thinking about a weekend break to Cologne christmas market with my boyfriend, and his parents (we live in the UK).

Friday to Sunday.

can anyone recommend a hotel?

What price range do you want? How nice a hotel? We found the Hotel Breslauer Hof to be very convenient and perfectly adequate, with a good breakfast. It depends if you want luxury or not, though. We got a good rate through Laterooms.com .

This was not in December, so the prices might be much different then.

I have stayed at least a couple of times at the Sofitel Mondial which is right next to the christmas market. The room prices are really reasonable, room quality is luxurious however on the small side. It's not a problem when I stayed for trade shows by myself. The breakfast buffet is also better than average, nice ambiance/service and great food quality. http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/fiche...he_hotel.shtml

Le Meridien is another luxury hotel that's right next to the christmas market, nice bigger rooms with higher rates.

Just across the street towards the train station is Hotel Excelsior Ernst which is a nice upscale hotel. I booked it through the www.hrs.com which included breakfast and free minibar however the standard room I got was very plain, but the superior rooms and junior suites are supposed to be impressive.

The Hilton by the train station will probably give you a better value (price/quality ratio) but I've never been inside. It's just across the street from the Dom and the christmas market is just on the other side of the Dom.

thanks for the insight...

the hilton & sofitel look good. my boyfriend's parents are slight cheapskapes.... def under £100/night per room.

is cologne a good choice for a weekend christmas market break? looking for a mix of city/markets. i've been to cologne several times on business and always wanted to stay more.

would you recommend munich or dresden over cologne?