Europe 2024 Trip Report So Far: Back from 18-day Europe Trip, Review: Iberia Business Class DFW to MAD, Hits and Misses from my First MSC Cruise, DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station Review, Two Days in Amsterdam, Visiting Efteling the Dutch Fairytale Theme Park, Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Slumming it in Economy on KLM from AMS to Houston
Since our Norway Fjords cruise left out of Kiel, Germany, we stayed one night before and one night after the cruise in Hamburg, Germany at Holiday Inn Hamburg – HafenCity.
Booking Holiday Inn Hamburg – HafenCity
My husband and I both have Chase IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Cards (affiliate link). Our $99 annual fee gets us a free night certificate for an IHG hotel that’s valued up to 40,000 points per night. I used both of our certificates to book the two nights. Since the points price varies by night, I had to fork over 1000 IHG points on top of one of the certificates to book our second night.
Location and Arrival
Holiday Inn Hamburg – HafenCity is in a great location for tourists. It’s a 20-minute walk from Hamburg Central Train Station, although since it was raining, we opted to take a taxi.
The hotel is a very short walk from the famous Speicherstadt (the warehouse district canals):
It’s also a 15-20 minute walk to other attractions like the Chocoversum, Miniatur Wonderland and Elbphilharmonie. There is a U-Bahn station across the street. Several restaurants, a pharmacy and a grocery store are nearby. And, right behind the hotel is a large park with playground equipment.
When we arrived in the afternoon, our room wasn’t quite ready. So, we chilled in the large lobby for about 30 minutes before getting the keys to our room.
Our Room
Our room was large by European standards. It had two twin beds and a chair:
And a long desk with chair under the TV:
The bathroom with heated towel rack:
Both of our rooms had views over the park. Overall, our rooms were clean, comfortable, modern and quiet.
Food and Amenities
Holiday Inn Hamburg — Hafen City has one restaurant that serves all 3 meals. Breakfast was NOT included for our stay, We opted to skip the breakfast buffet due to the high cost (I believe it was 25-27 Euros per person). Instead, we purchased food at the nearby grocery store and tried some nearby restaurants.
The hotel has a gym, although I didn’t use it since walking around Hamburg was enough exercise for me:
Final Thoughts
Holiday Inn Hamburg – HafenCity is a quiet, clean hotel in a great location in Hamburg. The nearby playground would be useful for families with young kids. The hotel is a great place to burn those IHG free night certificates. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again.
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