2022.12 German Christmas Markets (Part 8)

2022.12 German Christmas Markets (Part 8) – Hilton Dresden

Centrally located, this is an excellent hotel for our one night stay in Dresden. Next door to the start of Christmas Markets, we maximized our little time in this city.

Location

This hotel is central. So central that following the car rental’s GPS took us down a road that was blocked due as the Frauenkirche Christmas Market. It was hilarious as when we stopped, blocked by barriers and a few stalls, we were maybe 100 to 200 meters away from the hotel entrance. Security was helpful because they showed Little Miss on her phone the route to drive around to the opposite side of the hotel. A few minutes later we in the hotel’s parking garage parking for the night.

Check-in

The parking garage is directly connected to the hotel, and once up to the main floor, we entered into a busy lobby. There were a couple reasons for the hustle and bustle. First, Hilton Dresden is large, and occupies almost an entire city block. Next, it has several restaurants and cafés where you can enter them from both the hotel and street. Finally, and obviously being right beside a Christmas market, people were milling around, waiting for others in their group before heading out into the evening.

Fortunately, check-in was not busy. One guest was ahead of us and our turn came soon enough. The clerk explained to us, confirming that parking could be added to our bill, skipping the requirement to find a machine before leaving. Breakfast details were shared, and to bury the lead, we were upgraded to a room on the executive floor (A perk of status with Hilton). We were informed that the contents of the mini-bar were complimentary and further details about amenities were in the room.

Room

Our assigned room was up on fifth floor. Upon exiting we were in a large elevator lobby area that had glass to separate it from the hallway.

It was obvious that this hotel was not recently constructed. The first hint was that the elevator installation date indicated it was built less than a year after the Berlin wall fell. The upside of being an older hotel was that the room was spacious. Upon entry our room looked like this:

Immediately to the right was the bathroom. The fixtures were from a Swedish brand that I had never heard of before.

The bathtub was opposite the sink and counter.

The most important thing to know about this hotel, is that the bathroom floor is NOT the same level as the rest of the hotel room. Even though I noticed, I still managed to attempt to forcibly remove a few toes later in the evening. The step is obvious:

The contents of the mini-bar was generous for our single night stay. I was able to soldier through the beer and after a taste test, Little Miss challenged me to have the wine. The complimentary mini-bar was because of a lack of executive lounge. Other Hilton brand hotels that have an executive lounge typically provide a space to work or relax along with complimentary beverages, and snacks. From the fridge the only item we left was the Red Bull. No energy drink needed for us.

The rest of the room was straight forward. The TV was on top of the cabinet that held the mini-bar, glasses and kettle.

Also, I thought the pattern of the carpet was of doughnuts. She disagreed.

The bed was comfortable, and we were able to open the window to help cool the room down so that the room was tolerable. Honestly, this being the third hotel stay during this trip, we joked to each other “Why is 24C expected to be a good temperature to sleep in?”. We are accustomed to a much cooler space to be able to sleep comfortably.

I didn’t get a picture of the wardrobe that was beside the bed. Another item I liked about this room was the slope of the roof as we were at the top of the building.

We had arrived early enough in the evening that we weren’t yet hungry for dinner. So, we got changed, put on the provided robes and went to the health and fitness area to go for a swim.

Access to the Health and Fitness is through a different elevator as this area is in the center of the hotel. No pictures from the area, however the pool was a decent size and the gym was pretty large with lots of cardio equipment and weight machines. The pool was refreshing (chilly) and after a short swim we returned, changed and headed outside for the evening to take in the Christmas Market.

The following morning I took this picture from our window. We had an interior facing room, this helped to keep our room quiet overnight, and the skylights below is the location of the health and fitness club.

Breakfast

A buffet breakfast was served from the large dining area on the main floor just past the check-in desk, and around this large Christmas tree.

The buffet was busy, but that didn’t slow anything down as we were swiftly seated. The space had the buffet in the center of the area with tables radiating out from it. This was the first time I came across a hotel that had a bread basket beside their spread of buns, and bread. (Enjoy the feature picture a second time)

The spread was decent and we both had plenty to eat for our breakfast. Here is a gallery of the food available from the buffet:

Although it was busy, the crowd did thin out as we arrived closer to 9am.

After breakfast we packed everything up and headed for the car. From the parking level it’s evident that the door to the hotel’s elevators have seen some use.

He’s an idea why large SUVs aren’t taking over Germany at the same rate as North America — parking spots aren’t large. At least I was parked in my spot, and could still get to the driver’s side door.