On a trip to Dusseldorf earlier this year, I'd enjoyed the luxury of a night in the Sheraton at Dusseldorf Airport, then taken the train up to Bremen before returning back once again to Dusseldorf. Since I was on my own this time and trying to save a few pennies, I'd resorted to the cheaper but less convenient option of the Holiday Inn Dusseldorf Airport Ratingen.
That's quite a mouthful of a name and enough to get me a very patronising lecture from the taxi driver about how flughafen meant airport (like I didn't know - duh) and Ratingen was somewhere else entirely. I'd had a long day and a long train journey and I was feeling snappy "Do you know this hotel or don't you?" I asked as he continued his lecture, and reassured that he did, I shut up and sat back for the 10 minute journey for which he happily charged me a ridiculous 12 euros. Feeling I'd been a bit short I told him to take 13, at which point he took 14 and left me annoyed again and feeling suckered. What is it with continental taxi drivers this year? I know there's a recession but sometimes I feel as if I might as just open my wallet and say 'Help yourselves'.
The hotel was in darkness when I arrived so I can't say too much about where it was or what the surroundings were like - only that I was relieved to see the big green Holiday Inn sign at the end of what had been a long day. The receptionist was
friendly and welcoming and quickly checked me in, told me when the restaurant would close and took down my name for a place on the shuttle bus the next morning. With my key in my hand I headed off to drop my bag and grab something to eat.
The room was on the back of the hotel and upstairs. As far as I could make out, there didn't appear to be a lift. On the way I'd passed a tiny swimming pool half of which was indoors, and half of which was outside. I'm not sure how that works. There was also a suite of meeting rooms.
My room was large with more than enough space for two double beds each with a thin duvet and a couple of much too squishy pillows. What is it with German hotels and their soft pillows? This was back in January so I figured if it got cold I could always steal the second duvet. There was a table and two arm chairs, a bed side table between the two beds, a desk with a TV on top and a minibar under and - joy of joy although I didn't need them - not one but TWO suitcase stands. I sometimes feel like a one-woman campaign for suitcase stands and am always pleased to get one but really impressed to get two. There was a trouser press fixed to the wall and a wardrobe with a large hanging space as well as plenty of shelves. The two things I was surprised to find missing were a room safe and a kettle. Nothing was particularly spanking new or well designed but the room contained everything I needed and plenty of space on top.
The bathroom was a mix of styles and appeared to have been semi-renovated. The vanity unit had an attractive dark stone work top but the bath was an old grey one that must have been a few decades old. There was a shower over the bath with one of those curtains that you know instinctively will flap around your legs when you use it. Toiletries-wise, the provisions were meagre with just bulk dispensers of soap and shampoo.
The room was clean, didn't smell and was in good condition - so no complaints but nothing to get too excited about either.
The restaurant was just off the lobby with a bar to one side. When I arrived at about 9.45 pm it was almost empty and the waiter told me I could sit wherever I liked. He was a very pleasant and attentive chap, chatting away enough to be friendly without crossing the line towards being annoying. We debated which type of beer I wanted until he guessed right and brought me a large cold glass of Weissbeer and then took my order for a pasta dish with three types of fish.
Whilst I was waiting for my food, I was given a basket of sliced baguette and two tasty dips. One was some kind of pesto and the other a fairly bizarre pink sauce with a Germanic interpretation of what curry should taste like. The background music was fairly irritating tunes from folksier times - some anonymous chap singing Joan Baez favourites or something similar.
My pasta dish arrived in good time and the waiter offered me a spoon 'just in case' which I thought showed a lot of foresight - he wasn't to know I was as likely to end up wearing my noodles as eating them but he had obviously worked out that an extra eating utensil never goes amiss.
The dish consisted of a bed of tagliatelle noodles which I think were supposed to have some kind of pesto influence but were served with big sprigs of rosemary which seemed like a strange choice. On top of the noodles were three small fillets of fish - one was salmon, one red snapper and the third a white fish which, if memory serves me right, was probably zander (pike perch).
After my bowl had been cleared the waiter bought me a lightly scented and scorching hot face towel and I ordered a coffee and asked to have it with milk. There are times when I think that asking for milk rather than cream (kafee sahne) is treated as a major insult to the national culture. I'm not trying to be difficult (honest), I just don't like cream in my coffee. But with no need for further begging or explanation, my very nice cup of coffee arrived with a small jug of milk.
The meal clocked up at about €30 for a half litre of beer, the pasta dish and a coffee plus a tip. It's not cheap for what was basically just the one course. I went back to my room and bought an hour of internet time for a quite reasonable fee of about €6. In the morning I discovered they had proper BBC on the TV (i.e. not the intensely irritating BBC World, but real genuine BBC1) so I was able to catch up on the weather news back home and learned I'd probably be stuck in Dusseldorf because of snow. With just a few minutes to spare, and skipping breakfast, I went back to the reception, checked out with a charming and efficient receptionist, and found the shuttle bus for the airport.
It wasn't a life-changing hotel stay, but at €99 per night, it served a purpose and if I'd been able to find the shuttle to the hotel as well as the shuttle from the hotel, then it would have been a relative bargain. However, the snitty taxi driver from the night before had put me off somewhat which is completely unfair to the Holiday Inn who provided me with everything I needed at a reasonable price.
And finally.................................... If you are wondering about the title of the review, this relates to the time I posted a review on 'another well known' consumer review site about having dinner in a restaurant in Dusseldorf. Over half the comments about the review were from people who thought I'd had dinner with David Hasselhof. I didn't have dinner with him and I didn't sleep with him either. Sorry to disappoint!
Pictures of Holiday Inn Düsseldorf Airport Ratingen, Ratingen
Plenty of space but nothing luxurious
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Internal/External swimming pools are brilliant. Usually, there's a short water tunnel linking the two. I loved the one in Karlsruhe – swimming in warm water with snow on the ground all around and a starry sky above. Superb. Possibly not quite so brill at an airport? Lx
Seresecros 25.07.2009 14:25
Poor David Hasselhoff, then.
paulpry118 22.07.2009 21:36
If I told my husband that there was a chance of having dinner with Mr Knightrider himself I sure we would be booked into the hotel the following night.
This hotel is located in the town of Ratingen, 12 kilometres north-east of Düsseldorf, ... more
with an indoor and outdoor pool and excellent motorway connections. The 4-star Holiday Inn Düsseldorf Airport offers rooms which are spacious and comfortable with al...
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Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Located at the city boundary of Duesseldorf with excellent traffic connections to the ... more
motorways A3 A44 A52 as well as to Duesseldorf International Airport and the fairground Dusseldorf offers the Holiday Inn Duesseldorf Airport Ratingen comprehensive ...
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Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
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