Hôtels MARITIM à Dresde

I researched Dresden hotels in advance of our New Year city break, and the Maritim seemed to tick the right boxes for our stay. Very happy to be able to report in this review that the hotel lived up to expectations. It is a large, modern hotel (around 15 years old, after the remodelling of an early C19 warehouse) on the edge of the central Aldstadt - only a 10 minute walk away from many of the city’s main attractions. It has been beautifully designed around a large central atrium, with hotel rooms on either side. We chose a cheaper city-side room as we wanted to see the city skyline, and were allocated a 7th floor room (I requested an upper floor). There was not too much noise from the road outside over the NY period, and the double-glazing was good. We did have the window open a lot of the time, however, as the room felt stuffy, and the heating controls didn’t seem to work that well. So we kept the aircon off for most of our stay. Only sometimes overnight did it get too hot. Germany had a mild spell over NY; we felt very lucky to have such good, dry weather, but this also would have had an impact on the central heating, and our experience of the heating controls. Our room was a basic twin - very spacious, tastefully decorated and in an excellent state of repair. The lighting options were more than ample, with lovely soft, warm lamps. Wardrobe space was generous, and the beds were comfortable. The bathroom was also well appointed, with a separate toilet/bidet area and also a bathtub. There was ample space for toiletries, a large radiator for drying towels, and a good flow of hot and cold water. The only thing missing - in my view - was an iron and board, nor any possibility of getting one delivered to the room. Guests with ironing had to go down to the business centre (of all places) where there was one at our disposal. So not impossible, but somewhat inconvenient. The hotel encouraged us to forgo daily room servicing, which we did on some occasions, but thankfully getting the room serviced on the days we did choose it was - delightfully- never a problem (in my experience, it can sometimes be difficult to get your room serviced when you want it, particularly in more recent years, when there are fewer chamber staff). Breakfast was also delightful. The New Year period was very busy at this hotel, so sometimes we found it challenging to find a table, but once we had, the breakfast experience was excellent. The restaurant was spacious and nicely decorated, and there was an incredible choice of food and drink - hot and cold. Enough choice for any taste I would have thought. We also used the restaurant for dinner: the meal was great, though the ambience for dinner was a little bit wanting, in my view. The Piano Bar was a nice location for a pre-dinner or late night drink - always good service too. On that topic, I didn’t find the demeanour of the reception staff particularly friendly - yes, efficient, but not much warmth in general. The fit