25hours hotel hafencity hamburg Jack Tar's Home

A rather modest little brick building stands amidst Hamburg's Überseequartier – this is the 25hours hotel hafencity. But before I could even ask myself whether there is actually a veritable Design-Hotel behind this low-key facade, I enter the door and think: “I see!”

The big lobby is so inviting that I could just linger around for hours – there's a certain kind of naval charm to it, throughout the entire hotel: bulky containers, industrial storage racks, mixed with comfortable leather armchairs and stacks of oriental rugs. It's a place for Jack Tars and Mermaids to dream of home.

The 25hours concept is to adapt each of their hotels to their location and follow a site-specific motto. For this marine hotel the makers went for a concoction of the culturally rich warehouse district and the highly modern HafenCity. Clever as I thought, since the mixture of industrial and nautical makes for a living atmosphere that will even attract landsmen.

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The way to your bunk is guided by floor marks and ship lamps that take up the seaside theme. In the rooms you'll find anchor motifs on the walls, a refurbished bureau that once was a wooden marine box, including a mini bar (that says 'Being thirsty is worse than being homesick' on top) and a Jacob's ladder that looks like it came straight from a ship's hold. Before I sank onto my bed, I grabbed the log book and roamed through the stories of past sailors and the hotel's secret tips for the city.

Sustenance is provided by the hotel's own HEIMAT kitchen and bar, German for 'home'. The cuisine is regional with an international twist, and they always manage to serve it a little bit different from what you were expecting. Of course we also tried the breakfast in the morning and were really excited about the wide variety and all the options there were. The only that did not quite fit the whole concept were Bavarian veal sausages – however, that didn't change the fact that they were mouth-watering.

Julia Buhk

Guest Author Hamburg