even allowed to check into our room early. Small but well-equipped rooms. Relatively clean. Water and cups were unfortunately missing. A balcony was available. Since the hotel doesn't have an elevator, it's more suitable for short stays due to the room size. Electronic access system. Worked perfectly. Excellent value for money. I highly recommend it.

The hotel was in very poor condition and didn't resemble the pictures at all. The smell in the room was extremely unpleasant and almost unbearable, and there were cobwebs everywhere. I immediately felt uncomfortable and left the hotel within two minutes.

The best thing about it was the location. It was a very expensive dump. The room was so small you had to crawl over the bed to get to the toilet. Dirtier than our garage. The shower screen was yellowed and disgusting. The sink wasn't properly installed. And the room smelled like a Chinese buffet. A night in the car would have been more comfortable.

If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all — but unfortunately this place leaves me with a lot to say. This was already our third room before even checking in properly. The first room appeared to be under construction, and the second supposedly had water damage. I arrived around midnight, and the first impression of entering the hotel was unsettling. The stairway was also very inconvenient when carrying suitcases. Once in the room, the condition was unacceptable: - Smoke detector covered with a plastic bag (Fire hazard) - Large stains on the curtain - Sheer curtains with stains and holes - Carpet covered in multiple stains and clearly not vacuumed - Finger marks on the sides of doors from previous guests - Coffee machine and kettle in need of proper descaling/cleaning - Television covered in fingerprints -The bed was not very comfortable, although at least it was easy to roll out of. The bathroom was no better: -Dust everywhere, especially on the towel rack -White soap residue on the shower wall - finger marks on the door - Questionable repair work on the shower wall - Toothpaste residue found in the bathroom sink. I initially thought my partner had made a mess in the sink. I realized that our toothpaste is white—the residue I found was blue. There were some useful amenities such as a fridge, kettle, Nespresso machine, and safe — but these do not make up for the poor cleanliness and maintenance. In the end, we decided to book another hotel and leave immediately. By the way, when leaving the hotel, the front door lock only opened after turning the key counterclockwise, which was unclear, inconvenient, and potentially dangerous if unknown to people, in the event of a fire or emergency evacuation. Very disappointing experience.

Not recommended

Worst "hotel" (if one can refer to it as a hotel) I have ever stayed in! And i have stayed in many in my life. Only good thing was the location.

SCAM HOTEL! Check-in took forever because we didn't receive an email with our room number and code. No one answered the phone number or emergency contact provided. Without the help of other guests, we still wouldn't be in our room! They gave us a phone number that wasn't in our emails. When I finally spoke to the woman, it took a long time again, but at least we had what we needed to finally check in after an hour. On top of that, we didn't get the room we booked, but a completely different one!! After the initial shock, when we tried to turn on the TV, we couldn't connect to the internet, so that was a complete disappointment too… The location, however, is very good, although there's a lot of trash in front of the hotel and in the stairwell. Then we wanted to make ourselves a coffee, but without a spoon and water in the coffee machine, that was difficult too. The walls are extremely thin, and privacy is nonexistent… My conclusion: Even though the rooms are cheap, this hotel is not recommended, and you should take the feedback from other reviews to heart.

Don't go there!!! Nobody ever answers the emergency number, the rooms are a disaster, and you get ripped off and don't get what you booked! I called the emergency number 50 times because there was a burst pipe by the sink in the room, and nobody answered, unbelievable!! But the housekeeping staff knocks on the door promptly at 11 a.m. after nobody could be reached – so brazen!

The worst room I've ever slept in! Aside from the fact that the hallway reeked of grease, the room itself was filthy! Everywhere you looked was dirt and stains. There was hair all over the shower tiles, and that's the least of it! The only good thing was the location, but that's where the positives end. I would never, ever, ever recommend it to anyone! I wouldn't stay there again for all the money in the world!

My girlfriend and I stayed at this hotel in Cologne for one night. The location is definitely a plus: the main train station is about a 2-minute walk away, and the city center is about 10-12 minutes away. This is very convenient for a short stay or city break. Unfortunately, there were several disappointing aspects to our stay. According to the website, check-in was supposed to be from 2 pm. However, when we arrived at 2 pm, our room wasn't ready, and we were told to wait about 20 minutes. After that time had passed, we went to the room ourselves and were told that it just needed a quick vacuuming. The impression was that the cleaning was done quickly and superficially – basically, they only vacuumed the area around the bed. The hallways are very narrow, and there was an unpleasant smell. The room itself was also significantly smaller than expected. Everything looks bigger in the online photos. There was a table, but no chair, so it was practically unusable. The bathroom was also extremely cramped. Another problem was the technology in the room: the television didn't work because the cable was damaged. In addition, some of the lights in the room weren't working. What also bothered us was that the door code apparently worked for several rooms as well as the front door, which didn't exactly inspire confidence. In the evenings and at night (around 10-11 pm), homeless people were lying directly in front of the entrance and were sometimes noisy. As two young women, this made us feel somewhat uneasy when entering or leaving the hotel. Cleanliness could also be improved. There was a noticeable amount of dust that hadn't been removed in a long time. This could be quite unpleasant for people with dust allergies at night. Furthermore, the actual fire alarm on the ceiling was missing – only the mounting bracket remained. Overall, the hotel scores points for its excellent location, but there is significant room for improvement in terms of cleanliness, amenities, security, and organization.