Despite doing business in Frankfurt, I chose to stay at this hotel because all the hotels in Frankfurt were either full or extremely overpriced (there was a car convention in town). Darmstadt is only 20 mins by car or by train from Frankfurt so it is a good place to know about if you cannot get into a Frankfurt hotel.
The hotel itself is located perfectly for train services as it is right at the main train station. It is a brand new build and the furnishings in the hotel are nice. When I checked in, I was on my way to my room within a matter of minutes and the staff at the front desk were very chatty and pleasant. Do they really care if you have had a good journey to Darmstadt? Probably not, but they make you feel welcome which is lovely.
My room was on the 1st floor (if you are in North America, that means the 2nd) and overlooked the car park. No great views there but I arrived when it was dark so it wasn’t as if I would be peering out of the window anyway. The room was ok, not overly spacious, but typically German in the sense that it was functional. What I didn’t appreciate was the fact that the hotel chain seems to err on the side of thrift when offering its guests what they need. What do I mean by that? Well, there was only one pillow on the bed and no further ones in the closet. Only one single duvet for a double bed and again not further blankets in the closet. Only one bath towel and one hand towel in the bathroom, again no further towls were to be found in the room. The soap and shampoo were in those awful dispenser bottles which may as well have “industrial-strength” or “cheap” written on them for that is the impression you get from them. There was no individual items at all really. No body lotion, no face cloth, no sign saying that if you had forgotten any toiletry item such as a toothbrush or razor that reception would be there to help you out. In fact, the only sign in the bathroom is of the emotional blackmail kind asking you to hang your towel back up when you are finished so that we can save the environment from huge laundry bills. Well, at €150 a night when I stayed there, I felt as if I had been short-changed.
The TV was of the flat plasma kind and the wireless internet (charge €14.50 for 24 hours) was fast (the hotel uses MyCloud as the provider). The bed was not the most comfortable and the bed linens did not feel like cotton to me. I am guessing that theirs is a blend of polyester and cotton. Despite that, I slept reasonably well and managed to have a hot shower to wake me up and get me on my way the next day.
I chose not to have breakfast as I opted for another 30 minutes in bed, so I cannot comment on their service.
The question I always ask is whether I would ever return to Darmstadt to stay there. The answer is probably not. If I did, would I opt for the Intercity Hotel? Perhaps not. While the build is new and looks nice and while the staff are full of smiles and “may I help you?”, the room itself was just not worth the money I paid.