"I was at Haven, formerly Hotel Schmidt-Monique in Bochum for 8-days. I arrived 25-minutes before the “official” check-in time and was told I could check-in early for €20. Needless to say I waited the 25 minutes. The new owners are focussing on the hotel so the restaurant that was originally part of the hotel complex is currently closed. There are very few options for eating in the area of the hotel. There is a great bakery for coffee and something to eat in the morning, but it’s a little trickier if you’re looking for something later on in the day. It’s well situated in terms of catching a bus to get around town or to get to the train stations. That was very convenient. There was one staff member at the front desk that spoke English that was very helpful. The hotel does not have air-conditioning and Yusef found a fan to cool the air in my room. The room is spacious by European standards although the bathroom is very small and the space is very confined. If the hotel wanted to elevate the experience for guests, they could invest in better mattresses as the one I slept on felt like I was lying on the ground. They could also invest in higher quality toiletries in the bathroom. Because the restaurant is closed and access to other restaurants is limited, it would go along way with guest if the hotel had a coffee machine in the lobby for guests to have access to coffee, tea, espresso, etc. in the morning. A machine would not require any manpower(front desk is not staffed til later)"
