The Kongresshotel am Templiner See is situated on the edge of town, in a wooded area next to the lake. It is part of an office park, a large complex of buildings designed with a rather striking retro-futuristic look. The lobby is huge and the corridors are wide. The hotel makes much of the fact that this was once the site of the Zeppelin airship works, and one of the old buildings forms part of the conference centre. Access is easy from the Potsdam Hauptbahnhof by tram 91 or by the scenic 695 bus route, both of which terminate at the sadly decayed Pirschheide Bahnhof, close to the hotel. The infrequent RB22 train will also bring you directly to Pirschheide Bhf from Schoenefeld airport or from Potsdam Hbf.

My single-bed room (Einzelzimmer) was bright, clean, and modern, with a view out over the lake. But it was also surprisingly small and poky -- much smaller than I had expected after the generous use of space in the other parts of the building. My expectations having been raised by everything I'd seen up to this point, my heart sank when I first entered the room. The architect should have given more space to the rooms and less to the corridors. (My room was much smaller and less-windowed than the Einzelzimmer shown on the hotel's website.)

My room had no suitcase stand, nor even enough floor-space to lay an open suitcase down without having to constantly step over it. (I had to stand my case upright just out of the way under a small shelf.) The room did, however, have lots of storage space -- a complete wall of cupboards, like an Ikea-style wall-unit, from floor to ceiling. Combined with its small size, this gave the room the overall feel of a college dormitory room. In practice, some of the cupboard space is unusable, unless you are tall and stand on a chair.

Also missing from the room was a safe. Instead, the wall unit has a large locking compartment with a small key. Any thief could easily break it open. And I'll bet that the key is the same for every room in the hotel! Also absent was a coffee maker. A clock-radio was provided. There was no magnifying mirror in the bathroom, and the stark halogen lights over the washbasin cast dark shadows.

The room contained a small desk and a desk-chair. A voucher for the wired and wireless internet costs 15 euros for 24 hours of actual use (and slightly less for shorter periods). The first 24-hour voucher I bought had been pre-used; when I logged on, I was told I had only 3 hours left. A complaint to the front desk got me a new voucher but no apology or expression of regret, as if we should expect such things to happen all the time. Maybe they do.

The breakfast buffet was passable. However, neither the selection nor the quality were what one would expect from a hotel at the level to which this one aspires.