I reccomend to all of you to stay here!!! I will stay there every time visiting Koeln. Good to relax, good to have a meeting, good to visit the city. Easy to find, easy to come in and leave it. It's located close to the city center (15 minutes walk), close to the Koelnmesse (also about 20 minutes walk).

Our greeting on arrival was cool and not the most welcoming that we have received. The restaurant was expensive, but breakfast was lovely. We found that the walk into town was ok if you followed the river and had no problem finding the Christmas markets. I would agree that it is more of a business hotel but the cost of the room was reasonable. If the staff were friendly it would have been much better.

Stayed there last Dec with family (2 children). Chose the hotel due to its location as we were there for the Christmas Markets. Stayed for 4 nights.
The room was spacious but very basic furniture. It had some extras (safe, kettle with coffee and tea, minibar). It would benefit of a renovation, specially the carpets.
However the breakfast was excellent with many options, specially for families with small children like us. We had dinner there once as well and was ok. They also have children's menu.
In the lobby there is a small children play area and also Xbox.
Internet and parking are expensive.

This hotel is about a 10 or so minute walk into town (when we visited in the winter it was quite a cold & slippery walk)
Rooms were what you would expect from Novotel & even has a little gym for exercise.
Id class this hotel as more of a business hotel & there would probably be some better options in the city centre.
Food in the restaurant was a little pricey for where we were at financially at the time but there are some nice eateries around.