Germany Christmas Markets 2009

My husband and I (and our 14 month old son!) are planning a short trip to Cologne, Germany to take in the festivities of the Christmas Markets in Dec 09. I%26#39;m looking for a decent hotel (no need for 5 star...just want something liveable for a few nights) but with a really good location central to the markets.. As I%26#39;ve never been to Germany I don%26#39;t know what to expect with anything really (customer service, does the hotel have a restaurant, etc)...

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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Choose a hotel close to the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) and Dom (cathedral). You can use e.g. the Cologne based reservation system

http://www.hrs.com

Hotels which serve only breakfast are called %26quot;Hotel Garni%26quot; in Germany. *Real* hotels have a restaurant.

Typical for Cologne are the brewery pubs which serve also traditional Cologne cuisine.

www.koeln.nicecity.de/english/breweries.htm

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I recommend Hotel Coellnerhof to folks going to Cologne, because my husband and I think it is just about the best hotel we have ever stayed at. We both have spent a few years working in hotels both in the US and in Germany, so we pretty much know when a hotel is doing things right or not.

The price is right and they have just about the best breakfast buffet you will ever encounter. The hotel also has a restaurant for other times of the day. It is very pretty, with lovely decor through-out, big comfy beds, big bathrooms, and it is about a 5-10 min. walk from the main train station.

http://www.coellnerhof.de/

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Hi

I%26#39;m going back to Cologne for the Markets for a third time this year.

The first 2 times we went we stayed in the NH Koln City Hotel. It%26#39;s located directly across from the Chocolate factory which has a Medieval Market and it around a 10 minute walk or a 15 minute very stroll to the Alt Stadt.

This time we are staying in a hotel just behind it, the Mercure Severinshof. The only reason we changed this time is breakfast was included in the price and from the reviews we read it%26#39;s a great brekkie.

Both hotels have bars which serve bar food and have plenty of places to eat nearby.

I found the that either www.booking.com or www.yeego.com had the best deals. Booking.com has instant confirmation for hotels where as some of the hotels on yeego.com have a 24 hour confirmation period. But I have used both in the past with no issues.

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NH Koln is quite good as someone else stated.However Hotel Romerhafen is a lovely family run hotel in the heart of the old town and only 5 minutes walk from the train station.

http://www.hotel-roemerhafen.de/