Leipzig is a smallish city - that becomes very apparent when there are one or more major conferences in town. Booking a hotel becaomes a sheer nightmare. I came to Leipzig for a conference and even 2-3 months before the meeting, I found all the central hotels fully booked. The only one left available from the list of conference approved hotels was the Lindner. It wasn't cheap - about 120 Euros per night for a 'suite'. I figured at that price, it can't be bad - plus the pictures available on the Internet showed it to look quite nice. So I gave it a try ...

I have travelled extensively worldwide and written more than a few hotel reviews. I'm usually quite generous with those reviews - and I consider myself quite generous still giving the Lindner 2 stars ! To cut a LOOONG story short, I was quite disappointed with almost every aspect of my stay given the price I had to pay.

Before we list the bad points, let's see what was OK:
- the rooms were reasonably clean and spacious
- the hotel felt new and well-maintained in general
- the breakfast (included) was OK
- ... and that's about it

The bad points ?
- it is situated well away from city centre: a taxi ride costs 10-15 Euros each way
- the "free shuttle bus" simply does NOT EXIST: when I asked, I was simply told 'no' ... no explainations, no apologies
- on my first day, it was raining. the cool reception staff gave only vague directions to the nearest bus stop and didn't even offer to lend me an umbrella
- I booked a SUITE for 120 Euros per night and was given only a 'first class' room (hardly larger than a standard room) ... again no explaination, no apology, no refund - the staff even implied I should be thankful just to get a room at all !
- the website said the hotel was air-conditioned ... it it was, nobody bothered to turn it on ! my room was hot and stuffy, and simply too warm to sleep in at night (this was in September)
- the bed was woefully soft: I ended up with a stiff back after just 2 nights
- there is no bath even in the 'first class' room ... only a tight shower
- there was WLAN internet service (NOT free) but reception in most areas in the room was terrible: only 'low' signal at best in bed, NO signal at all at the desk !
- the front desk staff were some of the coolest, unfriendliest people I have met in all of Europe (and I have lived in Europe for over 7 years) ... maybe this is a relic of old East German hospitality ??
- someone to carry your bags or show you to your room? forget it - no help at all

I know what you are thinking: if this hotel was so bad, why didn't I just leave ? Unfortunately, I made the amateur mistake of pre-paying on the Internet (based on the seemingly excellent portrayel of this hotel on the Internet). And besides, as I said, no other hotel was available in town. Maybe there will be some people who enjoyed their stays at this hotel - and congrats to them. But my experience was awful, and I stand by my gripes above.

You'll realize that of course, I would never stay here again, let alone recommend this place to a friend. In fact, given the troubles I had with accommodation, I would seriously think twice about ever attending a conference in Leipzig again.