Apartment Alt-Refrath

Everything was perfect!

Nothing.

Very nice apartment with all necessary supplies for a comfortable stay. It is only 20 min from Cologne city center by train. Very convenient located with a bakkery on the ground level.

Unfortunately, the smoke smell from the corridor gets into the living room.

- It was the second time we had stayed here (a couple), this time end of May 2023 for 4 nights. - It is easy to find and access, and there is an option to use a lock box for keys - which we did because we arrived after a full-day drive from the UK at night. - We were able to communicate with the host (Tim) by WhatsApp on our way to the apartment. He sent photos and instructions for opening the lockbox. - Although there is no designated parking place for this apartment we were able to find free parking nearby. In front of the apartment, it is possible to park for an hour for free on weekdays. You can find a parking clock in the apartment to put in your car. You can park for free on bank holidays without a time limit. - The apartment was clean as if new. - I liked the flexibility of using the living room for sleep when needed (we don't always sleep well), - we have found the sofabed comfortable. - It was important to us that the bedroom has a proper door which it did. I took photos of the other doors or if there aren't any like between the kitchen and the living room. - It was important to us to hang up our long festive garments. You will see what solution we used in the photo. - We have found the mattresses in the bedroom comfortable. - The bedroom window faces the courtyard, so calm and the temperature is cool even if the other half of the apartment warms up by the sunshine. - I'm sensitive to perfume and air freshener (artificial scent) so I asked the host in advance to wash the bedding with fragrance-free laundry liquid and conditioner which they did. They even put fragrance-free hand soap in the bathroom and washing-up liquid in the kitchen which I really appreciated. - I asked for a few things additionally like an ironing board and Tim provided everything very quickly. - I like that there is a dishwasher and at least a small freezer in the kitchen (the freezer is a part of the fridge). We were able to freeze our cooling elements for our cooling box.

There wasn't anything significant, but I would like to mention some, which might be interesting to consider: - There is a bakery below the apartment. They bake their goods in the early morning hours which is a pleasant smell (if you like it) and you can smell it in the bedroom if you leave the windows open during the night. - I realised that washing the bedding with fragrance-free laundry liquid, unfortunately, doesn't eliminate the previous perfume. It does decrease it though so it helped me fall asleep. Also, because of the warm temperature we could keep the windows open and it was helpful too. I experimented with eliminating the perfume from my nightdress and other clothes. It seems the most efficient way is exposure to sunshine. - If you consider using the living room for sleep: there is a lot of traffic in the street, even in late night hours and in the early morning. If you can keep the windows closed it will help. But if you need to keep them open because that part of the apartment warms up during the day, then you need to be a good sleeper to ignore the noise outside.

The apartment was nice and clean. Excellent location for Carnival, near transport links to Cologne via tram, or bus. Handy bakery and Kiosk below.