Last summer I packed my hand-luggage and jumped on a train to Manchester airport. I downloaded a mystery boarding pass to my phone and discovered that I was heading for a surprise trip to Cologne.
This trip really was a surprise. It was arranged by the fab folk over at WowTrip who specialise in surprise holidays around Europe. I must point out that the trip was kindly gifted to myself and a bunch of other bloggers who took part in Monica’s Blogger Course.
![](https://www.prettygreentea.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Wowtrip-The-Blogger-Course-1024x768.png)
You can find out more about WowTrip, what they offer and what we got up to during our stay in Cologne in my full review.
Today I want to tell you about the hotel we stayed in and share my room tour video – you can find the video at the start of this post or over on my YouTube channel.
![Holiday inn Express Cologne](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4858/46093905821_71692ca3c9_b.jpg)
Accommodation is an important part of travel for me. I like to be in a central location with a clean, comfortable, safe and modern hotel. WowTrip guarantee a central hotel with a 3* or 4* rating. For the price you pay for the trip I think this is really good.
We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express. It’s just ’round the corner from the Old Town and a quick walk to the nearest U-bhan. An excellent location for exploring Cologne.
![My room at Cologne Holiday Inn Express](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4909/45182183925_fca4b9fb29_b.jpg)
The hotel had recently been refurbished and was very modern. My bedroom and bathroom were clean and the bed was very comfortable (perfect for those early days of pregnancy).
I was pleased to find lots of plug sockets around the room and particularly near the bed. I think this is essential in a modern hotel.
![Hotel key card](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4830/31154810837_8be2cfe691_b.jpg)
The hotel and location both felt safe. I like that you have to have a keycard to activate the lift. I’ve stayed with Holiday Inn a few times now (my review of the one in Berlin) and they always feel safe and secure.
The continental breakfast buffet was included with our stay. This was just a standard breakfast, nothing too exciting. However, I was pleased it was included as part of our WowTrip. It’s always nice to be able to grab a coffee and croissant before heading out for the day.
I was very happy with our hotel for the trip. It ticked all the boxes, especially as it was all arranged as part of a surprise.
If you have any questions about the hotel feel free to leave them below and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.