The Holiday Inn Dresden am Zwinger is located just a few footsteps away from the Zwinger (former Royal palace) and City centre of Dresden. The building itself seems to have been a former socialist official building but has been renovated inside in a contemporary and inviting design. We were greeted in a business friendly way at check-in and assigned a twin bedded room on the fifth floor next to the elevator. The hotel also offers a small fitness in the basement and some conference rooms.

The Room

Upon entering the room I almost instantaneously walked into the bed, as the room was relatively small. However it was tastefully decorated in the contemporary design you could find throughout the hotel, with very comfortable beds and a good working WiFi connection. In the room you also had a desk with tea and coffee facilities, but no complimentary water bottles.

The Bathroom had a very nice and spacious shower with good water pressure and immediate very hot water. Both the main bathroom area and shower had large windows towards the street bathing them in sunlight. The contemporary design throughout the hotel has been implemented here as well, which however posed some issues. As the sink and counter have been very stylishly moulded into one piece this posed a problem as the sink clearly was suffering from wear and tear and showing some cracks which were gathering dirt that could not be cleaned by the housekeeping, giving a dirty impression. The other issue was the fact that the bathroom and bedroom where divided by a frosted glass door, but as the bathroom windows did not have window blinds this meant the bedroom was flooded with light as sun as the sun came up (not ideal for someone in need for a completely dark room for a good night of sleep). I was also slightly disappointed in that there were no small toiletries provided but instead some big “push” bottles with Dove bath & Shower gel, providing a bit of a cheap feeling, I would expect this in a Holiday Inn Express but not here.

The Bar and Breakfast

As I am a platinum IHG Rewards Club member, I was offered a complimentary welcome drink in the bar, with a choice of soft drinks, beer or house wine. The bar area was nicely decorated in a contemporary yet homely design. The person working the bar and restaurant was very friendly and handed us a nice glass of white house wine.

In the morning the same area was used for breakfast, with a side room opened as well to provide extra seating. The breakfast buffet was sufficiently big and varied to have options for everyone’s taste and likings. You had some warm offerings consisting of the typical items like scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms and sausages next to the cold offerings of cheeses, cold cuts, fish, fruits and vegetables.

All in all the Holiday Inn Dresden was exactly what you would expect from a Holiday Inn, clean and dependable but also not extraordinary.