HotelChatter

The rooms: We checked out both a standard room and a Capella room, like a junior suite. Surprisingly, all 95 rooms and suites share many of the best elements like a free non-alcoholic minibar, a desk outfitted with small office supplies, a small entryway that makes your room feel apartment-like, and a huge bathroom with separate toilet/bidet and mosaic shower stalls, plus a whirlpool tub and a mirror with embedded television.

The rooms begins at 250 Euro and 580 Euro per night respectively, and they include use of a personal assistant (score!) and the living room just inside the lobby, for guests only and perfect for having tea or grabbing a cappuccino at the (free) refreshment bar.

The location: This is hugely important for a hotel, and especially in a city like Düsseldorf, which has such a small city center that you've kind of got to be in it to really appreciate the city by just walking around. The Breidenbacher Hof sits on a block bordered on one side by Düsseldorf's version of 5th Avenue, called the Königsallee, and on the other by a city square with a gazebo for live music on days with nice weather.

We actually went straight to the airport from the hotel, and since Düsseldorf's airport is so nice and close, it only took us 15 minutes and 15 Euro.

The Amenities: Of course it's got a nice fitness center and a restaurant and an appropriately moody bar, but it's the extras that really count. Behind said moody bar (which won the Glenfiddich Award as Bar of the Year 2009) is a cigar lounge, complete with walk-in humidor. And if you're not into the fitness center, the Breidenbacher Hof is known for their Beauty Lounge with La Mer treatments and an entire luxury perfume store.

But seriously, Breidenbacher Hof offers those free little extras (like the WiFi, minibar and personal assistant) that should be present in every other five-star hotel, considering the prices you pay. Put your shoes outside your room door at night, and they'll return in the morning, cleaned and polished up for free. And we're pretty sure that they'll even do a reasonable amount of your laundry and dry cleaning.

Who Stays Here: Guests in the past include big names like Russian Czar Alexander II, but since those days, the hotel has been ultra discreet about its clientele. You can bet for sure that the top politicians, CEOs, and international celebrities call at least a Capella Suite their temporary homes, but Breidenbacher Hof is also making a name for itself in Medical Tourism.

Want to come in from the Middle East for a quick nose job by German doctors? No problem! Or maybe go for the big time with a whole necessary surgery and then follow up with a stay at the Breidenbacher and a cruise down the Rhine? That too can be easily arranged. It's actually kind of ridiculous how much stuff can come easily to you with the Breidenbacher Hof hook-up, making it well worth the extra Euros and any embarrassment over pronunciation of the hotel's name.

Disclosure: We were in Germany thanks to Lufthansa, but all views expressed here are our own

[All photos: HotelChatter]