Osnabruck Homestays

This would once have been a reasonably decent business hotel, but sadly cheese-paring of the operating costs has left this place a 2-star establishment operating in the shell of a 4-star building. The plus points - it's well-located, easy to find, parking is directly underneath, staff are friendly by German hospitality standards, and the restaurant terrace is pleasant in the summer sun. It's also clean and well-maintained on the surface. Now the negatives - while the ambience is still business-guys-in-suits, the room facilities are distinctly Ibis Budget-standard. There's no tea & coffee equipment, the fridges have been removed, the toiletries are dispensers refilled with the cheapest Costco gunk, and the towels are thin to the point of transparency with the all the absorbency of plastic sheeting. None of which would be an issues if this *was* an Ibis Budget, but it's not charging Ibis Budget prices. And while I'm on a roll, the food & drink prices in the bar are outrageous, there's no gym, and the in-room wifi doesn't work - the system isn't configured properly, so the connections fail with lots of errors being displayed. I know, I know - first world problems, go and buy a coffee in the bar, haven't you got a mobile phone etc etc, But this is all purely due to operational cost-cutting - the housekeeping budget has obviously been slashed to ribbons post-Corona, and skimping on the towels is saving on the cashflow. It's all got the feel of something run by private equity ghouls who are busy extracting every last cent of profit before it all goes bankrupt. Frankly on a price-comparison basis, you'd be better booking the Ibis Budget down the road. The experience will be exactly the same, and you'll walk away €40 a night better off.

Being a frequent traveller, I generally rate hotels according to how well they are managed, how practical and easy things are, how reliable the hotel is. It is then slightly less important whether the breakfast is splendid or whether the color scheme, say, is according to my taste. Judged from that pragmatic perspective, this hotel is absolutely terrible. I arrived late at night for a brief stopover. In fact, I left the train precisely to have a short night in Osnabrück, before continuing the journey. The location of the hotel is not ideal, but I made it there. But when I arrived, they told me they had miscalculated the rooms, and that they would not have a room. This happens (even though it already clashes with the criteria above). To add insult to injury, I did not get a message beforehand. I had done the booking via a common third party website, and all messages I got were on parking facilities and other details. Not a single mentioning that there was plainly no room. They offered me a place in a different hotel in a different part of town, but this I could not accept, and I had to make an entirely new booking. That night was short. I will surely not set my foot into this hotel again, and will recommend you to do the same.