In early May I spent a long weekend in Hamburg, a city of nearly 2 million people in northern Germany. I was taken aback by just how much I loved it there and how vibrant Hamburg is – how had I not heard more about the city beforehand?! I quickly found out that Hamburg ticks all the boxes for a great weekend city break: a perfectly-sized city centre for exploring on foot or by bike; a historic old town; a waterfront (and even a beach!); a great restaurant scene; a chilled bohemian district (St Pauli), a cool architecture district (Hafencity) and a smarter district too (around the Alster lakes). Before I get into the detail of my Weekend Guide to Hamburg – watch out for that coming soon – I want to write about our accommodation in Hamburg.

Where we stayed

We spent 3 nights at the 3* Heikotel Am Stadtpark (the website is in German but Google can auto-translate it). It’s a modern hotel of 46 rooms located in Winterhude district in the north-east of the city and just south of the city’s main park, Stadtpark, which is known as the “green lung”. Staying in this area, away from the main tourist draws, was a great excuse to see this side of Hamburg life and felt like a more authentic and local experience. The nearest S-bahn and U-bahn stations are Saarlandstrasse and Barmbek and it takes between 25 minutes to reach the centre. If you cycle though, it only takes 20 minutes and the route takes you through a beautiful and leafy residential area of to-die-for houses, then along the two very scenic Alster lakes. Another great reason to choose this location is its proximity to Hamburg’s airport (just 25 minutes by metro) which makes getting there for a quick weekend away a piece of cake.

The hotel room

The hotel was built in 2011 so has a clean and modern design and atmosphere. Rooms start from £66 per night (c. €75) which is a good affordable price for Hamburg, and we stayed in a 25m² Superior Double Room overlooking a quiet green courtyard. Being quite new, the room has all the mod-cons: truly excellent beds, mood lighting, a well-stocked mini-bar, a great bathroom, satellite TV, a small gym, and we quickly felt at home.

The breakfast

The true highlight of this hotel in my opinion was its incredible breakfast! The continental buffet was stocked full of German breads, hams and cold meats, cereals, pastries and fruits (and even sparkling wine), and each day the hotel’s breakfast properly set me up for the day’s exploring ahead. It felt so healthy, nutritious and energising compared to my usual London weekend staple of eggs and bacon. We covered a lot of ground during our time in Hamburg and managed to see a huge number of sights and explore different parts of the city, so we really did welcome the extra energy boost.

Overall verdict

Heikotel am Stadtpark was perfect for my weekend exploring Hamburg with my mother. It’s clean, modern, spacious and located in a pretty part of the city. It has a relaxed and happy atmosphere, but is perhaps better suited for certain types of trip. If you’re looking to spend most of your time out-and-about exploring with family or friends then it’s an ideal base. If you’re looking for a romantic luxury hotel for a couple’s weekend away, then you might want a sightly smaller boutique hotel with a more intimate and exclusive feel. Likewise, if you want to be in the centre of the action for all-night partying in St Pauli and the Reeperbahn, then you might want to look for something more central.

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In short, Heikotel am Stadtpark was the perfect base for our weekend trip to Hamburg, and it has a fantastic breakfast to boot! The hospitality of the staff was also wonderful and they were always keen to help. A big thank you to Heikotel and to the Come To Hamburg campaign for inviting us and hosting our stay at Heikotel am Stadtpark.

Look out my guide to Hamburg blog post coming soon and check out all the blog posts on Come To Hamburg for more tips!