3
Nong Pla -
7 months ago
I have mixed feelings about The Wellem based on our stay earlier this month. I find it incredible that this hotel used to be a Hyatt House only one year ago considering the grandiose public areas and the premium location in the old town of Düsseldorf. I tend to think of Hyatt House as pretty boring cookie-cutter hotels in suburbs, not historical buildings in the middle of a city, so the brand choice seemed to have been terrible but thankfully they fixed their previous mistake. The strong point of The Wellem is that it’s nice to have an upscale hotel with facilities to wash clothes during a road trip and have a couple of days of home-style cooking – this is not so common at that level of hardware quality. Since the brand change The Wellem tries to be luxury and it does very well in some regards but I think it’s very hard to change from long-stay property to luxury, so some less than ideal features will remain and the hotel falls short of luxury.
I received an upgrade as Globalist guest to the “Balcony Business Suite” which based on the pictures it seems to be exactly the same room as I booked except with the balcony as an addition. Having a balcony in January was close to useless and I challenged at check-in whether the regular Globalist room upgrade was really only +1 room category (with negligible cash value) and they stuck to their guns despite the fact that I voiced my opinion that at the risk of sounding ungrateful, it was one of the most insignificant upgrade I have received in recent memory at any Hyatt property, in times of low occupancy when all room types are wide open. Normally the Hyatt chain is one of the most generous for upgrades to elite guests of their loyalty program.
Anyway, the hardware of the room itself was quite nice and residential feel, I loved the hardwood floors and everything was functional with a fully stocked kitchen. The problem of is that some parts were a bit cramped for example the bed extended all the way to the wall, and the bathroom was clearly the weak point as we had to squeak by to get in and the shower was a reminder of its Hyatt House roots with a brittle door and glass wall. The air conditioning was disconnected for the winter and the room was very hot so we had to sleep with the patio door open.
One reason this property will struggle to ever be luxury is the entire setup which is like an apartment building complex. Our room was looking straight into the room of other guests in front due to the shape of the building and we could see inside their room so privacy was questionable. Also many units are occupied by people who own their apartment and live there full time, or they also have the option of letting the hotel rent their room when they are away. I have seen this sort of arrangement in resorts sometimes, but for a city hotel which prices itself at the luxury level in my humble opinion it is not an ideal match.
Breakfast was relatively good and included Prosecco for a touch of luxury, the restaurant looked great and was an attractive venue. Service for a la carte egg dishes was quite slow however, and at the buffet the scrambled eggs were often empty with slow refills as well.
The room service menu was poor – bar snacks only – and for regular meals we had to go to the restaurant which was not our preference given the omicron wave. Thankfully with a full kitchen we had a good alternative but the inferior room service was another feature falling short of luxury.
Overall I cannot say our stay was poor value, I guess for people looking for a hotel with full amenities such as a kitchen and a washing machine, The Wellem can be a good choice. However for true luxury, I would note that the former Capella hotel which recently joined the Small Luxury Hotels chain (Braidenbacher Hof Hotel) is arguably a much nicer hotel and the cash differential is not huge. The Wellem might be pricing itself above its league.
