Guys, I'm just embarrassed. This review is coming almost a few weeks later after my stay at this hotel in November because I really wanted to give myself some understanding of this hotel's value as it is rated so favorably here.

I had a really early morning arrival in Hamburg, but hotel's check in policy is around 3pm. Upon my arrival I contacted the hotel from the airport to find out if they accept early check in. The hotel staff told me she will call me back and confirm, but I never received any phone calls on my cell phone. So I contacted the hotel again, and was able to get early check in.

I took taxi to the hotel which costs me about 33 Euros. Upon my arrival, the first thing I noticed was the sense of smell, which felt as if I just walked into a senior citizen day care center. It was just odd to me.

I was shown around the building by one of the staffs, and was escorted to my room which was located in annex area. I didn't feel the room had any wow-feeling to it, but it was moderate and clean. I have a habit of paying attention to details, so I was taken aback when I saw some wood frame around the door chipped off. It just didn't look flawless. The furniture in the room is acceptable, but has a very old feel to it. Room itself is very specious and comfortable, so no complaints with that.

What I really had hard time at this hotel was the noise. I was extremely tired after heavy traveling day and night before, so I just wanted to take some afternoon nap and rest. It was nearly impossible to do that since the hotel staff were too busy frantically walking back and forth in the hallway (which you can hear so loud through the walls of your room), and hear some more staff cleaning and flushing out the toilet next door to me.

After lack of proper rest on the first day, I decide to head out and explore a bit. I asked the receptionist / front desk to check the frequency of bus coming and going to the Hamburg city center, and the timing. I had literally 3 people struggle to get me a proper answer which took 7 minutes to get the info I needed. By the way, the great part about the hotel is that Bus Station is about 3 minutes easy walking distance. Just take the bus wherever you want to go, and avoid using hotel's recommended taxi service. The bus fare is about 7.50 Euros for a whole day unlimited. If you need to go to Hamburg HB (main train station), bus #36 will take you there in about 41 minutes. It's easy and comfortable as well. I couldn't get the staff to give me this much info when I asked. They appeared clueless.

For food, room service is proper. It isn't the greatest food you had or will have, but it's acceptable. It is costly for its quality, while quantity of food is decent for one person.

I had absolutely no issues with hot water, and shower-head was fantastic, although for some reason shower-head kept dripping water long after I turned it off and kept hearing some buzzing noise from it.

I also had to suffer another misstep at this hotel on the very next day when I came back to my room around 3pm and it was still not prepared. I was pretty shocked, and went back to front desk and asked them to let me know when it would be ready as I wait for it in their lounge / lobby area. I spent good 30 minutes waiting, and then confirmed with the staff to make sure room was cleaned before I went back upstairs (it's a long walk if you get a room in annex). They told me it was all ready, but when I arrived at the room again I saw one of the staff checking out the shower-head and cleaning glass door. As soon as she saw me, she left my room immediately, however another uninvited staff opened the main door (possibly with a master key??) and I was baffled with what was going on. As soon as she saw me, she apologized and closed the door immediately. This kind of intrusion is so unnecessary!

My patience was truly tested on the last day the most. Unfortunately I had to check out of the hotel for a very early morning flight (again), and had to be at the airport by 6:45am. When I went downstairs to check out, there was nobody to assist me, but I heard a few guys working in a room behind the main desk. You'd think they realize someone was waiting, but nothing happened till I yelled out 'excuse me!' before someone came out and worked with me. After the check-out was complete and got my final invoice, I went outside heading towards the bus station. Immediately I realized that I left one of my belonging in my room, so I had to go back to get it. To my horror, the hotel doors were locked (they lock doors and don't open till sunrise, or who knows what time?), so it was impossible for me to get back in. There were no Doorbells either. It took 5 minutes of knocking on the door before someone saw me through the window, and I was finally able to grab my stuff. Of course I missed my transportation due to all of this.

I have to say though, the hotel is in extremely posh, and affluent area. While it's an experience to stay away from city center, and also be right on Elbchaussee, Hotel Louis C. Jacob isn't so luxurious or grand it is made out to be - perhaps it used to be.

Bottom line: you can find a better deal and better places to stay at other hotels either in city center or even in other remote areas in Hamburg. While the location is excellent right on Elb, it is far from perfect.