SIDE Design Hotel, Hamburg, Germany 🇩🇪 – lots of design & a little bit of a 90s feel

SIDE Design Hotel thrives on its urban spirit: stylish and right in the thick of things. Not everything is perfect – breakfast can get a bit hectic at times, and the design seems a little dated in places – but it is precisely this mixture of glamour and rough edges that makes a stay here that exciting. Read our review to find out why we can still recommend this hotel.

Review #85

All hotels listed on our website and YouTube channel – and many more besides – can now be booked directly through us. In many cases, you can enjoy additional benefits such as upgrades, breakfast or hotel credit at no extra cost.

SIDE Design Hotel currently offers the following benefits:

• Welcome gift

• Complimentary full breakfast daily for up to two guests

• Free basic Wi-Fi every day

• Priority for a room upgrade – subject to availability

• Early check-in/late check-out – subject to availability

• For rooms: £50 credit for the in-house restaurant (m)eatery

• For suites: Sweet Kiss Treatment – a bottle of champagne and fresh strawberries in your room

In any case, your booking supports us and – together with the other EVRYWHRE crew members – helps us to continue our work and provide you with exciting flight and hotel reviews. A small portion of the booking price remains with us as commission – without you paying a penny more for your stay.

Location

SIDE Design Hotel is located right where Hamburg’s heart beats – between Alster lake, Jungfernstieg and the designer boutiques on Neuer Wall. It couldn’t be more central. Gänsemarkt underground station and Dammtor long-distance train station are just around the corner. From here, you can be at the river Elbe, in Speicherstadt or at your next appointment in Schanze district within minutes. Whether you’re looking for city vibes, a business trip or a weekend getaway, the location is premium.

Getting there

If you are arriving by plane, you can reach the hotel from Hamburg Airport in just over half an hour – relax in a taxi or Uber. You can also take the S-Bahn or U-Bahn directly to the hotel. From the airport, it takes about 40 minutes with one change, and from the main train station, it’s just a few minutes on the U2 to Gänsemarkt, then around the corner and you’re there. Are you travelling by car? No problem – there is an underground car park directly beneath the hotel. 

We actually arrived at the airport and went from there by S-Bahn and U-Bahn and walked the last short distance on foot.

Check-in

As we arrived at the hotel, there was no one waiting at the door to help with our luggage. We found our way to reception (very easily!) on our own. Check-in was very pleasant and well organised. We were greeted warmly as Bonvoy Titanium members and given lots of information about the hotel. We were also told that we had been upgraded to a better room due to us Booking the Preferred Partner Rate and our status. The employee noticed right away that we had a 50 euro restaurant credit, so she asked us if she ought to make a reservation for that evening. Great, right?! After settling everything for dinner we then went to our room on our own.

SIDE Design Hotel at a glance

SIDE Design Hotel is an urban Hotel located in the city centre – right on Gänsemarkt. It extends over 11 floors and offers clear, modern architecture with a 28-metre-high atrium, stylish rooms with functional design from the third floor upwards, and ten spacious suites with views of Hamburg on the top floors 10 and 11. Guests can enjoy culinary delights at the [m]eatery steak restaurant and the Botanist Bar on the ground floor. The basement houses the spa area with a pool, sauna, steam bath and gym – ideal for short breaks. A Sky Lounge with a roof terrace on the 8th floor is available for events and meetings.

Room / Suite

As already mentioned, we were upgraded from our booked Deluxe Room to a Junior Suite – although we couldn’t find this designation on the website and think that the room category Executive Room would actually be correct.

Room No. 315 is therefore our home for this one night.

Welcome

As we checked into our room, there was already a welcome letter and a sweet surprise waiting for us. We had received the voucher for the 50 euro restaurant credit at reception.

Entrance

Upon entering the room, you will find yourself in a hallway with a built-in wardrobe on the left. There you will find bathrobes, everything you need if you want to send clothes to the dry cleaners, and the safe. Continuing straight ahead, the hallway widens and there you will also find a luggage rack.

Hidden in another wall cupboard is the kitchenette with a minibar. In fact, you could really cook some easy and small dishes here if you wanted to. Otherwise, there is a coffee machine with crockery and pads available for free use. The small fridge offers soft drinks and juices as well as beer and sweets.

Living room and bedroom

Straight ahead is a table with two chairs, which can be used as a dining table or desk. All the necessary connections you would need for working are also located here. 

There is a television in front of the bed, and in the back corner between the bed and the window there is an armchair with a small table in front of another somewhat strangely empty wall cupboard – was this where the minibar used to be? What do you think?

The king-size bed consists of two mattresses and offers both sleepers each two pillows in different sizes and degrees of firmness. In addition, there is a decorative pillow for each, and each sleeper even has their own duvet! The bedside tables don’t offer much except for a wall lamp, charging options and light switches. The remote control is on the left and the telephone on the right hand side.

Bathroom

The rather futuristic-looking bathroom offers a rather large amount of space, but feels mostly cold and uncomfortable. So if you like glass and cool looks, you’ll definitely love the design. Unfortunately, however, there is nothing such as feel-good atmosphere here. 

The room is designed as a walk-through room and can be accessed from the hallway and also from the bedroom. You can close the room at both ends with sliding glass doors. The washbasin is built into a niche and has one sink only. There you will also find Natura Bissé soap and body lotion, as well as some amenities stored inside a small box.

Unfortunately, the buttons for turning the water on and off at the sink are round and smooth – try turning on taps like that with soapy fingers… I’ll just say: good luck! 😉

The shower cubicle is more like a spaceship and somehow felt claustrophobic to me – I can’t really say why. It’s not really any smaller than other showers. Of course, shampoo, body wash and conditioner are provided for your use.

Opposite the washbasin is a built-in bathtub, and the toilet is separated from the actual bathroom by another sliding door and can also be used from the hallway.

View

The view from the SIDE Design Hotel is not particularly spectacular (except from the roof terrace or the floors above). You can see the quiet street in front of the hotel and the building opposite.

Hotel activities

Pool

The pool in the basement is actually not that small, and you can definitely swim here. There is also a slightly elevated whirlpool. A small handful of loungers are available for you to use, or you can relax on cushions in small alcoves. All in all, it’s very colourful and vibrant, but to be honest, not really that inviting so you would necessarily want to spend a long time here.

Fitness Center

The small room offers basic equipment for a simple workout. However, you should not expect a lot of space or equipment here. Fortunately, towels and cold drinks are provided.

Spa

The spa at SIDE Design Hotel consists of a single treatment room offering classic massages. The area also features a sauna and steam bath.

Special features

The Sky Lounge on the 8th floor of SIDE Design Hotel can be hired for events and offers a colourful and lively indoor area, as well as a truly beautiful and spacious terrace with fantastic views over Hamburg. Unfortunately, however, only the outdoor area of the event space is used as a smoking area during normal business hours. To me that’s a real shame!

The hotel also offers the option of hiring bicycles on site to explore the surrounding area.

Restaurants

(m)eatery

The in-house Steakhouse lives up to its name and offers almost exclusively meat dishes. You can enjoy a delicious dinner here in an exclusive atmosphere. Thanks to our Preferred Partner Rate booking, we had a 50 euro credit, which we used for a really yummy dinner.

Botanist Bar

The bar is connected to the restaurant on the ground floor and is located directly next to the lobby. Set slightly lower, the small room offers an intimate atmosphere for hotel guests and bar lovers, serving ‘unusual drinks made from spices and herbs from the garden’.

Breakfast

SIDE Design Hotel serves breakfast in its own restaurant and adjoining bar. The bar is used as an overflow area, which was sorely needed on the morning of our stay, at least.

Breakfast is served from 6:30/7:00 a.m. Monday to Friday until 11:00 a.m. and, wonderfully, until 1:00 p.m. on weekends. This great offer is very popular, but it is obvious that this arrangement was born out of necessity, as there is simply not enough space in the hotel to serve all breakfast guests. We didn’t arrive quite that late, around 10:30, and had to queue up, only to wait another 10 minutes for a table for two. Even later, around 11:30, the restaurant and bar area was still completely packed.

Almost all food and drinks are offered at the small buffet, but there are also selected dishes freshly prepared from a small menu. These and hot drinks are ordered and served at your table.

Check-out

Check-out at reception was very quick and friendly. As we had already paid for our stay upon check-in, we only had to settle the bill for dinner.

Costs

For this one night in July 2025 at SIDE Design Hotel, we paid 245 Euro for the lowest room category. The upgrade and breakfast, as well as the 50 Euro credit, were included due to the Design Hotels Collective Rate we booked.

Departure and onward journey

For us, it was straight back to our home airport in Frankfurt. We arrived at Hamburg Airport rather quick by U-Bahn and S-Bahn and, after a quick baggage drop, were able to still relax at the Hamburg Airport Lounge for a while.

Conclusion

SIDE Design Hotel is stylish, but a little rough around the edges. You can tell that design and function once went hand in hand here – even if both could do with a little update here and there. But still: the location is great and the team is friendly.

The atmosphere is urban and lively, but sometimes almost too much so – especially at breakfast, when a relaxed start to the day turns into a bit of a battle for a table.

Nevertheless, we can recommend a stay here for all guest groups. Those who like design will feel particularly at home here. Couples, solo travellers and business travellers are definitely be in good hands here, but families can also feel at home here. We definitely say: go there!

On our internal EVRYWHRE scale, we place SIDE Design Hotel in the Lifestyle category.

Rating

We award this stay at SIDE Design Hotel Hamburg 8 out of 10 possible points.

One point is deducted for the rather hectic and crowded breakfast – as there is no possibility of a relaxed start to the day here. In addition, we found the hotel to be in good condition, from the rooms to the spa to the restaurant, but it still is showing its age.

Booking with EVRYWHRE

Want to book SIDE Design Hotel? Then book through our Preferred Partner Rate! It won’t cost you any more, but it will bring you real benefits:

✔ Free breakfast

✔ Upgrade subject to availability

✔ Early check-in & late check-out

✔ £50 credit for the in-house restaurant when booking a room

✔ Sweet Kiss Treatment – a bottle of champagne and fresh strawberries in your room when booking a suite

✔ Collect points – as usual

You can find all the details on our Booking Hub.

YouTube Review

Would you like to find out more about SIDE Design Hotel, or would you rather watch videos than read texts? Then take a look at our YouTube review of this hotel. Enjoy!