Into Germany The IBIS Budget, Hamburg St Pauli/Repherbahn
Exploring the latest in passenger experience… in a rush.
- Planning is Overrated. Other People’s Plans, Doubly So
- Flixing over to London and the joy of the Elizabeth Line
- British Airways North and South lounges
- BA974 London Heathrow to Hamburg Airport (Club Europe)
- Into Hamburg, The IBIS Budget, Hamburg St Pauli/Repherbahn
- When technology goes wrong…
- Stuff you might have missed from AIX 2024
- Back to Hamburg Airport and the Hamburg Airport lounge
- BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow (Club Europe)
- To the Late-Night Coach
- Desk Rabbit Life
I headed off the A321neo and up the airbridge, and off into Hamburg.
The resting neo
Turning right, there would be a long walk to the immigration hall, negotiating the Non-Schengen Zone where flights were boarding.
Tum tee tum.
Heading to immigration there thankfully were minimal queues. Some gentle probing and my passport was stamped.
Exiting towards the baggage claim, the belt warmed up, with bags being delivered very promptly – no more than 20 minutes from landing.
My bag took around 5 minutes to appear, with the AirTag chirping happily away when it came into range – even though the battery needed a change.
Bag in hand, it was time to head to the S-Bahn out of the airport.
Unless there’s a good reason (such as the phone running out of juice), for travel in the Hamburg region (and the AB zones), I stick to the HVV app to purchase and activate tickets.
And yes, it’s a great place to use PayPal for tickets too. It’s good for using balances of currencies and not directly hurting your bank balance.
It also offers a 7% discount on a cash ticket – and as we all know, every penny counts in the final equation. By the time I had hit purchase, I was out of the luggage pickup area and on the escalator to the train.
This has the advantage of skipping past the people trying to figure out the ticket vending machines.
I did have to put a scoot on, as the S-Bahn train was set to go. I therefore scooted at speed onto the train, with the doors closing behind me.
This service was operating as how I’ve experienced it before – three cars between the Airport and Ohlsdorf, with an additional three cars joining to make a six-car service to Hamburg and beyond.
The journey is not what I would call “fast”, but passable. I was planning to cheat and skip going via the Hauptbahnhof, but the northern part of the U3 line was closed for refurbishment work – with a bus taking 20 to 40 minutes extra.
I live with Rail Replacement bus services enough in the UK – I didn’t need one this weekend.
Things were fine until the train arrived at Berliner Tor, where the train arrived on the platform and stopped. And was then held as there was an issue ahead. Thankfully Berliner Tor has a connection to U3 and my final destination – so in theory, I just had to navigate my way around the station, switch from S to U-Bahn and things should be good.
I made the jump out of the train and headed to the U-Bahn.
Boarding the U-Bahn, I found a spot on the train and parked up against it. Immediately, I went ass over tit into someone as the train set off with a jerk and knocked me off balance, adding some lovely bruises on my arm, sore fingers and damaged pride.
At least I was in the right part of the train for a quick exit when I reached St Pauli – some small benefit.
Getting off the train at St Pauli, I went into full autopilot mode to the station exit – there are two exits – one near the Reeperbahn, and one nearer the site of the Dom Fair (when it’s in town).
I’ve tended to go to the Reeperbahn side, mainly as there’s a lift there (which is good when the knee refuses to cooperate with stairs or when you have luggage first thing in the morning)
From here, it was time to cross the road and make the familiar trek to the Ibis Budget St Pauli.
Ibis Budget St Pauli (near the Reeperbahn)
Price paid €494/£425.92 (fronted on Curve)
If anyone moans about why I didn’t pay on a miles-earning card and used a fronted card, it’s simple – the cost of the miles doesn’t add up versus the cost of saving exchange rate fees.
I rocked up at reception and was seen to quickly. Thankfully there wasn’t much paperwork to do. Just the usual “sign here” and insert your credit card to pay for the stay.
I was asked if I wanted to pay for breakfast for the stay- I declined. With my habit of waking up late, grabbing a Freenow and heading to a tradeshow, it’s not worth it.
Especially when one can survive on trade show coffee.
With the formalities complete, I was given a white plastic room card and sent on my way.
I headed to the 4th floor and was happy to find that I had a room facing the street (as opposed to the one that faces homes in a courtyard).
In reception there’s also a vending machine, ciggerate machine and a coffee machine.
As well as some decommissioned internet booths
Let’s be honest- you know exactly what you’re booking here, the comfort levels, the lot. And that’s why I choose a place like the Ibis budget – it’s a consistent experience – nothing more, nothing less.
Going into the room, I had my surprise at the hotel – the room I had did not have a bunk bed.
I’m… mixed on this if I’m honest. I don’t appreciate it when I bump my head in the middle of the night -so that’s a good thing. The bad thing is that there is less hanging space for stuff.
I’ll chalk it up to a “meh” at this point.
The floor is a mixture of laminate floor and easy-wipe Lino. Again, at this price level, I’m not in a position to argue for a budget hotel. If I wanted carpet, I could have paid £100 for the hotel next door.
Carpeting and some points aren’t worth £100 in my book.
Moving onto the bed, it’s…. passable. A mattress with a topper is a nice touch, so it has both softness and firmness. However, those layers did increase the sweating.
And sweat I did, as the air conditioning system is akin to an asthmatic gnat, wheezing with all its might.
Thankfully, the hotel has a “German” style window. What do I mean by that?
With the handle In the down position, it’s closed. When you turn the handle turned 90 degrees, the window opens fully (intruding into the room, but opening a lot of airflow). Closing the window and turning the handle to 180 degrees from its starting point will allow the window to open from the top and open at a small angle.
It’s unfamiliar for those who don’t use it – but in hotels like this where aircon is more than an afterthought, it helps cool a room down rapidly.
As for the TV, it’s a big chunk of an LG TV- better than the small ones they used to have. It contained mostly German programming (as expected), with some other European channels, as well as Sky News International.
Think of the Sky U.K. feed, with different adverts and lots of weather – that’s Sky News International.
Although ARD still offers Ceefax. That would please some intergalactic parliamentary contenders
The bathroom is… the second smallest part of the room, with its own door, and clean, with the traditional twin-style flush. The smallest part of the room was the shower, with its usual frosted glass.
Excuse the idiot in the photo
Amenities were limited with pump things for washing, bathing, etc. It’s fine when you just need to be clean and don’t want to travel with their own amenities (and I’ve long gone down that line).
Breakfast was offered at this Ibis Budget at £13.50 a day. It’s a continental-style breakfast…. And it’s not worth it unless I’ve got the time. Considering I’m normally fighting to get out of the hotel in time for a meeting (and run late – let’s be honest), I can’t see the value in the breakfast any more – I can do better with a bakery on the way… or conference show-floor coffee.
Because conference show-floor coffee tastes passable, at least first thing in the morning.
Unlike the last visit, there was no fire alarm, so I managed some pretty solid night’s sleep, as well as hours of editing at the end of the day.
Check-out was simple enough – a case of handing in my key card and having reception confirm which room I was in.
Overall
Basic is as basic doesn’t and the Ibis Budget does basic well. It’s very much a case of “you know what you signed up for and you know what you’re going to get.”
The only major quibble for this trip was the pricing of the room. It only went one way, with the Wednesday night stay costing £138 alone.
Compare that with the first two nights which were just over that price.
Next year, I’ve been given some hints – so I might be in new digs next year. But you never know, sometimes having a fixed base like the Ibis Budget work well for me.
We will have to see how creative I get next year.
Next:
When a Macbook Pro refuses to accept a changed password. What chaos follows?
Hint: It’s more than I’d like.
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