Still in pain after my 2 nights here, I know some monks are into self inflicted pain but there must be better ways of doing it than getting an aching back and sore neck from sleeping on a cheap mattress with a hollow pillow. Hopeless.
Otherwise the connection with monks is rather slim, only the creepy life size model in the entrance and the out size painting in the breakfast room. This is a dull, wholly refurbished suburban building (not a charming mediaeval monastery).
The room was large, but other than the uncomfortable bed it had little in the way of furniture: a tiny sloping shelf stood in for a desk. This meant that that books, magazines, food and drink all had to go on the floor. There were a couple of tiny chairs of the type you get in places you aren't expected to sit, so we sat on the floor too. It may have aimed to be minimalist, it succeeded only in being basic and mean. Hopeless.
Towels in the bathroom were small, thin and frayed. Not sure about the ones in the sauna, it was off the tiny basement exercise cupboard and at €10 a time cost almost as much as a full size thermen cologne (which would have huge, thick, new towels). Hopeless.
Staff friendly enough but not up to much when it came to advising on how to use public transport.
Huge mistake staying here, not a good location, not a good hotel or even a decent place to crash, certainly not cheap and not at all value for money.
- Hopper Hotel Cologne
