Premier Inn Hamburg review: is this the best budget hotel in Hamburg?

The Premier Inn Hamburg is new to the city’s budget hotel scene, and one of the best places to stay in Hamburg. I stayed there just four months after it opened, and absolutely loved it. Here’s why the Premier Inn Hamburg is the best hotel option if you’re visiting Hamburg on a budget.

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The Premier Inn Hamburg is in an old office block, but you'd never know it once you're inside — The Premier Inn Hamburg is in an old office block, but you’d never know it once you’re inside

Price

Like most major cities, hotels in Hamburg can be expensive, even at the budget end. We’d originally planned to stay at the prizeotel Hamburg-St. Pauli, which is another budget hotel with great reviews, but four nights with breakfast was going to cost us 441 euro.

I found out by chance that Premier Inn had just opened a hotel in Hamburg and checked the prices. I was amazed to see that we could get four nights and breakfast for 316 euro, and when I looked at the location it was a no-brainer to switch.

Our room was a cut above Premier Inns in the UK

Location

The most important thing to me when choosing a hotel is always location. Because I work full-time, my annual leave days are precious, and I want to spend my time in a city exploring, not bussing it in from a far-flung hotel.

The Premier Inn Hamburg has a perfect location for visiting Hamburg. We could walk to almost all of the best things to do in Hamburg from the hotel:

Speicherstadt is just across a canal – maybe five minutes’ walk from the hotel’s front door.
The Elbphilharmonie concert hall is around 20 minutes’ walk through the Speicherstadt.
Miniatur Wunderland is around 15 minutes’ walk.
Jungfernstieg and the Alster lake are 10 minutes’ walk from the Premier Inn Hamburg.
Landungsbrücken, the Elbtunnel and St Pauli are also within walking distance – although we preferred to walk to Elbphilharmonie and take the number 72 ferry across to Landungsbrücken.
The Chocoversum chocolate museum is just across the street.

When you don’t want to walk, there’s a U-Bahn metro station literally outside the front door, and it’s a really useful one at that. Meßberg U-Bahn station is on the U1 line, two stops from Hamburg’s main station Hauptbahnhof and one stop from Jungfernstieg. From these two stations, you can go anywhere on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn network, including the airport. We found it easier to change at Jungfernstieg for our trips out to Altona, Landungsbrücken and going back to the airport for our flight home.

Meßberg U-bahn station is right outside the hotel (that's the hotel on the left) — Meßberg U-bahn station is right outside the hotel (that’s the hotel on the left)

In the evening there was no shortage of places to eat in the area. The Speicherstadt is a little bit dead after dark, but walking towards Jungfernstieg gives a lot more options. We really liked the vegan burgers and iPad service at Burgerlich, 6 minutes’ walk from the hotel.

Premier Inn Hamburg: the room

I’ve stayed in loads of Premier Inns in the UK, both for work and for holidays. It’s a reliable choice; there’s usually one near where I’ve needed to be, they’re always clean, and if you book far enough in advance, the prices are pretty decent. They’re also very comfortable, and although the prices are low, you aren’t really sacrificing anything important to get a cheap hotel.

The bed was comfy, and had USB power sockets on both sides - if only all hotels were like this! — The bed was comfy, and had USB power sockets on both sides – if only all hotels were like this!

A decent hairdryer *and* an illuminated mirror

That said, our room at the Premier Inn Hamburg was next-level compared to Premier Inns in the UK. The décor was a step up on the UK hotels’ purple scheme, with warm tartan touches and a comfy armchair for relaxing. The bed was dressed with crisp white duvets (one each – this is Germany after all!) and we both slept really well.

The bathroom was sparkling clean and the shower had really good pressure

All the things I really appreciate in hotels were there; great shower pressure, good aircon and plenty of plugs (including USB sockets right next to the bed). Even the hairdryer was decent and there were lights and plug sockets near the mirrors – no trying to do my makeup in a dark mirror or stretch my straighteners’ lead out across the room.

The best hotel room view in Hamburg

I’d read in reviews that rooms on the canal side of the Premier Inn Hamburg were quieter than the ones on the front, so that’s what I asked for at check-in. What I hadn’t expected was how amazing the views would be. Sitting in the large window, I had an incredible view of the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district and all the way down towards the Elbe, with the Elbphilharmonie in the distance.

The incredible view from our room at the Premier Inn Hamburg. I loved looking out across the Speicherstadt with the Elbphilharmonie in the distance

Waking up to this view every morning was pretty special

Maybe the lucky folks staying at the Westin luxury hotel underneath the Elbphilharmonie have a better view, but for the money, I really don’t think you can beat the vistas at the Premier Inn Hamburg. During our stay, I spent ages just gazing out of the window; it was just beautiful.

Breakfast at Premier Inn Hamburg

I love a hotel breakfast. For me it’s the best and the most budget-friendly way to fuel up for a day’s exploring. The breakfast buffet at Premier Inn Hamburg was pretty good; not quite up there with the best I’ve had (shout out to Charlotte Street hotel in London and Artagonist Hotel in Vilnius) but very decent.

If you eat meat then I suspect you’ll be very happy, but there wasn’t quite so much choice for vegetarians or vegans. That’s not to say that we didn’t manage to fill our bellies! Coffee was self-service from a machine but good and strong, and tea-lovers will be in heaven with a massive choice of interesting-looking brews.

Breakfast is served in the restaurant/bar area

Having breakfast at the Premier Inn Hamburg cost 9.90 euro per day, but I thought it was good value for a convenient option and a reasonable spread.

Bar, restaurant and Costa Coffee

If you’re peckish or thirsty during the day, there’s a Costa Coffee right next door. There’s also a large bar in the hotel with extremely comfortable sofas and lots of plug sockets, which we found very useful on our last day when we were waiting to go to the airport.

Just some of the extremely comfortable sofas in the bar

Service

Everyone we met at Premier Inn Hamburg was absolutely lovely. When we arrived, the lady on the reception desk went to extra effort to find us the best-possible room. At breakfast, all the food and drink choices were replenished whenever they needed to be, and tables were cleared quickly. We also had warm, friendly service in the bar. We never met any of the housekeeping staff but our room was perfectly clean every afternoon when we returned. On our last day, we had a late flight home and the team on the reception desk were very happy to store our bags for us in a secure room.

The Premier Inn Hamburg only opened in February 2019, and the carpets still smell new

Premier Inn Hamburg review: overall

There are very few points where I could fault the Premier Inn Hamburg. Perhaps there could have been more vegetarian options at breakfast, and maybe the hairdryer could be a tiny bit more powerful, but these are really minor niggles. The fact that I’m struggling to find issues just goes to show how good this hotel is. With that location, that level of comfort and such warm service, all at a frankly incredible price for a major German city, I don’t think the Premier Inn Hamburg can be beaten for a budget stay in Hamburg.