Description: You never get a second chance to make a first impression. On that basis, I knew within the first two minutes of passing through the door of the Ramada Ubersee in Bremen that my review was not going to be a positive or flattering one. It was perhaps the way the receptionist smiled slyly and told me she didn’t have a reservation in my name that started my ‘antennae’ twitching. I spelled out my name carefully and gave her my booking reference. She tapped away at her keyboard, looked down her perfect nose and shook her head again. It was only when I opened my computer, pulled up the confirmation and showed it to her on the screen with exactly the same details I’d already given her that she eventually found my reservation. That should have been the end of the matter but the "Ah yes, I do have a reservation" was swiftly followed with "But…..your room was only guaranteed until 4 o’clock and we are fully booked so we don’t have a room for you".

It was ten thirty at night, there was snow on the ground and this idiot woman was telling me she’d given my room away.

I pointed out that the confirmation said "Cancellation Policy – 4 o’clock" and that meant that if I didn’t want the room, I had to tell the hotel by four. It didn’t mean they could cancel my booking if I turned up later. I also pointed out that the room was clearly guaranteed on my credit card. She looked at me with a face that suggested she was trying hard to fake pity. I stayed calm and polite but forceful. Eventually she picked up the phone to call a colleague in fast German. During the call her face went from a picture of twisted delight at the thought of putting me out in the snow to the slightly sheepish recognition that she’d made a major boo boo. Her customer was right, she was wrong and some how this fully booked hotel magically found a spare room.

I skulked off the lift with my room key clutched in my hand. With a nominal capacity of eight passengers, but close to full with four customers and their bags, this single lift had to serve a six floor hotel. Thankfully I must have been coming and going at unpopular times as I didn’t have any problems. When I got out of the lift and headed down the corridor to look for my room, I could smell a slight odour of old smoke. I thought that all German hotels were now non-smoking so that surprised me. My room had a non-smoking sign on the door but I put that down to nobody having bothered to refurbish the rooms in a very long time.

Whilst I was relieved to have a room I wasn’t much impressed by the room itself. I cannot rule out that my impressions were deeply affected by the nonsense I’d had to go through to get a room at all so I’ll try not to let my feelings get in the way of describing the room. It was a room which was entirely adequate but almost totally uninspiring. The first surprise was having a room with an old-fashioned lock and key rather than a card access system. My expectations were lowered when I saw the lock and realised it must be a long time since the room had been updated. Inside I found a room that was small for a double with barely enough room to get around the bed – two singles pushed together – without tripping over things. I was happy to spot a folding bag stand tucked behind the door and then realised that there was so little space that I struggled to find somewhere to put it without moving other things around.

The room had an ugly blue carpet with squiggles on it which didn’t go with anything else in the room. The curtains were in shades of brown and gold but didn’t tone with any of the colours in the carpet. A small desk was squeezed into a corner, an armchair and small coffee table also shoved into the available space. The television was a flat screen with the usual international news channels but nothing you could call ‘entertainment’. In contrast to the Ramada I normally use in Antwerp, there was no free Wi-Fi service although vouchers could be bought from reception for one hour, two hours or 24 hours. Whilst the rates were not expensive – 1€ for an hour, just 5€ for a day – I was not in any state to go back to the horrible receptionist and ask for a voucher. Good sized bedside tables were somewhat reduced in terms of usefulness by oversized bedside lamps. One thing I did like – and there weren’t too many – was the large central ceiling light which kept the room quite bright although I was surprised to see no desk lamp, though that wasn’t an issue as I didn’t use the desk.

The bed – thankfully – was very comfortable if a little on the soft side and the mini Toblerone bars on the pillows helped cheer me up a little.

The bathroom was small and black and white. It had a shower but no bath which was a shame but not a surprise. Aside from the shower – which was small and a bit oppressive – there was a sink and a toilet and a wall mounted hair dryer. The lighting in the bathroom was adequate.

Since I had my booking on a room only basis, I didn’t eat breakfast at the breakfast room on the third floor. Since I was angry at the way the hotel treated me, I was fairly determined to not give them any more money than I absolutely had to so I didn’t use the restaurant either. I ate quite a few of the delicious boiled sweets on the front desk though! Take that Ramada!

I stay often at the Ramada in Antwerp, Belgium. It’s a hotel I’m rather fond of although it’s improved a lot since they refurbished the rooms a year or two ago. It’s now very lovely and I’m a member of the loyalty scheme which includes the Ramada chain. When I had learned that all three of the Bremen hotels I would normally stay in were fully booked, I had a choice of several hotels which were either stupidly expensive or in places I didn’t know. There’s not much point in saving money on the room and then having to pay for taxis because you don’t know where you are. The Ramada was overpriced at €151 per night room only but was still better than the Hilton or the Swissotel but considerably more than I would normally pay. I chose the Ramada because I knew that I could take the tram to the hotel and to the office and that I could save on the breakfasts by picking something up on the way to work.

Despite all I disliked about this hotel, I cannot fault the location and I would recommend that anyone who wants to be in the heart of the old town should consider staying on this street – but not in the Ramada. Try the Hilton next door. The location is great. The market square with the UNESCO World Heritage Rathaus and the spectacular cathedral and dozens of gorgeous old buildings is just a minute’s walk from the hotel. Directly behind the hotel is the Boetcherstrasse, one of my favourite little streets with a couple of art museums and the Staev, my favourite local beer hall and restaurant and home of some excellent flamkuchen. Head down the street in the other direction and the waterfront area known as the Schlacte is one minute away. Two or three minutes on foot will bring you to the historic Schnoor district and there are tram stops in both directions – Kaiser Wilhelm Brucke and Domsheide - within two minutes walk. Even the railway station is only 10-15 minutes away, the exact time depending on how fast you walk and whether you behave like a German and wait for all the pedestrian crossings to signal that you can cross.

To be fair to the Ramada the two receptionists I saw on the second day of my stay were super-polite and pleasant. One merrily looked up my room number for me when I couldn’t find the card I’d been given and the other politely and cheerily took my money and checked me out. This could have been a three out of five experience but sadly, thanks to the horrible check-in, I cannot recommend the Ramada at all. I would not go back here if it was the only hotel in town with an available room.
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