The fact that this is one of the more difficult reviews that I have written and posted on here I think provides a perfect summary of the Suissotel Neuss. Not because the hotel was particularly bad, or because I feel aggravated, but more because whilst the hotel didn’t fall down on anything significant, it didn’t have any ‘wow’ factor either. Now whether that’s because it is predominantly a business / conference type hotel, and accordingly simply has to accommodate it’s various delegates in a reasonable degree of comfort I don’t know, but even in such circumstances I would have expected something to have stood out. Unfortunately nothing did and may stay will soon be lost to the depths of my memory. The reason for my stay was to attend a 3 day training course in Neuss City Centre, and this was the hotel recommended by the training company. Therefore in some senses, I was like any other delegate attending a conference or fair in either Neuss or D?sseldorf. As always, I read the previous contributions before I went, and am pleased to report that in most areas I can wholeheartedly agree with the comments made. Therefore I will only try and add my personal observations which may not have been covered. The hotel is somewhat remote, and whilst it is located on the banks of the river Rhine, this is nowhere near as romantic as it sounds. In this part of Germany the countryside is relatively flat, and the river is principally just another transport route. Although there are footpaths on both sides, one soon gets bored of looking at the various commercial craft travelling north or south. Whilst the hotel does have a large car park, if you are reliant on public transport you will face a 5 – 10 minute walk to either the nearest tram stop or the S-Bahn station. Neuss is a further 10 minutes away by tram, whereas central D?sseldorf is 15 minutes by S-Bahn train or 20 minutes by tram. However the public transport system is very good, and runs from very early morning to late at night. However as this is principally a commercial area, I would not advise arriving at night by this method unless you know exactly where you are going. The room was comfortable, clean and tidy with a view across the river and D?sseldorf. However I struggled to connect my PC to the internet as my company’s policy is to disable wireless connectivity and the only telephone connection was an ISDN line which my PC’s modem could not recognise. The quality of food has been commented on before, and I can only concur with previous contributors about the quality, which was very good. However I did eat in the restaurant one evening and would make two observations. Firstly, I was one of only three people eating in there, so we ended up with more staff than guests. Secondly, there were only 3 main course choices on the menu; lamb, steak and fish. For a hotel of this size, I would have expected more. The ‘unhelpfulness’ of the staff has also been commented upon previously. However I found them all to be polite and cheerful, always saying ‘Good Morning’ as you passed. Any questions I had were promptly and politely answered. Basically I could not find any fault there. However again, they did not stand out as providing exceptional service. So, in summary, a competent hotel that does nothing particularly bad, but does nothing particularly good either. If you are staying there because of a conference in its neighbouring conference suite, then you will be quite comfortable but unless you make a particular effort, may well find you do not set foot outside of the building. However if your stay is for personal reasons, unless you have your own car, the walk to the tram / train stations is just a little bit too far to be considered convenient, and the whole experience is unlikely to remain in your memory for years to come.

Como íbamos a ver un partido de la Copa de la UEFA en Leverkusen, aprovechamos para estar varios días conociendo la zona de Düsseldorf y Colonia. En [----------] había una oferta especial que nos salía la noche a 46 euros, así que, viendo que era de 4 estrellas y estaba justo al lado de Düsseldorf (teníamos coche alquilado), nos lanzamos. Está claro que el precio baja tanto por no estar en pleno casco urbano de Düsseldorf, pero creo que merece la pena, y más si vas a hacer turismo por esa zona. El hotel está muy bien, calculo que tendrá 20 años o así, pero estaba en muy buenas condiciones, la habitación era bastante grande, estaba limpia, tenía televisión, un baño amplio... vamos, lo corriente en un 4 estrellas. El edificio se sitúa a la orilla del Rin, y desde la ventana de la habitación se veía el skyline de Düsseldorf al otro lado del río, marcado por su gran torre de comunicaciones Rheinturm de 240 metros (subida obligada, por cierto, tiene unas vistas impresionantes). El servicio de habitaciones muy satisfactorio. Un día no teníamos pan para cenar (nos montábamos la cena en la misma habitación con embutido al vacío y demás víveres), y nos subieron en cantidad suficiente, de varios tipos, y con mantequilla! Otro día bajé a recepción a pedir también pan, y esa vez me sacaron de la cocina de gratis. Para ir a Düsseldorf, debe de haber un tranvía que para al lado del hotel, y cruza el puente del Rin, aunque no lo usamos porque íbamos en coche. Colonia está a unos 40 kilómetros, y se llega perfectamente por autopista. Por cierto, el hotel tiene plazas de parking, pero en la calle había sitio suficiente, ya que es una zona poco transitada.

I stayed at the Swissotel Neuss last month for the big A + A show in Dusseldorf. I found this hotel to be a highly-effective business class hotel, but . . . would I stay there again? As I always do, I am breaking my rating down into the Great, Good, Bad , and Ugly. I will then offer some 'Bottom Line' recommendations. Here goes . . . GREAT: # 1 - Almost regardless of what level you stay on, you will be treated to some great views of the surrounding greenery and the Rhine itself. # 2 - The hotel restaurant (I forget the name) is fantastic! I went on a night the restaurant featured a buffet. The restaurant specializes in the best French food found outside of Paris. GOOD: # 1 - The hotel has nice facilities from an upscale bar to swimming pool and sauna (extra fee). # 2 - ALL of the staff I encountered were extremely friendly - from the front desk people to the pool & restaurant personel and housekeeper. While hotel staff at a business-class hotel are supposed to be friendly, this wasn't the typical 'forced' friendliness - they were genuinely nice. BAD: # 1 - It's a good thing the in-house restaurant was so good because there is not much around this hotel. Everything I did and needed was across the river: the fairgrounds, other restaurants, bars, places of recreation, etc., so . . . why not stay across the river? True, a comparable hotel across the river might have been a little more expensive, but it would have saved significant time because . . . # 2 - This Swissotel is not extremely convenient. If you are attending a convention in Dusseldorf and STAYING IN Dusseldorf you will have to take no more than one train. Staying at this hotel in Neuss however . . . you have to stop at the Dusseldorf Haptbahnhof (main station) and THEN take another train to or from Neuss. While the trains are well-organized and easy to figure out (I don't know how some people who posted here earlier had problems!), it still does add an extra leg - each way - to your Journey. THEN . . . you'll have the ten minute walk to (or from) the hotel just to get to the nearest train station. Beleive me, going through this routine for four days adds up. By time I was back at the hotel and ready to go out at night, an extra hour of my time had gone (and then to go anywhere I had to repeat this process because there's nothing around the hotel!) UGLY: # 1 - The temperature control system in my room did not work at all - and the control box made a loud humming noise when a metal washer jammed in it was touched. Ok, I didn't complain about it and I have no doubt they would have taken immediate action if I did, but . . . there was evidence the hotel knew about it as the metal washer jammed into it was, no doubt, put there by hotel maintenance. But . . . it was September and not too hot or cold, so I didn't make a big deal of it. BOTTOM LINE / RECOMMENDATIONS: # 1 - If you are in town for a convention and DON'T have a car, skip this hotel. It's not that you'll dislike the hotel, it's just too much aggravation and extra time away from your day to get into the city (which, again, you'll have to do). # 2 - If you do have a car and stay at this Swissotel then you have nothing to worry about - it is a good hotel. Be sure to try the in-house restaurant. contact me at jefnac@hotmail.com

I've stayed here during the GDS fair , sep 2007 , and this Hotel is not a 4 star , The room never cooled , I called every night , and they never fixed it or offered me another room . The room was very hot . The bathroom is very small and don't have a shower curtain , so eveytime you use it ,everything is wet . The gym ? only have a stepper .!! Terrible , and the staff don't want to hear any complain . My advice , Stay away .!!

building on the reviews others have posted: * the restaurant/room service has very good food but it's on the pricey side. Breakfast is not included in your room rate, and is very steep. Far beyond a Continental roll/cheese/yogurt, but you can't order a la carte. * Decor is typical business hotel. No charm as such, just a very modern, very clean place to stay. The room was very large and had a fantastic view of the Rhine and the city. Nice quiet neighborhood, easy to sleep even with the window open all night. * The Rhine offers a very nice place to jog/walk. There is a brochure and a map in each room describing the route/distance. Bring a camera and take shots of the barges easing their way along the river. * You can save a lot of money by walking a few blocks to the nearby shopping center, where they have several fast-food places. Nothing fancy but I got a typical Continental breakfast there for about one-fifth what Swissotel charges for their buffet (and I got a nice taste of everyday life in germany, which you won't get from the hotel). You get what you pay for, so if you just need the basics for breakfast, head elsewhere and save a bunch of Euro. * There was a little bit of a communication problem in asking directions. Bearing in mind that the young lady who helped me had much better English than I have German, she showed me how to take public transport into town. Unfortunately, she assumed that I'd know that "S8" is the number of a subway line, not a highway, so there was a bit of a disconnect that got quickly cleared up with some creative map-reading. One likely reason why the front desk staff give vague directions on these things is because, while getting from the hotel to the main station in Dusseldorf is easy, getting back again is anything but. You only have a coulpe of choices of which tram and S-bahn train to take from the hotel (and they each get you to the same station regardless), but when you are in the Hauptbahnhof trying to get the right train back to Neuss, you suddenly become aware that the signs point to platform #s, which have no correlation with the actual train numbers. And in the evenings they use the smaller trains from other routes, which have a totally different route# painted on the sides than the one they are currently servicing. Luckily a conductor helped me get to the right one eventually, but it got very...adventurous...for half an hour or so. Anyway, the hotel staff have probably seen that scenario play out time after time, but there's nothing they can do about it, they don't run the trains or decide which ones are in service from which platforms at a given time. So they probably don't want to get in the middle of all that AGAIN. Understandable. Overall, a good value and a nice place to stay. Easy access to public transport and the autobahn system. It's geared for business travelers, so if you're looking for quaint European charm you'd want to look elsewhere. But if you want a very modern, very efficient hotel, by all means make your reservation.