REVIEW | Le Méridien Stuttgart

July 2022. As a teacher, Steve has the possibility to do a bigger trip in the school summer break. I don’t, or rarely do. After The Hague in 2020 and Utrecht in 2021, we decided to go to Germany for a now more or less traditional three-day weekend in July. Our eye fell on Stuttgart, in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

We stayed two nights in Stuttgart. We booked a ‘Superior Classic’ room at Le Méridien Stuttgart with city view. But we mainly booked Le Méridien for having a pool, a wellness and a spa area.

Introduction

Situated in what must be a 90s building, the Le Méridien Stuttgart is a convention centre hotel, aiming at business travellers. It’s a large hotels with many rooms, a pool and wellness area, a gym and meeting rooms.

The welcoming was friendly and the receptionist had humor. She gave a lot of information regarding opening hours of this and that. Maybe a bit too much information to process. But we would find all information in the room’s hotel directory… or would we.

Anyway, we were happy the room was ready early so we could drop our bags, freshen up and go to the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

The room

Is the room is large with a large bed. Steve and I could have fitted a twink in the middle easily. There is a more than decent desk which has a view on the door. Very office like. Steve claimed that spot immediately. He felt like a character from ‘Dallas‘. I thought he looked like film producer or casting director.

A nice bathroom with mirrors everywhere, a bath and soap and shampoo dispensers instead of little bottles, as is becoming the norm. There was no blow-dryer. A little card said to look in the room closet but none to be found.

So there was obviously a closet. Two bathrobes and two pairs of slippers. An ironing board and and an iron. A sofa. A television. An empty, but working fridge.

No tea and coffee making facilities, which we missed to be honest. Also no directory with hotel information. Instead there was a QR code linking to the hotel website. Not as practical.

The room was nice and practical, but not cosy. Business-oriented and very German. There could have been a few more power outlets and it’s time to install USB outlets.

The air conditioning worked nicely. There was a master switch for power and you didn’t need to put a card in to have light.

The pool wellness and spa area

The pool, wellness, spa and gym are located in the basement, on -1. It’s a vast area. The cellar is divided in two floors. The upper floor contains the gym, a bar and some seats and some massaging rooms. There are also toilets.

Downstairs is the ‘wet area’ so take off your ‘outside shoes’. There is the large pool, the spa, the sauna facilities, showers and more massage rooms.

There are a lot of lounge beds and chairs. More than usual at a hotel pool. If I remember well, I counted a seat or bed for fifteen people in total. The pool is large enough to have an actual swim and the hot tub was nicely hot.

The sauna area has a 60 and a 90 degree Celsius sauna, a – closed – steam room and an infrared box. The lounge beds there can be heated. The saunas are to be used naked – FKK in Germany, right – but not everyone seemed to do that.

Opening times where okay. The sauna a whirlpool only opened at 10 AM on Monday, but at 8 AM in the weekend.

The gym

I’d rate the gym ‘medium’ compared to other hotel gyms. Not really large and not that many options, but the essential work-out tools and machines where there. The gym was open 24 hours which is great.

Why do other hotel gyms close? I’m sure you can clean it during off-peak hours.

We used both the gym and the wellness area quite a lot. So we enjoyed it.

Breakfast

I always have high expectations of breakfast in German four to five hotels. Germans are good at hotel breakfast. Le Méridien met expectations. Nothing surprising, but decent.

What is on offer?

Bread and pastries.
Cereals and granola.
Yoghurts, several milk options and such.
English breakfast options.
A staffed egg station.
Hummus options.
Juices
Coffee, tea, hot chocolate.
Water.
Sekt on Sunday.
Different types of honey in a cute dispenser.
Fruit and vegetables.

So yes, everything you like and need.

And thus?

It’s time Le Méridien management starts meetings about renovating and refurbishing. Nothing too urgent, but in the next five to ten years some areas of the hotels will be outdated.

But the facilities are good. Nice room, great wellness area. A breakfast meeting expectations. WiFi was quick and easy. So even if we weren’t especially charmed or surprised, we had an enjoyable stay at Le Méridien Stuttgart.