In Hamburg again this week. Unfortunately our preferred hotels are all full, so with trepidation I am forced to stay at the NH Altona. I've had poor experiences here in the past - it's quite expensive, the rooms are average at best and the service is generally sub-standard (last time I was here, my room hadn't been cleaned or made up when I checked in).

Yet again the hotel fails to impress - no non-smoking rooms are available, so I am forced into a smoking room. The smoking floor is disgusting - the corridors reek of cigarette smoke and there is ash on the floor around the lift. Needless to say the room is unpleasant at best. A discussion with the front desk staff elicits nothing more than a shrug. This is not what I expect from what is supposed to be a 4* hotel.

If you need to stay in this area of Hamburg, stay at the Gastwerk over the road if you can - a far better experience at a similar price. Even better, stay at the superb Lindner Tierpark - a great location (near the S-bahn), fantastic service (they have managed to find an English newspaper especially for me every time I have stayed) and again a similar price to the NH.

We booked through lastminute.com blind deals and it was great value for money. The staff were helpful, the rooms spic and span. But the best was getting back to the hotel after a day of sight-seeing and going to the top floor sauna/steam room - the use of which was included with all rooms - then walking out on the balcony and watching the sun set.

Hi stayed at this hotel as my client's offices were near by but it was quite a distance to get to the city centre and any of the tourist sites. The hotel was quite basic although supposed to be a 4 star. The breakfast however was excellent - though a little different variety on each day would have been nice.

In relation to the staff at the hotel, Nicole Langer was extremely nice, polite and very helpful. She used to take pains to try and get me reservations at restaurants and recommend activities for the weekend. A very big thank you to Nicole for making my stay so comfortable.

All in all a good hotel but if I were going back to Hamburg I would probably stay at the Intercontinental - which looked lovely from the outside and was in a lovely part of town close to the city centre.

While there are always going to be "eye of the beholder" type issues regarding personal preferences in traveller reports, from what I've seen, NH Altona is very underrated on this sight. Maybe I just got lucky, but my "smoking room" had a balcony, and was above average size for a standard Euro room. At less than 100 euro per night, is was a comparative bargain.
Hamburg is probably the funkiest of major German cities, a plus in my opinion, and there are many interesting sights around town besides the uppercrust midtown area. NH Altona is within a 20 minute walk of the much hyped Reeperbahn ("Sinful Mile") area (not really as sleezy as many reports indicate, more like a big party street), and there are many interesting restaurants/cafes (many Italian) along the way. The harbor area is also relatively close, but a tricky walk due to street/bridge layout.
A big tourist tip is to check out the Sunday, pre-dawn concerts at the fishmarket area, live bands rocking at 5 am (to approx 10am) most weekends. Hamburg bus service is great, and there is a stop very close to hotel. NH Altona is good location for O2 Arena, I was working at O2 that weekend and caught a bus at 3am after only 10 minute wait, admittedly lucky schedule wise. Be advised that the bus stop is at least 10 minute walk from arena, and it often rains.
Hamburg is said to have the most per-capita rich folks in Deutschland, but it also appeared to have all the street people, hippies, and freaks, also a plus for me since Hamburg prices here seem to be the most affordable I've seen in Germany. As John Lennon reportedly said, "I was born in Liverpool but I grew up in Hamburg".
True, Altona is approximately 25 minutes to the "centrum" by bus, but if I could find walking shortcuts in just a couple days, I'm sure there are others. Anyone who couldn't find decent eateries, pubs, etc, in vicinity must not have looked farther than the lobby door, and that includes the McDonalds arches two blocks away. Altona is currently considered trendy/fashionable in travel blog land.
Directly across the street from NH is a place called "Graceland" which has by some of the best southern style USA bar-b-que I've found in western Europe (holds up great against places like Memphis and KC, believe it or not). Around 10 minutes or less walk away is an area where old gasworks buildings have been renovated, there is a fine health/swimming club "Holmes Place" (fees), if Hamburg strolling isn't enough of a workout.
The Altona also has a decent rooftop spa (hardly any equipment), with sparkling new, little used steam and sauna. There is also a nice, small rooftop area where you can see a decent panorama of the city perimeters. I parked free for 2 days, and it seemed like there was enough room for a few dozen autos even before "creative positioning" came into play. If not, safe streets right next door.
Free internet in lobby was spotty and 10 euro charge for wifi in room a minus.The lobby, spa and conference areas seemed remodeled, rooms/floor I was on did not.
If you need to be in the center of Hamburg look elsewhere, but for overall value, service and convenience NH Altona was a good deal for me.