I had never visited Dresden before and didn't realize that when I chose this hotel it wasn't even near the Dresden Hauptbahnhof. It was on the north side of the Elbe River in an area called Neustadt, but quite a distance from the city center. I found out that the Neustadt Railroad station was close to the hotel, but it wasn't easy to get down the stairs with my luggage, and then walk for several blocks through a neighborhood of non-descript apartment buildings to reach the Grand City Hotel. The front of the hotel wasn't remarkable, either. It looked like just another one of the apartment buildings in the area. I was also surprised that when I checked in, the clerk didn't have my reservation, which was made through Orbitz. All the other hotels I had booked through Orbitz did have my reservation, so I wondered why there was a problem with this hotel. It took the clerk awhile to check me in. I wasn't thrilled about the location of my room, just up on the second floor, with a view of an old apartment building across the street. The one nice thing was that they allowed me to use the computer in the lobby to go on the internet for free. I rarely use the internet when I'm away from home, but this hotel made it very easy to use since it was right by the front desk, and no one else was using it. The clerks were helpful and spoke English, which was good, since I speak very little German. When I left the next morning I found out how to get on the tram outside the hotel, and how to transfer to another tram to take me to the historic heart of Dresden. It was much farther than I expected, and it seemed to be at least two miles. The main problem for me with the Grand City Hotel Dresden Zentrum was it's remote location from the heart of Dresden. The word "Zentrum", which I thought meant "Center" doesn't really apply here. The next time I'm in Dresden I would try to find a hotel on the south side of the Elbe River, somewhere closer to the Dresden Hauptbahnhof, and I would avoid the Neustadt area completely.
- Mark Hotel Dresden
