<p>We are going to Berlin, Cologne, and Frankfurt over Christmas with our college aged Ds. None of us have ever been to Germany. We will be in Cologne on 12/23, Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I would like to make our hotel splurge be on these days so that being away from the rest of our families won’t be the overriding emotion. I know in Europe, it’s rare to find a hotel setup that accommodates four people. We may have to get two rooms, with our room being a suite or junior suite so that we have a little living area for all of us to share. </p>
<p>Is anyone familiar with the hotels here who could make a recommendation? We had to cancel our family trip to Italy when DH was diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago, so we have that budget still in the bank and have saved a bit more, so although I don’t want to throw away money simply on a name, I am willing to bite the bullet to stay at a pretty nice place for these three nights. Any help would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I’ve only been to Cologne once and it was many years ago. I just looked on Tripadvisor and the Excelsior Hotel Ernst looks very nice-a grand hotel next to the Cologne Cathedral and near the train station. About $225 plus tax a night on Tripadvisor which seems like a good price for such a nice hotel near everything. Hotels.com has it for $204 plus tax currently. Excellent reviews. I have no personal experience with it though . Sounds like a nice trip! Have fun!</p>
<p>I can’t make recommendations, it’s so many years since I’ve been there and we stayed with friends. I’ve always had very good luck with Tripadvisor - both on the low and high end depending on what we wanted. Don’t miss the Christmas market!</p>
<p>^^^^Yeah, I know. DH came up with this idea out of the blue. He missed out on a lot of travel while he was sick (I took a few trips with just our Ds at his insistence while he was going through chemo), so I feel like it’s “his turn” and want to make this special for him.</p>
<p>I know very little about Germany, though, so I’m taking a crash course this week.</p>
<p>I did go to Trip Advisor and will read more about apartments.</p>
<p>Is there a particular reason you have chosen those three cities? (Perhaps flying into one and out of the other?) I put Berlin in the category of “interesting.” Certainly not beautiful, but a lot going on. Frankfurt is (IMHO) not all that great. Cologne is nice for the cathedral but I don’t know that I’d want to spend three days there. We did a winter trip that was (please forgive the spelling of all of this!) Heidelburg, Strasbourg (France), the Black Forest, Bavaria (King Ludwigs castles) and Rotenburg ob der Tauber. The little towns on the Rhine and Mosel are great - lots of castles, both to tour and to just look at. I really liked Nurmberg, too…interesting and historic.</p>
<p>Edited to add: I have always hated when I posted a question about a destination, and folks told me to not go there but to go somewhere else, instead. So please forgive me. But let me know if you would like info on any of the other popular towns/cities in Germany.</p>
<p>One more thing…and this may be why you are choosing to visit cities rather than smaller towns. It will get dark around 4:30 pm at that time of year.</p>
<p>missypie, thank you! We are only staying in Frankfurt one night because we are flying out of there the next morning. We arrive in Berlin, and my brother is doing a movie there, so we thought we would stay several days there. Cologne came up simply because D1 had wanted to go there at one point when she was doing study abroad in London-she’d planned to go there for a couple of days before she came home for Christmas, but that was the year of the big snow in Europe and she barely got out of London to get home.</p>
<p>I’m totally open to other places in Germany. Good to know about sunset being so early, though.</p>
<p>I figured Frankfurt was just because of the airport. Last time I was in Germany we went to Saarbrucken - to eat a 3 star Michelin restaurant one day and go to a free rock concert to see one of my son’s favorite groups that never tours to the US for the other day! Personally, I’m partial to Bavaria (Munich, Nuremburgh, Ludwig’s Castles, Baroque churches by the Assam brothers and in the summer very nice hiking in the Alps.) But I think there’s something to be said for not spending a lot of time traveling between cities. If you like fish - I’ve always thought German restaurants really cook it nicely.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, My recommendation would be to make dinner reservations well in advance (It is usually the larger hotels that serve a meal) for Christmas Day and perhaps even Christmas Eve. One year we had Christmas Eve eating pizza in a Irish Bar and granola bars plus leftover goodies that we had purchased Christmas Eve morning at the farmers market for our Christmas Day meal… (should have ordered a couple extra pizzas!). Bonn is easily accessible by train so that might be a fun day trip or maybe even Mannheim.</p>
<p>The train station is literally across the square from the Cathedral. We stayed at a really nice American branded chain hotel about 2 blocks out the back door of the train station. The area around the hotel was without charm. Maybe there is a delightful place in the old town. I agree with checking out trip advisor.</p>
<p>This sounds like a fabulous family adventure!</p>
<p>^^^Kajon, good idea. Both Ds are foodies, so the thought of eating pizza and Granola bars on Christmas Day is horrific. Both girls would be sobbing into their beer. :D</p>
<p>Lived in Heidelberg back in the last century, and it’s not that far from Frankfurt. If I could only see one city in Germany it would be HD. If you are there for New Years, they do fireworks at the castle, I think fireworks for New Years is pretty big in Germany generally. There are so many beautiful walks, vantage points, historic sites, romantic sites, drinking places, student prison, the university, etc. in HD that I think it appeals to all ages. I would check dates for any Christmas markets so you don’t miss out. It will be a lovely trip!</p>
<p>For such a short stay in Frankfurt, I would recommend to stay at the airport itself. There is a Sheraton across Terminal One and it is extremely convenient. Perhaps you have a ton of Starwood points to cash in. <a href=“Marriott Bonvoy Hotels | Book Directly & Get Exclusive Rates”>Marriott Bonvoy Hotels | Book Directly & Get Exclusive Rates; The beauty of business hotels is that they are heavily discounted during holidays in the business cities such as Frankfurt and Cologne. </p>
<p>To get into town, you can catch the “metro” right inside the airport, and perhaps take a taxi back if the sausage meals with beer is too heavy! There are a few hotels next to the airport that might be better priced, but the convenience of rolling your luggage in and out the planes to your room is priceless, after what I assume a long trip from Texas. Of course, there is no charm involved. But is one night only. If you arrive from the US, chances are that you might arrive very early in the morning and some hotels are more understanding than others about early check-ins and storing luggage. </p>
<p>Koln is a modern city and there are plenty of hotels. The Koln Messe is one gigantic affair and the city hosts thousands of business travelers when there is more demand than supply. That means that there will be tons of choices in all prices. If you decide to rent a car (not sure how you return to Frankfurt) you might look at smaller cities around Koln, including Aachen as this adds a historical dimension of Charlemagne, See the before mentioned Tripavisor for Aachen … <a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g187367-Aachen_North_Rhine_Westphalia-Vacations.html”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g187367-Aachen_North_Rhine_Westphalia-Vacations.html</a> If you have more days for Koln and the region, you might look into the area to the West, including Belgium where one can book rooms in remodeled castles and old houses. That entire area is known for superlative food and history. If there is an interest, driving the sites of the Battle of the Bulge in December is breathtaking. But again, this is a departure of a pure German trip. And Christmas in Germany is magical in many places. </p>
<p>In case you look for apartments and houses, remember that Airbnb has become quite useful and cut out most of the problems with VRBO and the likes. Actually, I would start with Airbnb and then compare it to hotels every time you have more than a couple of nights. </p>
<p>Heidelberg is South of Frankfurt and in the opposite direction from Koln-Frankfurt. Same issue with Rothenburg or Nurnberg. One could add Luxemburg for a triangle between Koln and Frankurt with driving of about 300 kms between cities. </p>
<p>I absolutely second what xiggi said. Except we stayed at the newish Hilton Garden Inn which was attached to the terminal, so we did not even have to go outside of the airport:</p>
<p>Took the train into the city and back (with the beer and sausages and tasty kraut packed securely in our bellies). There is also a shopping center attached to the airport. </p>
<p>Apologies for turning the trip around. You arrive in Berlin. I would still stay close to the airport in Frankfurt. The trains also arrive at the airport. Koln downtown to Frankfurt airport is a breeze. It was my first train ride in Europe 25 years ago. ;)</p>
<p>Actually we initially depart from Texas, land in London, and connect to Berlin. Little bro has put his UT MBA to interesting use and serves as a VP of accounting when big studio films do remote location shoots, so that is how we decided to spend some time in Berlin to connect with him. After landing in Berlin, we have 8 more days to fill, which is how we came up with several days in Berlin, taking a train, and ending up in Cologne for Christmas. We are flying direct back to Texas from Frankfurt, so it’s only the last night we stay in Frankfurt. I think an airport hotel is a GRAND idea, as by that time we’ll probably be ready to get home with as little hassle as possible. </p>
<p>After reading these suggestions, I’m thinking of staying a couple of days in Berlin, then adding an additional location before going on to Cologne. Surprisingly, there was still plenty of availability for hotels in Cologne around Christmas, at least for the luxury line of hotels, so our splurge in Cologne looks to be a possibility, with more “reasonable” accommodations for the rest.</p>
<p>The collective wisdom of CC is always appreciated. I’ve traveled quite a bit in France, but have neither been to nor have ever researched Germany, much less on the fly like this.</p>
There is also a shopping center attached to the airport. </p>