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.
Continue reading: Review: Marriott Heidelberg, Germany
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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.
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.
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.
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 Heidelberg is such a beautiful town and this outdated Marriott does not do any justice to it.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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
Looks a little bit far from old town and the hotel in somewhat of a need for freshening up
I recommend you , next time in Heidelberg, to stay at the Europäischer Hof!!!!
It's located on the side of the "old town".
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.
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.