Clipper Boardinghouse - Hamburg-Michel

Room Features: Spacious rooms, even for the smallest booking option, with open kitchen areas equipped with microwave ovens, basic cookware like pots and pans, and dining facilities. Rooms include separate living and sleeping areas, and bathrooms are notably large.(based on 1 review)

We'd stayed at the Clipper Boarding House in Berlin and were looking forward to our stay in Hamburg. But someone in Hamburg seems to have decided that a smart lobby design (without human beings) is more important than customer service. On arrival, you are required to check in at a kiosk in the centre of the foyer area. To do this, you need to enter your booking registration number (not a piece of information that most people would have at hand) and your date of birth (though you have to enter it when another box is obscuring what you are entering). Inevitably, most people need to find their way to the office to seek assistance. This is also necessary if you are checking in before the prescribed 2pm time as your room may be available before then but the kiosk can only tell you that the rooms are available at 2pm. The apartments are spacious and comfortable, though already showing some signs of wear and tear. The windows open but there is some street noise. The kitchenette is very useful for preparing breakfast and hot drinks, and reheating food bought elsewhere. There is a supermarket close by. The Boarding House is in a great location in the Portuguese restaurant district, close to the Elbe cruise piers and the Elbphilharmonie, and within walking distance of the centre of Hamburg. You can also catch a train direct to/from the airport (approx 30 minute journey) from the nearby Landdungsbrucken S bahn station (NOT the nearby above ground U bahn station of the same name). Pay attention to the notices on the train arrival screen as you need to take the front carriages to get to the airport/flughafen. It's simpler than it sounds! Overall, we were disappointed in our stay, especially as the apartments were considerably more expensive than those at the Clipper Boarding House in Berlin.