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TRIP REPORT – Into Germany, Novum Hotel Rieker Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof

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The joy of German Immigration, Into Stuttgart and the Novum Hotel Rieker Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
To Stuttgart and Schwabisch Hall

Stuttgart -Recaro trip report header

In this trip report:

The joy of German Immigration. And Construction work

With our aircraft parked up, I descended the stairs to the waiting bus.

a group of vehicles parked on a tarmac

a man standing in a bus

a plane in the air

Of course, you can bet this was a few hundred-metre drive from the aircraft to the terminal. Thankfully, it was a short ride to the terminal (no more than a minute).

Then we get to German immigration.

a group of people walking through a glass door
Mein Gott. 

Due to the UK loving its Blue Passports and other jingoistic crap that keeps some Etonians in a constant wet dream (and in the Houses of Parliament), UK Visitors now have to queue up in the “any other countries lane”. In theory, this is fine.

However, it seems that our late flight plus another had filled the immigration hall at Stuttgart Terminal 3, overloading the four border agents who were processing people into Germany.

And that queue wasn’t going down, to put it mildly, as more flights lined up behind us.

German Immigration was pretty strict, with them expecting COVID vaccination status, your arrivals document code and where you are staying (with these things evidenced).

With the agent satisfied with my answers, I heard a sound I haven’t heard when I’ve travelled Europe – the sound of a passport stamp being made.

I was allowed to proceed and continue my business in Germany – with no further questions or conditions.

a hallway with people walking in the back
To luggage claim 

From here, I cleared baggage and the customs checkpoint. I had finally made it to Germany.

a sign in a building

After a quick trip to the airport Edeka to pick up some dinner, it was time to play “get into town”.

a storefront with signs and a sign on the wall a display of food on shelves
Leaves for dinner? Why not?

Me being cheap as always – I opted for the S-Bhan route into town.

people on an escalator with a mask on
Down we go. 

a sign on a window
I don’t need to translate this, do I? 

Of course, that was a terrible idea, as there was engineering work going on between Vaihingen and Stuttgart Hbf. I just didn’t realise it until looking at the map.

Thankfully at Vaihingen, there’s a connection to different U-Bahn lines. I took U1 into the city, where the S-Bahn acts as a pre-metro operation outside the centre, turning into a U-Bhan when it hits the city tunnels.

a yellow bus on a sidewalk
U1 

Of course, travelling at night brings its local colour. Such is the joy of travel.

people walking in a subway station
Another transfer

a yellow train at a train station
And out we go. 

Another change later, I popped out of the Hauptbahnhof station and switched to Google maps for the short walk to the Hotel Novum Hotel Rieker Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof – my crash pad for the night.

a building with a barrier and orange light

a sign on a window

 Hotel Novum Hotel Rieker

I entered the hotel and checked in with reception. I was welcomed and instructed to fill in the paperwork.

a black and white rug on a wood floor
All the safety tape

a counter with a clear screen in front of a yellow and black tape
Reception

a room with a door and a plant
Reception area

There was some confusion about my identity as I filled in the paperwork (my scrawl gets worse, never better), but eventually, I was checked in. I was directed to a room on the 2nd floor – which would be my crash-pad for the night.

I was also given a physical key. Why do I always get worried when I’m given a physical key to a hotel room?

a key on a carpet
These worry me. 

I went up the stairs and through the corridors, passing the maroon/pink carpeting. This was looking worse than the £41 I paid for it.

a hallway with a fire extinguisher
Egads.

I finally got to my room. And went in.

a backpack on a desk in a room
Hallway/

I was greeted with a hallway area of an odd shape, and the bathroom to my left. And then there’s the bedroom area.

a bathroom with a sink and shower curtain

Ohhhhhh dearrrrrrr.

a bed with a lamp and a table
I wish the duvet was after I touched it. It wasn’t It was thrown there like that. 

a small room with a desk and a bed
Yeah…

a bed with a desk and chair
Even a panorama of this room does it not justice. 

It seems the 80s checked in and has yet to check out of the room. There were limited power outlets in the room with a desk area and window you could open. WHich was brilliant because the air conditioner was loud at best, ineffective at worst. Put it like this, I was happier falling asleep to the sound and smells of Stuttgart coming through the window.

The bed, whilst firm, I was half scared of. Mainly due to the care, the duvet had been placed.

Seriously? Who leaves a duvet like that??? I’ve seen worse at halls of residence – and I stayed in those!

Even the mini-bar had given up and run away long ago.

a shelf with a hole in it
No minibar for you. 

Eventually, the exhaustion of the day caught up with me. I had my salad for dinner that I picked up Edeka and slowly fell asleep.

a bag of candy next to a camera
Dinner of champions

I woke up semi-refreshed and made use of the bathroom – which was thankfully clean enough compared to the state of the room.

a bed and desk in a room
It’s not much of an improvement this mess is. 

With time ticking on, and me needing to be in a different place – I dressed up for the day and headed out.

a door in a hallway
This was a good direction at this point of the game. 

Overall

There are very few places where I’ll put the words “Never again” on. This is one of them.

The place whilst nice on the outside and reception was run down and urgently needs a full refresh to drag it into the 21st centrally, let alone the 2020s. As for the state of bedmaking…. well.

I’m honestly not sure if it was made. Or not.

Next: Off to Schwabisch Hall and qubixx stattemitte Hotel.

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Comments

  1. DaninMCI says

    Nice review. The hotel room reminds me of a jail cell or flophouse. Wow.