A superb location in Essen city centre, initially it looks a bit out of the way, but in fact its directly opposite a huge shopping centre which in my opinion is one of the best places in Germany for shopping, normally its a nightmare trying to buy my teenage daughters clothes and shoes, but they were in their element there. Whereas the Centro in Oberhausen is very much high street brands, Essen's shopping centre also has a lot of designer names, which is why I think its better.
Not only does it have the shopping centre across the street, there's a friendly bowling alley next door. We checked out a Greek restaurant (Artemis) and Italian restaurant about 5 minutes walk away, behind the shopping centre on Friedrich-Ebertstrasse, though neither was particularly good.
The hotel itself is a rather sorry-looking 1960's concrete construction next to a busy junction on the inner ring road, with rooms overlooking a big factory, not particularly appealing but of course this is the Ruhr. All the same, rooms were very quiet and surprisingly large.
There was a cosy bar downstairs which showed the football and Germany's Got Talent, it seemed to be quite popular with people having beginnning-of-the-evening drinks. The hotel did lack a pleasant common area or lounge though.
The highlight for me was the breakfast - we'd given it a miss in favour of the Subway next door on the first morning, but on Sunday they promised a brunch open until 1400, which is fantastic for a low-key 3-star hotel. The brunch was amazing, as good as any you'd find at a 5-star restaurant in Germany and I was pleasantly surprised to see the kitchen staff bringing fresh and warm food throughout the morning, the buffet looked as good in the afternoon as it did first thing at 8 o'clock !
My only minor complaint is the parking, getting a saloon car into the underground garage was a bit of a squeeze, particularly at the entrance.
This will be my hotel of choice on future shopping visits to Essen.
- Holiday Inn Essen
- Essen Holiday Inn
