richardab

The trip will be in late February.

Ingo

Try this one:

http://www.classic-hotel-harmonie.de/

rkkwan

Four Points. Some dates, it's about US$134 on otel.com, all-in, including breakfast. Right outside the rear entrance of the Cologne Hbf.

otel.com is a Turkish company. You prepaid in USD, but is refundable before a certain set time.

ngodeia

Have you tried accorhotels.com? It should have several properties near the train station. It's a chain with several brands. It should meet your budget. I have not stayed with this chain in Cologne, but the rooms are fine in other cities.

WillTravel

Hotel Breslauer Hof am Dom

Right by the train station, and I really like it, but it's definitely not a deluxe hotel. We'll be going there for the fourth time in March.

Four Points, right across the street, is very good too, and except for the plain lobby comes close to US 4* standards.

DAX

On weekends the Hilton and Renaissance offer great value rooms. I prefer the Renaissance even though it's a bit further from the station, but it's on the better side of the station(west of the station). The railroad tracks form a long barrier and everything is on the west side of the station. I tend to stay at the Sofitel or Dom Hotel, but unfortunately their prices have gone beyond your budget due to the weak dollars otherwise I would highly recommend them.

I like Ingo's recommendation, it looks like a very nice B&B. I wished I had known it before as I never ventured north of the station.

Travelnut

We stayed at the Central am Dom hotel, about a block or 2 from the main train station (kitty-corner from the cathedral) in 2003.

Prices for late Feb show 66€ for a double..
http://www.centralamdom.de/

richardab

I will have to make a few departures from the train station but is this a decent area to stay if we also want to shop and go to a few restaurants? Where is the heart of Cologne?

DAX

The train station is at the northeastern border of the city center. Cologne old town is a crowded maze of shopping alleys starting from the Dom/Cathedral; just follow the commerce alley Hohestrasse all the way to Cacelienstrasse or make a right turn after Media Markt to follow Breitestrasse all the way to the Hohenzollern Ring. Restaurants are everywhere, one popular tourist restaurant is Frueh am Dom which is a brewery restaurant serving the famous Koelsch beer. The food is mediocre to me, but good enough to accompany beer. I prefer the traditional old german restaurant on Trankgasse which is the street in front of the station towards Renaissance. I think it's called Alt am Dom or something like it, it's just beyond the Excelsior Ernst Hotel facade with flags. Another good p[lace to find german food is at the Fischmarkt waterfront area. The Haxenhaus am Rhein is one good choice. There are plenty of nice cafes & restaurants along Breitestrasse where we would sometimes stop for cake & drinks.

hopscotch

I stayed at the Ibis right in the station. Comfortable and reasonable. It is part of the Accor Group I think, as mentioned by ngodeia.

Robespierre

Which train station? Köln has a half-dozen of them, and most are on main lines.

We stay at the <b>Best Western Premier Hotel Park Consul</b>, five minutes from the M&uuml;lheim Bahnhof, for about 80&euro; including a lavish breakfast buffet. I have never got better value for money than there. See their site: http://pckoeln.consul-hotels.com

On the first floor, you will find the best <i>Sauerbraten</i> and <i>Rahmschnizel</i> in the galaxy at http://www.gilden-brauhaus.de

DAX

Good point, but if you want to be in the heart of the city, stay close to the Koeln main station. All the ICE trains stop only either at the main station or Koeln Deutz (convention center) across the river. I prefer staying inside the old town by the main train station rather than by the convention center.

hopscotch

Looks like more confusing mischief from Robs: <i>Which train station? K&ouml;ln has a half-dozen of them, and most are on main lines.</i>

The train station is THE train station, Hbf, across the platz from the Dom. My room had a view of the Dom.

Robespierre

<i>Good point, but if you want to be in the heart of the city, stay close to the Koeln main station.</i>

Gee. What if you'd rather get better accommodations for less money?

<i>...more confusing mischief from Robs...</i>

Yes - anyone who has read my advice will attest to that allegation. Just one confusing, mischievous post after another.

DAX

If you're looking for an economy accomodation near the Haupbahnhof people would think of the Ibis in front of the main train station.
However if you want a better quality less expensive accomodation, check either one of the two modern CITY RESIDENCE hotels in the citycenter/oldtown, they both charge 79 euro for a double room at hrs.com, cheaper than the Best Western Park Consul far from the center(99eur for a double for late Feb). Hrs.com shows the map and pictures of all the rooms and exterior of these nice less expensive City Residence hotels.

Robespierre

One should not get the idea that I place minimizing price above all. I'm perfectly willing to pay &euro;200 for a &euro;300 or &euro;400 room - but not for a &euro;200 room.

There are cheap hotels near every city's center. But I don't want to sleep there.

travelgirl2

We stayed twice at the Hilton last year. A couple of blocks from the Dom and train station. We liked it.

One stay, it was expensive, so we used points for free rooms (we needed 2 rooms).

The second stay, it was very cheap, so we paid for the rooms.

The breakfast, included for us because of our Hilton Honors status, was a buffet and was excellent. We were trying to check in early on arrival, but couldn't get into the room until close to check-in time due to the hotel being full the night before, so they allowed us to have an extra free breakfast that day. They were very nice and accommodating.

richardab

This is where I booked...

http://www.hotelkoenigshof.com/

It had a decent rating on tripadisor and looked pretty good.

DAX

I've passed by Koenigshof, not a bad choice just 3 blocks away from City Class Europa hotel that I recommended. Hope you'll write a review of that hotel. Some of the reviews are not favorable, eg being charged for a new TV, or the Belgian traveler review.

Location and building wise, I would prefer the City Class Europa as it faces a quiet square and the major Cologne museum across the square. It faces the same square as the Sofitel am Dom that I've often stayed at. I remember being impresssed by the nice modern exterior thinking that I should check that hotel the next time I return to Cologne but never got around to till this thread. It's not on the tripadvisor review list at all, but you can see it on hrs.com.

noe847

We've also stayed at the Sofitel, DAX. The square is nice, but it was surprisingly inconvenient to get as far as the Sofitel (especially with the subway construction that was going on when we visited - I think it's supposed to be finished now) The Sofitel is on the other side of the Dom from the train station, and there is an elevated pedestrian plaza around the Dom. There were tons of people all over the downtown - we arrived on a Saturday late afternoon. Our suitcases were the small rollaboards but it was quite difficult to walk up and down the stairs, navigate the plaza and fight the crowds. We did really like the hotel, although it is not in this price range.