Our family booked a last-minute escape from the Netherlands to check out Bonn, Germany and landed at the Hilton Bonn for its Central location and beautiful location by the Rhine River.  Beethoven is this city’s beloved citizen, which is also along the romantic Rhine River, perfect for castle exploring by foot and on water.

Family Friendliness

The Hilton Bonn offered some familiarity that hotel chains normally do with the added benefit of having connecting rooms as an option for our family of four.  We discovered the generous spread of the buffet breakfast during our stay in the  Hilton Rotterdam earlier this month.  Little details we loved were a children’s play area within the breakfast room and a great pool area in the hotel.  Upon check-in, the kids’ rooms had bedside treats of Haribo Gummy Bears.

Location

The location of the Hilton Bonn was easy to access from the Autobahn and is right on the Rhine River.  This was perfect as the main reason for our stay was to take a cruise down the Rhine to explore some castles (stay tuned for a trip review of our activities!).  The boats were launching directly across from the hotel, and we were within walking distance to many other places like Beethoven House, the main Platz, and Parks (plus Beer Gardens!).

Rooms

Despite our last-minute booking (literally the night before!), we were able to secure connecting rooms with Twin Beds in one room and a King Bed in the other.  This is perfect to be able to put the kids to bed and not sit in the dark and quiet until they fall asleep.  Upon check-in, we discovered that our connecting door was broken, but the Hilton Bonn staff quickly remedied that by changing our rooms and we got a spectacular upgrade!  We ended up staying in a Junior Suite with views of the Rhine, which was more than enough space on its own.  But they also had a connecting suite, and it ended up being one of the most spacious rooms I have seen in Europe!

Services & Facilities

Our stay included seamless check-in and on-site parking in a secured underground parking area.  We were unsure if we would take advantage of the buffet breakfast each day but ended up loving the spread so would recommend selecting the breakfast option when making your booking.  Our kids loved the Hilton Bonn’s indoor pool which was open late, and with the sun setting so late gave us some extra resources to burn off the energy after dinner before bed.

Food and Drink

One tip I would suggest when booking is to include the Breakfast at the time of booking! We would have saved 5 Euros per adult and made arriving for breakfast easier as they keep a list of all rooms that had the breakfast pre-selected.  The Breakfast itself was 25 Euro per adult and kids under 12 were free.  We are also Hilton Honor members, so I would ensure you are signed up prior to your stay as you earn points as well!
The buffet had every breakfast imaginable!  Our kids loved the juice selection, and the oversized jar of Nutella with a pump to spread on the pancakes.  For the parents, there were plenty of hot and cold breakfast options, and lots of healthy choices.  They even had a cold-pressed juicer to create your beverage of choice.
We opted to explore at night for dinner but the Hilton Bonn has a beautiful outdoor terrace restaurant perfect for summer evenings.  Our kids loved the outdoor patio space (I think they felt fancy!) and we returned after dinner in the main Platz for a nightcap, where the kids could select some ice cream and us parents grabbed a glass of wine.  We enjoyed the river views of the Rhine on the warm summer nights with the late sunsets.

Value for Money

We were really happy with the value of our stay considering our complimentary upgrade and the kids eating free for breakfast.  We paid 25 Euro per adult for breakfast each day, and kids under 12 ate free.  The dinner at the Hilton Bonn Grill we felt was average for a hotel dining option but opted to wander elsewhere for our meals to save a little money.  Parking at the hotel was 25 Euro per night and did not need to be booked in advance.  We did end up booking with the hotel directly due to some limitations with our Canadian Mastercard and were able to gain a bit of a discount on the parking for some additional savings.

Booking information

As mentioned we did book directly through the Hilton Bonn hotel, and as Hilton Honors members we get a discount for booking direct.  You can also shop around and check out sites like Expedia as well!

Hilton Bonn

Berliner Freiheit 2
Bonn, 53111, Germany