The Deutz, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

Nice hotel, however the location is a little bit remote

Imagine booking a 7th floor terrace room in November. 7th floor is the top (penthouse) floor, and you have your own entire terrace. You’ve paid a premium for what’s advertised as the best room in the hotel. You arrive late, around 9 p.m., on a chilly November evening with temperatures at approximately 5C. Excited to settle in, you step into your room—only to find it freezing. You call the front desk to ask how to adjust the temperature and are told the controls are on the wall. Dutifully, you set the thermostat to 26°C, take a hot shower, and return, expecting warmth. Instead, the room is still ice-cold. By 11 p.m., you call the front desk again. This time, you’re met with a frazzled staff member who apologizes but admits he can’t help because he has no maintenance expertise—and maintenance won’t be in until the next day. He’s the only staff on duty, he says, and, as a consolation, offers you a free drink. A free drink? The room is freezing. How, exactly, will a cocktail solve that? Desperate, you ask if there’s a portable space heater. He says no. It’s late, you’re exhausted, and switching rooms at this hour feels impossible. You crawl into bed, shivering, hoping the situation somehow improves overnight. It doesn’t. You wake to the same freezing room. The thermostat, still set at 26°C, has done absolutely nothing. It’s clear the heating is completely broken. Cold and frustrated, you pack your things, eager to escape. At checkout, you relay the issue to the morning staff, who apologize and reveal the final insult: the heating on the penthouse floor has been broken for days. Let that sink in. The hotel knew the heating on that floor was broken and still rented out the room—at top-tier pricing, no less. It’s a blatant disregard for guest welfare in favor of profit. This experience was unacceptable on every level. I will never return.

TL;DR: A fuss-free, worry-free experience that checks all the normal boxes. Stay for its convenient access to Koelnmesse's North Entrance (main gate), the nearby Lidl, good room, great staff and inclusion in the Mariott program. Consider alternatives if you primarily want to explore the west side of Cologne, expect an experiential hotel (e.g. spa, shows in the lobby), prioritise public transport access or want lots of restaurants nearby. When I prepared for my trip to Gamescom, I booked this hotel without thinking much beyond its extremely convenient location. Afterwards, I did have some reservations given the concerningly mixed reviews from others. Particular areas of concern included the condition of the room and the staff, with comments mentioning alleged theft, a complete lack of english proficiency and poor performance. While I can't discount others' experience (especially considering some reviews were from years ago), I am pleased to report that none of these were a particular issue for me. First on location, if you want to be close to the Congress Centre, there is no better hotel to be based in. While on the map it might seem that some of the hotels near the train station could compete, if you've actually gone inside the Congress Centre, you'll know there's a decent walk from the South entrance to the actual exhibition halls. There was one review that mentioned safety issues walking from the train station to the hotel. I've gone along the path at least once a day during my trip, sometimes multiple times, without issues, though notably I did not travel after dark (which is quite late given it's the summer as I'm writing this) simply because of my schedule. This might also have been influenced by the heavy security presence due to gamescom. Within a five minute walk is the discount retailer Lidl, where you can buy cheap bottled water and food. There is also a small convenience store steps away, though the staff there struggle with English (not blaming them, just be aware, they were more than happy to talk through google translate). Prepare around 45 euros taxi from CGN airport, otherwise you'll have to either interchange metro lines or walk roughly half an hour, perfectly doable if you've only got a rugsack but challenging if you've brought a large suitcase. On the staff, as I came for Gamescom, the staff offered to keep my luggage when I first arrived when I enquired online, which was an appreciated gesture. I was surprised that they didn't care about me having a reservation later, suggesting they'd offer this service even for non-guests. While the location means it's likely out of the way for many people who'd use this (presumably people coming for the Koelnmesse centre for exhibitions), it's still nice. I was particularly concerned about staff being uncourteous and not speaking English, but this definitely wasn't my experience. All receptionists I met spoke fluent english and were very friendly, coming out to open the doors when they