Review: Brunfels Hotel Mainz, Hyatt Unbound Collection (Charming, Mostly)

Would you care to elaborate as to why you would consider €150 per room per night to be 'quite a reasonable price' for Mainz?

The Hotel Central Vis a Vis has superior rooms (35sqm) available next week for €87 per night whilst the Brunfels starts at €155- is the latter so good as to warrant an 80% price premium over a well-regarded hotel with the same 4-star rating?

@ Throwawayname -- The comment was meant more when considering global hotel prices. In the US you often can't even get a limited service property for that price.

But let me answer your question very simply -- Hotel Central Vis a Vis appears to be in an industrial park roughly a one-hour walk or 30-minute public transit ride to the city center. So if I'm traveling somewhere for leisure, that's something I'd ideally like to avoid. And I won't even get into how the hotel doesn't look nearly as nice.

Hyatt has a problem. The Unbound Collection is marketed as a luxury brand of independent or quasi-independent hotels. However, there is literally unbound with nothing tying properties together.

There are some legitimate 4.5 star properties -- few if any real 5-star hotels -- and lots of mediocre properties. Some of the properties should probably be JDV, which I associate more with Marriott's Tribute Portfolio. Very few are on the level of Marriott's Luxury Collection.

I also don't understand what the difference is between Hyatt's Destination brand and Unbound.

For such a small chain, it would be relatively easy for Hyatt to fix the branding duplications and branding inconsistencies. I don't know why it is going down the Marriott route.

The decor is weird. It's like a mix of midcentury modern and Miami or tropical beach resort. I hate the wood toilet seat not least because wood is porous and spreads bacteria.

Thank you, Dr. FNT Delta Diamond. Plus, the splinters, yikes!

My guess (and it's only a guess) is the owner thought they could command a higher nightly rate by converting from a generic 4-star Hilton to a purported 4.5-star Unbound. Whether that's true in practice, I don't know. But I would be shocked if Mainz hotels can charge more than 150 euros per night outside conventions (or congresses as Germans call them).

Try Papa Rhein in Bingen next time! https://www.paparheinhotel.de/ . nice rooftop pool and bar next to the river opposite of the Rüdesheim vineyards!

Americans may not consider this to be a suite, but a 3 seat-sofa in the room in Europe??? That's a palace!!

I don't think there's anything like 'global hotel prices'.

The USA is more expensive than Germany, Switzerland is probably more expensive than the USA, Iceland is more expensive than Switzerland, and Vietnam is massively cheaper than all of those countries.

I'm definitely not up to the task of finding a global average/median price for a 4* room, but anyone attempting it (or getting some software to have a go at it) will soon discover there are thousands of hotels in large countries like China, Brazil, India, Indonesia etc only charging €40-50 a night.

More to the point, half of the fun of travelling for leisure is stumbling across things that don't make the tourist guides, riding trams like the one passing next to the Vis a Vis etc. Unless there's a huge event/conference in town, €150 a night is a lot of money for a non-luxury hotel in a provincial German town. My last 4-star stay in Stuttgart, the capital of one of the most affluent states, was more like €74 including breakfast.

Interesting suggestion! What in the world were they thinking with the names of the rooms.....Kojen???? As a frequent traveler to the area I will keep this in mind but I would rather stay in Mainz than Bingen.

I think you are comparing apples to oranges from a quality as well as location perspective as Ben already pointed out.

Thanks for the review Ben as I am frequently in the area. I had considered the Brunfels recently but seem to always seem to pick the Hyatt when I stay in Mainz. I personally like the Hyatt location better (as you mentioned) and I think Bellpepper is one of the better hotel restaurants I have eaten at while staying at a hotel in the Mainz/Frankfurt area. (Lazuli at the Kimpton in FRA is another one I actually enjoy.)

I love that property! I usually stay there if I have an overnight connection in FRA or something along the lines. Love the interior with all the plants, the rooms are comfortable (and great AC as you pointed out), staff is lovely, great breakfast, and the dinner I had there was wonderful. Such a great surprise, since I wasn't expecting much from a category 3 Hyatt.

@Christian , it's not apples and oranges - the Vis a Vis has got pretty solid reviews and the two hotels are only about 3 miles apart. I can absolutely see why someone might pay more for the Brunfels, but the premium is hefty.

I'm not even claiming the €150 is definitely unreasonable- it does seem a bit overpriced to me but I have often chosen hotels which seemed to be overpriced (particularly if I had specific location requirements due to things like parking and public transport availability).

My issue is with the lack of context. I know that hotels in Kyoto are expensive during cherry blossom season, but awareness of those rates won't help me assess the extent to which I'm getting a good deal for a November stay in Ostrava, even if the hotels themselves are identical to each other. I think these reviews could become enormously more helpful with the inclusion of a simple screenshot with a summary of local competitor pricing for the dates booked.

How much does it cost you to get to and from Frankfurt airport?

I would think that most people that stay in Mainz actually have cars....at least that is the case when I do.

It's around 6 Euros p.p each way on the S8 or the RE2 or RE3. Ride takes about 25 minutes, not including walk to the hotel. We are staying here next month on an overnight layover in FRA. We have a group of 4 and can get a group ticket for about 22 Euros too, so that brings the price down too. We'll get out and walk a bit as we try to help adjust our body clocks after our flight over from the US.

It's about 70-80 Euros for a cab. The Brunfels is about a 10 minute walk to the Haupbahnhof if the weather is nice and you don't have many bags.

I rather preferred the locations vs the Regency on the river. The river area is nice to visit but quite the festival vs being quickly immersed in the town. Enjoy Mainz and the connectivity across and up the river very much and this is a solid property. The staff were much more pleasant and helpful than at the Regency and have stayed at both in the past three years. Will check out some of the other suggestions on this thread.