During a trip to attend the Photokina in Köln, I was booked into the Hotel Stadtpalais by the…read moremarketing manager of my employer. It is a kindness for which I don't know that I shall ever be able to fully repay her. Knowing nothing about it but having made many previous trips to Germany, I thought I knew what to expect from any hotel in its class; however from the moment I first entered the doors to the last time I left them to head for the train station, I was treated to a level of hospitality I have rarely found anywhere else in the world. The staff is delightful! From Jadwiga at the front desk who answered every question I had with a warm and charming smile to Timon in the intimate Bio's Bar who served up many of my suppers after long days on my feet, every person working at this hotel is exactly who you would want to be working there, doing exactly what they do. The rooms are a bit larger than the standard German business class hotel. Spotlessly clean, tastefully decorated, and supremely comfortable, they also have the benefit of being sound-proof like none I have found anywhere else (a quality they proved unquestionably well during the evening of my arrival when a concert by Justin Bieber was being held directly across the street at the Laxness Arena). The Bibliotek restaurant serves as both breakfast room and evening dining room. The food is delicious and served with the utmost care and skill. Then there is the sauna. Just thinking about this subterranean Xanadu makes me long to return! Words cannot do justice to the paradise that awaits you on the second basement floor of the hotel - although since first experiencing it I have employed "magical," transporting," and "exquisite." Try it for yourself and tell me I'm wrong - but rather than doing so I know you'll thank me instead.