Review: Marriott Heidelberg, Germany

Review: Marriott Heidelberg, Germany

NAME: Marriott Heidelberg
LOCATION: Heidelberg, Germany
DATE: August 2023
REVIEW RATING:
BEN SAYS: The Marriott Heidelberg is a bit outdated, isn't in the center of town, and caters to large tour groups, but also has many redeeming qualities, like renovated club rooms, a nice executive lounge, and very friendly service.
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For the next stop on the trip with my parents, we spent two nights at the 248-room Marriott Heidelberg. We were all excited about visiting Heidelberg — I had never been before, while my parents hadn’t been in many years.

For those not familiar, Heidelberg is a charming and historic city not far from Frankfurt, with a beautiful old town, and an idyllic setting on the Neckar River. We had an amazing time here, and are happy we visited.

All that being said, this was definitely the least exciting of the hotels we stayed at on this trip. When I first wrote about plans for this trip, several readers (helpfully) advised against staying at the Marriott Heidelberg. I had tried to rearrange our trip to cut out this hotel and stay somewhere else, but just couldn’t shuffle things around to make it all work in an economical way, so we followed through on this stay.

Honestly, in the end we actually had a positive experience, and that’s probably thanks to going into this with low expectations. While the hotel is a bit outdated, is located outside the city center, and is also used by tour groups, there are redeeming qualities, like a club lounge with great views, a tasty breakfast, friendly service, and overall good value.

There are better hotels in Heidelberg, but with the right expectations I’d gladly stay here again. Let’s get into the review…

Booking the Marriott Heidelberg

I booked our rooms at the Marriott Heidelberg with cash. The rate was €159 per night per room, but the hotel had a promotion offering 50% off a second room, as part of a family rate, so for one room I paid just ~€80 per night. For a busy weekend in August, I thought that was a perfectly reasonable rate, especially given the hotel rate inflation we currently see around the globe.

As a point of comparison, if redeeming points, the hotel would have cost 34,000 Bonvoy points per night. I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, meaning an award stay would have cost the equivalent of ~$238. So I paid cash, because I’d rather redeem points for potentially higher value redemptions.

Marriott Heidelberg location & parking

On the plus side, the Marriott Heidelberg is located right on the Neckar River, so it has a pretty setting. However, the location isn’t central for what visitors are typically looking to do. The hotel is about 1.5-2 miles from the old town and other popular tourist sites.

If I were traveling alone, I’d almost welcome that distance, since I enjoy a stroll like that, and it should take around 30-40 minutes. However, since I was traveling with my parents, we instead drove into town with the car we rented.

There are several parking garages in the old town. I wouldn’t say that finding parking there was impossible, but it also took a bit of effort, and each parking garage only had a few empty spots at a time.

For what it’s worth, the hotel has a parking garage, and charges €25 per day for parking. While there’s a gate in the parking garage, it was open throughout our stay, so parking is using an honor system. You just tell the front desk agent that you used the garage, and they’ll charge your room.

If you’re coming from Frankfurt, you can expect that the drive will take around 45-75 minutes, depending on whether you’re going to the city or airport. A train will take a similar amount of time.

Marriott Heidelberg exterior

Marriott Heidelberg lobby & check-in

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a friendly bellman, and pointed toward reception. The hotel’s lobby has plenty of seating areas, and feels quite outdated.

Marriott Heidelberg lobby
Marriott Heidelberg lobby seating
Marriott Heidelberg lobby seating
Marriott Heidelberg lobby seating

I found it cute how the lobby had some jars of candy, as well as complimentary coffee in the morning.

Marriott Heidelberg lobby treats
Marriott Heidelberg lobby coffee machine

The lobby also got very busy over some hours, as this hotel is used for tour groups. So sometimes the lobby would look like the below…

Marriott Heidelberg lobby luggage

Anyway, reception was located inside the lobby and to the right. We were quickly helped, and the front desk associates were very friendly. They thanked me for being a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium member. While elite benefits technically only apply for one room, they upgraded all three of our rooms to club rooms, which was generous.

It’s interesting how inconsistent hotels are on that front. While hotels don’t have to provide elite benefits for more than one room, I’m pleasantly surprised by how often it happens.

Marriott Heidelberg reception

With keys in hand, we headed up to the fourth floor, where our three rooms were located (all next to one another).

Marriott Heidelberg elevators

Marriott Heidelberg executive room

It seems that the Marriott Heidelberg has started a renovation, and so far only the fourth (top) floor has been renovated. For example, below is what the hallway looked like on the third floor…

Marriott Heidelberg hallway

Meanwhile below is what the hallway looked like on the fourth floor. I find it to be a bit of an odd renovation, because the design already doesn’t look very modern, it just looks less outdated than the rest of the hotel.

Marriott Heidelberg hallway

I was assigned room 434, a king executive room.

Marriott Heidelberg room exterior

The room was comfortable and functionally designed. The room had an entryway with the bathroom to the left and a closet to the right.

Marriott Heidelberg room entryway

The room then had a king size bed, a long table with a desk (that had a rolling chair) and a TV, and then a cute nook by the window with a coffee table.

Marriott Heidelberg room king bed
Marriott Heidelberg room desk
Marriott Heidelberg room king bed
Marriott Heidelberg room table

This nook had a lovely view of the Neckar River.

Marriott Heidelberg room view

Back near the entrance was a coffee machine and kettle, plus a mini-fridge without anything in it.

Marriott Heidelberg room coffee machine
Marriott Heidelberg room mini-fridge

The bathroom was quite basic, and had a sink, a toilet, and a shower and tub combo.

Marriott Heidelberg room bathroom
Marriott Heidelberg room toilet
Marriott Heidelberg room shower

Toiletries were in reusable wall-mounted containers, and were from thisworks.

Marriott Heidelberg room toiletries

Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free, and housekeeping was provided daily.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge

The Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge is located on the third floor. As a club guest:

  • You can enjoy complimentary breakfast in the restaurant from 6:30AM until 11AM
  • The lounge is open daily from 6:30AM (7AM on weekends) until 10:30PM
  • The lounge has the evening happy hour from 5:30PM until 8PM, and dessert from 7:30PM until 9:30PM

On the inside, the lounge had maybe a dozen tables, including dining tables seating two to four people each, plus high-top seating.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge

However, what I really loved about the lounge was the large outdoor terrace, with gorgeous views.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge terrace
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge terrace
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge view
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge view

Honestly, what a treat this was! Given my mom’s limited mobility (though she was a trooper this trip — I couldn’t believe how much she pushed herself), we’d usually go into town once each day for a longer period, and in the evenings we’d sit here for a few hours enjoying the views and beautiful weather, and having a couple of glasses of wine.

As far as the lounge’s food and drink selection goes, throughout the day guests could help themselves to coffee, tea, soft drinks, and water. There were also jars with half a dozen different snacks, ranging from candy to nuts.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge drinks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge drinks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour snacks

The evening happy hour spread was modest, and changed slightly every evening.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour

The alcohol selection was limited, and included one red wine, one white wine, and one beer, with no liquor. Given how the region is known for wine and beer, it would be nice if the selection were a bit more extensive, but hey, I wasn’t about to complain, given the deal we got.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour drinks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour drinks

The food selection included veggies, chips, several types of bread, a few small bites (onion pie, fruit bread with cream cheese, etc.), cheese, soup, and two other hot dishes.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour snacks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour snacks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour snacks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour snacks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour snacks
Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour snacks

Then the dessert selection rotated, and one evening included cheesecake.

Marriott Heidelberg executive lounge happy hour dessert

Honestly, our favorite aspect of the lounge was the views and outdoor seating. The attendant working in the lounge was also friendly, which can make a big difference.

Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast

Grill 16 is the Marriott Heidelberg’s restaurant, and it serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Given Heidelberg’s amazing food, we never had lunch or dinner here, but we did enjoy breakfast each morning. Breakfast is served from 6:30AM until 11AM, and consists of a buffet.

The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating. It was pretty empty when we had breakfast early, but later in the morning got so full that they had to seat people at tables in the lobby.

Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 Restaurant
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 Restaurant
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 Restaurant
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 Restaurant

I thought the buffet was excellent, both in terms of quality and variety. Breakfast options included all kinds of fresh bread, pastries, and pretzels, veggies, cold cuts, cheese, fresh fruit, yogurt, waffles, pancakes, hardboiled eggs, scrambled eggs, and all kinds of sausage, bacon, breakfast potatoes, etc.

Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet

On top of that, you could have made to order eggs, so I had a veggie omelet one morning, which was quite good.

Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 omelet

As far as drinks go, there were bottles of water, juice, smoothies, espresso machines, and tea.

Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet
Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 breakfast buffet

The staff were also happy to serve coffee, and personally I preferred the filter coffee to the self-serve machine coffee.

Marriott Heidelberg Grill 16 coffee

Marriott Heidelberg pool, gym, and spa

The Marriott Heidelberg has a pool, gym, and spa, also on the ground floor, near reception.

The gym is quite decent, and has a variety of cardio equipment in one room, a selection of weights in another room, and then a third room for yoga.

Marriott Heidelberg gym
Marriott Heidelberg gym
Marriott Heidelberg gym
Marriott Heidelberg gym
Marriott Heidelberg gym

The hotel also has a pool, though that’s not something I used during our stay.

Marriott Heidelberg pool
Marriott Heidelberg pool
Marriott Heidelberg pool

Next to the pool is a locker room, as well as a sauna.

Marriott Heidelberg locker room
Marriott Heidelberg sauna

The Marriott Heidelberg also has a makeshift spa, as it’s basically just a reception desk and a couple of small spa rooms in the gym.

Marriott Heidelberg “spa” reception
Marriott Heidelberg “spa” room

I found the pricing to be quite reasonable, and if we had more time, I would’ve booked us some appointments.

Marriott Heidelberg spa menu

Impressions of Heidelberg

This was my first time visiting Heidelberg, so what did I think? Let me start by saying that we visited over a weekend in August, so I’m sure the city was about as busy as it gets. We would’ve ideally visited over a weekday, but that didn’t work out in terms of our itinerary.

Even with the crowds, we all found Heidelberg to be charming, and loved our time here. The city’s setting on the river is gorgeous, as you can see…

Neckar River in Heidelberg
Neckar River in Heidelberg

And the old town of Heidelberg is also picturesque, with so many beautiful historic buildings, cafes, and restaurants.

The old town of Heidelberg
The old town of Heidelberg
The old town of Heidelberg
The old town of Heidelberg
The old town of Heidelberg
The old town of Heidelberg

I’d absolutely recommend a visit to Heidelberg, and it’s a great, easy trip from Frankfurt. Do I need to immediately return there? No. But I’m happy to have seen it, and I’d gladly return some number of years down the road.

Bottom line

The Marriott Heidelberg is a large hotel that’s a bit outdated, not in the center of town, and largely caters to tour groups. However, we enjoyed our stay, thanks to having the right expectations. The hotel’s club level rooms are renovated, the hotel has an executive lounge with a beautiful terrace, and the staff at the hotel were all friendly. Given what we paid, I’d consider that to be good value.

Next time I visit Heidelberg I’d like to check out Heidelberg Suites, which is a well regarded boutique hotel closer to the old town. For our dates it wasn’t available, and if it had been available, I imagine it would have been a lot more expensive. For our purposes the Marriott did the trick, though.

What do you make of the Marriott Heidelberg?

Conversations (14)
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  1. M Travels Guest

    While I agree it’s quite dated the views we had from our room were spectacular. They upgraded us from a standard room to a large 1-bedroom suite with a massive wrap around terrace overlooking the water, over to the city, mountains, and a magnificent sunrise.

  2. Richard Guest

    There is really one clear correct choice in Heidelberg: Europaeischer Hof

  3. FNT Delta Diamond Guest

    Wow.

    How is this hotel still flagged a Marriott? It looks virtually unchanged since the 1980s and 1990s. Judging from the carpeting, it looks like the last serious renovation was between 1999 and 2006. Even the "renovated" guest room is nothing more than some new case goods and that's about it. That television is an LG or Samsung television from 2006-2008. Were there fax machines and dial-up internet connections too?

    Wow.

  4. Kyriaki Varytimou Guest

    I recommend you , next time in Heidelberg, to stay at the Europäischer Hof!!!!
    It's located on the side of the "old town".

  5. Adam Guest

    Looks a little bit far from old town and the hotel in somewhat of a need for freshening up

  6. Andy Diamond

    Thanks, Ben, for this review. I almost stayed there during the pandemic, travelling by car. However the Federal State of Baden-Wurthemberg had more strict rules at that stage and wouldn't allow me to stay without getting tested, so I had to stay in neighboring Hesse ... But I think, based on your report, I would be happy to consider it again.

  7. Calidude Guest

    I do love German breakfast buffets. And I noticed no Fanta in the fridge.

  8. MattBallAZ New Member

    Heidelberg is great (my wife lived there for over a year before we met) but is super-touristy compared to some other places. Glad you had a good time. If you can in the future, try Freiburg and/or Passau.

  9. Alex Guest

    Having stayed there previously, 3.5 stars is super generous. Heidelberg is such a beautiful town and this outdated Marriott does not do any justice to it. Thanks for the review but it’s a shame that you haven’t chosen to review some of the better properties based on readers feedback.

  10. jsm Guest

    The Marriott is incredibly convenient for someone arriving by train - just north of the Hauptbahnhof. From the train station a person can easily take public transit anywhere in the Heidelberg area.

    Just a little trivia: my father was in the army (Corps of Engineers) during WWII and said that Heidelberg was intentionally not bombed. This was to insure that there would be one city with intact infrastructure for occupying forces after the war.

  11. pstm91 Diamond

    Great review. Glad you took one for the team here (even if it was a largely positive stay). Curious, while obviously your focus is the points game, would you consider Airbnb? I remember you posted a blog (many) years ago about it.. but considering you can get miles with Delta and I believe a few others, I think it's well worth considering when traveling with a small group like you were. We spent many weeks...

    Great review. Glad you took one for the team here (even if it was a largely positive stay). Curious, while obviously your focus is the points game, would you consider Airbnb? I remember you posted a blog (many) years ago about it.. but considering you can get miles with Delta and I believe a few others, I think it's well worth considering when traveling with a small group like you were. We spent many weeks in Germany last summer and Airbnb's allowed us to all be under one roof, often with a fantastic local host to give tips and recs, and it was far more economical than any hotel.

    1. Never In Doubt Guest

      "while obviously your focus is the points game"

      Ben's "focus" is on the credit card referrals "game".

      Everything works towards getting people to click on the links to credit card providers.

      The only time Ben ever documents a stay anywhere but a credit card adjacent hotel is for expediency (only hotel at the airport!) or crazy editorial appeal (OMG, the 7 star Dubai hotel!). I guess if he found a crazy AirBnB it would fit...

      "while obviously your focus is the points game"

      Ben's "focus" is on the credit card referrals "game".

      Everything works towards getting people to click on the links to credit card providers.

      The only time Ben ever documents a stay anywhere but a credit card adjacent hotel is for expediency (only hotel at the airport!) or crazy editorial appeal (OMG, the 7 star Dubai hotel!). I guess if he found a crazy AirBnB it would fit into the second category.

      Ben thanks you for your patronage.

  12. AP Guest

    I stayed in winter of 2018 and think this property is an oldie but a goody. As you noted, service was great, the lounge attendant when I stayed was a bit cheeky, my room was clean and comfortable with a great river view, and after driving from Frankfurt in a blizzard (business trip), I certainly appreciated the underground garage on arrival. I’m actually quite fond of it. Cozy, not glamorous.

    1. James S Guest

      I also stayed at this hotel in November 2018 - even then, there was just one renovated floor (the fourth, which Lucky stayed on) - the remaining floors were VERY tired and dated looking. Frankly, I'm amazed that Marriott hasn't finished the renovation in the five years that have passed since. Location is pretty good, but overall this place just felt old and sad.

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MattBallAZ New Member

Heidelberg is great (my wife lived there for over a year before we met) but is super-touristy compared to some other places. Glad you had a good time. If you can in the future, try Freiburg and/or Passau.

1
Never In Doubt Guest

"while obviously your focus is the points game" Ben's "focus" is on the credit card referrals "game". Everything works towards getting people to click on the links to credit card providers. The only time Ben ever documents a stay anywhere but a credit card adjacent hotel is for expediency (only hotel at the airport!) or crazy editorial appeal (OMG, the 7 star Dubai hotel!). I guess if he found a crazy AirBnB it would fit into the second category. Ben thanks you for your patronage.

1
jsm Guest

The Marriott is incredibly convenient for someone arriving by train - just north of the Hauptbahnhof. From the train station a person can easily take public transit anywhere in the Heidelberg area. Just a little trivia: my father was in the army (Corps of Engineers) during WWII and said that Heidelberg was intentionally not bombed. This was to insure that there would be one city with intact infrastructure for occupying forces after the war.

1
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