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

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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.

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

(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:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

…. 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:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

and

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

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:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

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:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

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:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

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:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

and

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

and

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

…. 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:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

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

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

Down in the lobby you have the Latitude coffee shop:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

…. 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.

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

I never got to the pool either:

Review: Le Meridien Hamburg hotel

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.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

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.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

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.)

Comments (12)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • TimM says:

    All decor and furnishings are very much on-trend (except the down lights which are very difficult/expensive to remove).

    To me, a hotel room is what it is and one gets accustomed to it and its view very quickly. The ongoing experience, which lingers, is down to service levels, food and the personalities of the staff and fellow guests one encounters. I know this site likes to concentrate on the number of square inches of bum room on a plane but a hotel room, is, if acceptable, a hotel room. The experience of a hotel is far more.

    Forensic detail is much appreciated among hotel nerds such as myself but it only tells 10% of the experience.

    • YC says:

      Agree – A free £2000 hotel stay is almost always more memorable/important (for me) than a £2000 flight. Down to the overall amount of time spent in the hotel vs flight and how it shapes your overall holiday experience

  • tw33ty says:

    The meridian is a nice hotel, I’ve got a long term stay coming up again in Hamburg and meridian isn’t available for the whole stay, so it’s either the renaissance, the Marriott or the courtyard.

    I’m torn between the renaissance and the Marriott going on location, with them both being so close, but also the Marriott has lounge, but looks dated. While the renaissance looks fresher but has no lounge. And the courtyard being a bit further out.

    Anyone been to either of these properties?

    Any

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Why not so two hotels if it’s a long stay?

      • tw33ty says:

        40% off the Long term stay price of staying at one is the reason to stay at one.

    • HAM76 says:

      There are two Courtyards in Hamburg. The one at the airport has been renovated last year, but really is a far away unless you need to be around the airport or City-Nord.

  • Bagoly says:

    Energy (heating) conservation is likely to lead to window/wall ratio becoming even smaller – some new/renovated houses in central Europe have really small windows.
    Whether the architects have used valid assumptions in the calculations about how much, and for how long, people then have lights on more, is an interesting question.

  • Nick says:

    Were your family with you, and did they like it?

  • Gagravarr says:

    I believe the free coffee and museum voucher is part of the Le Meridien brand standard, so always worth checking for in a LM! Can be a bit random what museum or gallery you get, but sometimes it’s a gem

  • Lady London says:

    Does this shake your loyalty for the Hyatt?

  • Will says:

    Just back from st Regis Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi, booked a base room on points (cash rate was £300 a night) used a suite night award and was confirmed a 1 bed suite which would have been £1k a night.

    The SNA’s although not guaranteed are a very valuable part of the Marriott program.

  • s says:

    Not to brag but I stayed in Marriott Swindon over the weekend used SNA to confirm an upgrade to a suite.. its all about the small wins 🙂

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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