We have stoped in Essen for a few reasons on our way to France and it was not our first time in the Ruhr Gebeit, yet we stayed in InterCity for the first time - the reason for this was a special deal from Travel Zoo - 2 noghts for the price of 1.

The hotel yet belongs to big german Inter City chain has nothing to do with Deutsche Bahn, the chain is owned by other company. Overall the hotel is OK, yet for the stay longer that one two nights with your family (if you are not in your twenties already) you better look for something else in the city or arond.

There are number of pluses:

Location - close to the main railway station and some city facilities too

Dogs were allowed, yet for extra price

From our side the following was not as good as it shoud be:

The size of the room - too small even for two persons

Hotel is hard to find and the parking cost of 15 euro per day - too much

View to the other windows making the window curtain always close, that means air conditioning - not ideal

The friendliness of the staff is OK, yet helpfulness could be improved

Feeling very much like business purpose one night stay hotel overall. Need to be reconsidered for the next visit to the area.

I stayed in Essen for three days for the Classic car show in March/April..

Location: When I was looking for a hotel to chose in Essen, this hotel seemed to be 600-700 meters from the trainstation. But actually it is much closer. Only about 200 meters to the trainstation and within easy walking distance to the Essen city center.

Reception: Quick and polite. I received a ticket to travel on the trains in the Ruhr area during my stay including the underground in Essen. This meant that I saved money when I needed to go to the Messe area.

The Room: I had a room on the 4th. floor overlooking the traintracks. The room had doubleglazing windows and this was even described in the hotel information in the room.
Sadly that didn't help at all. The only other hotel I have ever stayed in with so much streetnoise was in London at a hotel beside Russel Square years ago.
I could even hear the conversation between people down on the street. It was like every sound was channeled right up the wall of the hotel. I am sure that a room facing the other way would have been much better.

The room wasn't that large but adequate for me. There was a double bed, small flatscreen tv, two chairs, two tables, a safe, a minibar and aircondition.
For some reason the aircondition started in the middle of the last night and the only way I could find to shut it down was by removing my key card from the card holder. Which also meant that all lights went out since that shut the current off.
The bathroom was very nice. It seemed to be brand new and had a hairdryer.

Breakfast: Since I was in Germany I thought it a bit odd that no müsli was provided. But apart from that you could get everything you might expect. The bread I took was very tasty and I was stuffed when I left the breakfast area. The staff, and there were many, worked very professionaly. Unlike other hotels the view from the breakfast room wasn't up to much.

Would I recommend this hotel? Sure, I just hope you get a quiet room.

Warning! This has nothing to do with the hotel. When you leave the hotel on foot and turn left towards the trainstation you will soon encounter a road coming from the left going into the main road leading to and from the trainstation. Pay attention here since vehicles are coming from three sides. The drivers drive rather fast and have trouble seeing you.

The service at the front desk was friendly, the internet was fast enough and the room was modern.

Unfortunately, the good bits end there - the room was dirty (pubic hair all over the bathroom and generally on the carpet, and there were pieces of plastic that had fallen off of a new shirt in plain sight on the carpet), and the location was unpleasant. There is a edgy unpleasant feel to the area around the Essen Hbf, and this is not far from that.