Stayed one night to break a long journey. The hotel was convenient and good value, without any charm. The staff were very attentive and helpful. The location is convenient to walk or tram to the city centre. I was told there was no restaurant, though maybe it was out of action since there were signs to it.

Hadn’t been to Bremen so with cheap flights on offer from Ryanair decided to take the chance and we had a fantastic time. Did a little research prior to going and picked out the places we wanted to visit. Looking at the map, our chosen hotel was only a few miles away from the airport so looking for a bit of an adventure decide to use the tram system. The no 6 takes you within a few hundred yards of the hotel.

We were greeted by Mr Schiller, the night porter. We were quickly book-in and given our room key. We dumped our bags in our room and returned to reception to get directions and suggestions where to drink &eat. Mr Schiller provided us with a map and pointed a few bars and restaurants on the far side of the river where we would receive good food and service. The walk from the hotel took only 10 minutes and we soon walking along the river bank choosing a suitable bar. We intend to have a drink then move onto another bar/restaurant however the food in Paulaner’s bar look and smelt good we decided to stay and was not disappointed. We had the chicken salad dish and a steak. With two rounds of drinks and a coffee, we thought £28 was extremely good value. We made our way back to hotel and once again were given a friendly welcome by Mr Schiller. Without asking, the porter had put together a selection of tourist guild leaflets and little cards that gave us discounts at some of the bars & restaurants. We retired as we intended to do a full day site seeing and wanting to get up early. Our room was a good size and like most German hotels, had a large walk-in shower with a really impressive power shower.

Breakfast was included in our room price and we had a choice of various cereal’s, fresh fruits juices, cooked meat, cheeses, fresh bread etc so we had a good feed to set us up for the walking we intended to do. Most of the tourist sites in Bremen are located within less than a mile of each other so there was no need to take the tram. The Town Hall and the Cathedral are a must as are the many stone buildings. We didn’t get lost because we had been armed by Mr Schiller with a good map of the town centre but if we had most Germens speak excellent English and we have found are always willing to point you in the right direction. The local farms market runs on a Saturday so we took the opportunity to try some of fresh produce that was on sale as well as having our lunch at an outside café. We continued our walk and eventually found our way down towards the river. We followed this going past the local ‘flee market’ were locals were selling items that looked like they found on the street. We found it quite amusing to see a guy trying to mend a television in the rain! So we don’t recommend you buy anything from this part of town. We continued around the walk thru the local park and found ourselves emerging into the main town area from the opposite end we had left. We headed back to our hotel for a few hours rest and to get changed before heading back into town.

We decided to try one of the many Italian restaurants and found excellent food but a little pricey. Another few bars was followed by a walk thru the cold evening night back to our hotel. On this occasion the door was opened by the owner Mr Plelouia who invited us to have a glass of champagne. We were shown into the main function room were pictures of past VIP guest were hanging. The former Germen Chancellor Mr Helmut Kohl had been a regular visitor to their world famous fish restaurant but sadly due to changing eating habits, they had closed the restaurant a few years ago in order to concentrate on more wedding/anniversary/seminar type business.

I would recommend the Hotel Westfalia & Bremen to anybody that is looking for a very friendly, relaxed visit to city that has lots to offer.

I spent three nights at the Hotel Westfalia in Bremen in December 2007. I liked the hotel's location the best. It is an easy 10-minute to the city centre. And going the other direction, it's only a five-minute walk to the Hochschule Bremen University of Applied Sciences. There is also a tram stop very close to the hotel, but I never used.

The room was clean and comfortable, but remember to pack your own washcloth in Germany! The room also had a mini-refrigerator. The complimentary breakfast is wonderful. The hotel has one computer that guests can use to get on the Internet, but you have to ask the desk clerk to unlock the door.