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Experience at Hotel Neue Krame in Frankfurt

Entire elevator inside covered with graffiti scratches and several large rust spots. Had to pay in full before we saw the room. Declined 2X to provide a receipt. Outside glass doors to elevator on floor 1 and 3 had cracks. Room not ready when promised and paid extra for. Room about 12x18 including a 6x6 bathroom. If there was WiFi were not told. If the room was non-smoking, there was no indication. Carpet had dozens of stains and looks like it was never cleaned. Molding around the bath door pealing down to the bare wood with some apparent mold. Radiator heating either too hot or too cold. Plastic shower doors cracked. Shower doors did not seal and metal showed signs of corrosion. Outside business lights on all night but couldn’t close curtains as it would block heat. Desk is table with plastic chair. Tv w/controller but no list of available stations. Black scuff marks on the wall. No pictures but light spot on the wall where one had hung. Bed so soft that when I sat down it sank to about 1” from the mattress. Pillows were half full bags of fill. My bedding had a faint smell of smoke. Shower wand holder not tight to the wall so could not be controlled. Toilet seat attached on one side so it shifted back and forth (fix lasted one day). We came healthy but both became sick after 2nd night. Spent last 4 days in room and had to call on doctors and emergency team. Also heard coughing from the room next door. Would not refund unused days if we left early. We’ve been going to Europe every year since 2002 and this is the worst accommodation by far. This is not a 3 star hotel.

Posted by
16895 posts

I'm sorry to hear that you had so many issues combined in one experience. One would hope some issues could be resolved with better communication, but I'm not familiar with the property. Do they claim to be a 3-star hotel? I don't see that on their web site.

Posted by
28065 posts

That sounds really dreadful, Mike.

I wonder whether there's something going on with that hotel. I was curious about what the booking.com reviews said. Often folks highlight the very convenient location but have something negative to say about other aspects of the place--references to dirty carpets, etc.

It appears that booking.com isn't currently offering rooms at the hotel. I checked three random dates for a one-night stay then clicked on "Show dates with availability", and the site displayed a "There are no rooms available at this property" message.

Booking's rating is 7.9, which is not bad at all. I rarely stay in places with ratings that high, but I haven't had a dirty room over the course of 12 months in Europe in recent years.

Posted by
2733 posts

Wow! Sounds awful! Judging by your posts you've had a few buzzards (and I assume some bluebirds as well). So, how best to research hotels? We've had a few lemons, even on RS tours. Here, as a poster pointed out, the ratings on Booking.com are OK. But, if you read the comments there are many with similar issues as Mike found. So, is this "star inflation" we are seeing? Are consumer reviews at all reliable?

Posted by
176 posts

It’s the first hotel listed in the category “Elsewhere in Frankfurt” in the RS 2017 Germany guidebook. See page 440. It’s described in the guidebook as “quiet little 21-room oasis” “staff welcomes guests” “bright and cheerful”. There are a lot of good reviews on Trip Advisor but the negative reviews are mostly in concert with Mike’s experience.

I was considering this hotel for a trip earlier this year but I eliminated it after reading the Trip Advisor reviews.

Posted by
9219 posts

I just read through the reviews on TA for the last year and most of them were average to good, 5 & 4 star reviews. Only 2 complained about the bed as did you.

All hotels in Germany are smoke free, so not sure why you brought this up. All hotels have wifi, all you have to do is ask for the password though usually it is either on your bill or on the information flyer in your room. Not sure what graffiti and cracks on doors have to do with anything at all.

There aren't any English stations on TV here, so not sure what you were planning on watching. It isn't rocket science to scroll through the stations on a remote controll.

That you were sick sounds like something you brought with you and is no fault of the hotel. If you had travel insurance, surely this would have covered you leaving, though if you were so sick that a dr. and emergency team came, how could you have traveled? Again, this has nothing to do with the hotel and shouldn't be in your review about it.

I don't mean to be so down on this, but these are the type of bad reviews that I simply ignore because most of it isn't worthy of a complaint. Scuff marks on a wall? Light spot on a wall where a picture once was? Metal beginning to corrode? Hearing coughing from next door? Plastic chair and a table for a desk? As far as I am concerned, these are unserious complaints from someone who just likes to find something to complain about.

If you paid extra for early check in and it wasn't available, this would be a charge that should have been removed. Did they do this when you asked? Did you ask the front desk clerk about the TV or wifi? Did you complain about the smoke or ask for a different pillow? If you don't tell them in person, they don't have a chance to fix it right away.

This is a hotel that I often recommend and no one has ever said they didn't enjoy their stay there or that the staff wasn't helpful.

Posted by
33819 posts

This rant is a cut and paste of mike709's post on TA. I note that his review history there is 1 terrible, 4 poor, 3 average, 2 VG, and zero excellent, so 50% poor or terrible. Maybe Mike is just a glass-half-empty person.

You never returned to say how the traffic ticket went, Mike. How did things work out?

Posted by
9219 posts

Yeah, Mike seems to have nothing but bad luck in his hotel choices. Going back a decade now.