Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel – my first big win from a Marriott ‘Suite Night Award’

This is my review of Le Meridien Hamburg hotel. The hotel website is here.

The reason I am covering this hotel is that – 18 months after I first received some Marriott ‘Suite Night Award’ certificates – I finally managed to get a decent result from using one.

It’s not Bonvoy’s fault, of course. I got my Suite Night Awards as an Annual Choice Benefit back in October 2020. This clearly wasn’t the best time to be travelling but luckily Marriott continued to extend them.

(This article, also published today, explains how Marriott’s Annual Choice Benefits work and which ones are the most valuable. You receive one at 50 nights and one at 75 nights.)

I used my first one at Courtyard London Gatwick Airport last month. It wasn’t the best place to burn a Suite Night Award but I have five expiring in June 2022 and it made sense to use one. I got a Junior Suite, as my review shows, and it was fine.

Le Meridien Hamburg was a different story altogether. This is what I got:

…. which wasn’t a bad deal for €205.

I have to admit that I was little cheeky. Marriott has two hotels overlooking the Alster in Hamburg – Hotel Atlantic, part of Autograph Collection, and Le Meridien. They are literally seconds apart and a modest stroll from the railway station. I booked a cancellable room at both and waited to see whether my Suite Night Awards would clear at five days before arrival.

In the end, both cleared at a very high level. As Le Meridien has been refurbished recently and is generally funkier than Hotel Atlantic I decided to settle with that.

The Prestige Lake Suite at Le Meridien Hamburg

One problem with booking a suite at a hotel is that there are not many of them. If you turn up early and the room has not been cleaned, or the previous occupant has a guaranteed late check-out due to status, you’re stuck.

I turned up at 12.30 and the suite was not ready. I ended up having to wait until nearly 2pm, but I was given some vouchers for the coffee bar in the lobby and did some work on their communal hot desking table. I would only have been working in the room if it had been ready so it didn’t make any real difference.

This is what you get in the Prestige Lake Suite for, in my case, €205.

A huge living room with a separate dining table:

and

On the other side of the room, a rather too imposing black unit that contained the TV, coffee machine and minibar. This is a PR shot which I’m sure uses additional artificial light:

If you’ve ever stayed in a German hotel you’ll know that they love to keep the rooms dark. This suite was no exception. The biggest issue in the living area was that the windows – which directly overlook the Alster – were not actually that big given the width of the room.

You can’t complain when you hop out on the balcony thouugh:

The bedroom was a lot more successful – a great bed, huge amounts of wardrobe space and a window with balcony which ran the full width:

It’s worth checking the folder of leaflets left on the bed, as it includes a voucher for a free coffee in the coffee shop in the lobby, as well as a ticket for free entry to one of the Hamburg museums.

The bathroom was a good size too:

and

and

…. with Malin + Goetz toiletries, in large bottles which you couldn’t take with you.

My stay was a short one so I didn’t check out the bar or eat in the main restaurant. Here’s a PR shot of the skyline bar:

I did have breakfast in the restaurant, and if you’re lucky you can get a table overlooking the water:

Down in the lobby you have the Latitude coffee shop:

…. as well as a lot of seating and, almost invisible in my picture, a long table set up for hot desk working, including wireless telephone charging pads.

I never got to the pool either:

Whilst this isn’t meant to be an in-depth review, I was happy with my brief stay and it was fun to rattle around in such a huge suite for the night. It certainly wasn’t a waste of a Marriott Bonvoy Suite Night Award.

If you want to learn more about Bonvoy’s ‘Annual Choice Benefit’ and whether the Suite Night Award is the best option for you, click here to read our other article today.

You can find out more about Le Meridien Hamburg, and book, on the hotel website here.

PS. If you are pushing for Annual Choice Benefit at 50 nights or 75 nights, you’d be crazy not to get the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 15 elite night credits, not just this year but for every year that you keep the card. This is 30% of your annual target for Platinum Elite status.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (January 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)