Continental European station hotels with free train travel included

[AnkleBoots]

Following a thread from 2017, there are 40 IntercityHotels and this is what has been established so far. Can anyone fill in the gaps?

Amsterdam Hoofddorp-----
Augsburg ---------------------
Berlin Hauptbahnhof ---------- zones ABC
Berlin Ostbahnhof ------------ zones ABC
Berlin Brandenburg Airport --- zones ABC
Bonn ------------------------- "Region Bonn" (Bonn, Königswinter, St Augustin, Bad Honnef, Siegburg)
Braunschweig ----------------- Tariff zone 40, area covered by the tram network
Breda-----
Bremen ----------------------- Tariff Zones 100 and 101 which is basically all of Bremen
Celle ------------------------
Darmstadt --------------------whole RMV network (may have changed)
Dresden ---------------------- VVO, except "bergbahnen". Large area of Saxony up to the Czech border.
Duisburg --------------------- VRR
Düsseldorf ICH---------------- VRR
Düsseldorf Hotel Bismarck ----VRR
Enschede ---------------------
Erfurt -----------------------
Essen ------------------------ VRR
Frankfurt --------------------includes Airport zone
Frankfurt Airport ------------
Freiburg ---------------------RVF zone A
Graz--------------------------ticket for trams/busses and local S-Bahn was available as an added cost
Göttingen --------------------
Hamburg Dammtor -------------- throughout the HVV area
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof --------- throughout the HVV area
Hamburg Altona --------------- throughout the HVV area
Hannover ---------------------
Ingolstadt -------------------
Kassel -----------------------
Leiden-----
Kiel -------------------------
Leipzig ---------------------- Zone 110 = whole of Leipzig + a trip to Leipzig/Halle airport on the day of departure
Magdeburg --------------------
Mainz ------------------------ Mainz and Wiesbaden
Mannheim ---------------------whole VRN (may have changed)
München ----------------------
Nürnberg --------------------- Price Level A, Zones 100 and 200 Nürnberg/Fürth/Stein
Rostock ---------------------- Rostock and Warnemünde
Schwerin ---------------------
South Tyrol-------------------various cards
Stralsund -------------------- whole of Rügen (regional trains and buses)
Stuttgart -------------------- VVS network up to zone 5?
Switzerland generally ------in most city-HTLs-and even also hoStels etc will offer free local travel
Ulm -------------------------- Tariff zones 10 and 20 which as far as I can see includes the extremes of the tram routes
Wien ------------------------- Zone 100 (city zone)




Previous thread:

Intercity hotels with free train travel

Is there one of these hotels that would allow me to get a train into Frankfurt and back, but is in one of the other nearby cities, e.g. Cologne? Darmstadt or Mainz might work for Frankfurt. There's one at the airport too. They are all on the RMV network. However the hotel site doesn't tell you...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[DanielB]

Had a look, but nowhere to be found where the free city ticket for the Intercity Hotel Enschede is valid. Also the local bus operator doesn't mention it.
There are three more Intercity hotels in the Netherlands: Amsterdam (actually located next to Hoofddorp station), Breda and Leiden. These appear to offer the free city ticket as well, but again nowhere to be found where they are valid.

 

[306024]

Can’t fill in any gaps, but this year in the InterCity hotel in Rostock I was told I needed to join the H rewards loyalty scheme to get my free ticket. Downloaded the app and joined in about 15 minutes. Since then a couple of hotels have asked to see my membership before giving me the transport ticket.

 

[dutchflyer]

All IC-hotels, at least In DE offer it-but the question is then for what area-they are not to clear about that. f.e. those in VRR offer the whole VRR area (Essen, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal), but others in large Verbund-areas do not.
Personally I am not a big fan of them (stuffy, businesspeople, they sniff at you if not that, fairly expensive for what you get vs other german chains HTls).
In towns like Düsseldorf and Essen many HTLs also offer the same free VRR-travel, or in really cheap HTLs for a very modest sum. Perhaps also in other big cities in that area. Same for many HTLs in Nürnberg. But for Brits: even though Premier HTLs has now also arrived in DE-and often as very low prices-they will not offer these schemes.
Best known for larger area is the KONUS system in Black MOUntains/Schwarzwald -but NOT in HTLs in the largest cities there. In Baden-Württemberg are more such areas, newest from what I know is Albcard-area to east of Stuttgart, includes VVS-verbund. But there are more such offers. Or for a very low price. F.e. in North-West German part Ost-Friesland one can get bustickets for just 1€ oj the guestcard.
In part you pay a little for this as about any HTL then will charge a tourist-tax, but thats often like 1-2 €/day.
In Swiss also in most city-HTLs-and even also hoStels etc will offer free local travel-often even on the printed booking for the trip to that place (generally in DE you get the pass after arrival at HTL).
I think to make a complete list-and even more to keep that uptodate is a near impossible task.
But having spent last summer 3 monthes in short breaks with the 9€/month tickets I did not really bother much about all this.

 

[duesselmartin]

genrally it is not just station or intercity hotels but many offer a regional travel pass.

 

[zero]

I stayed in Freiburg a while ago and I think the ticket was only valid in RVF zone A, because I remember that I departed on a local train to Basel, and had to buy a ticket for the full journey rather than using a split with the hotel ticket to its furthest validity. But I may have recalled incorrectly. I will have another look at my ticket collection later to see if I can find them.

 

[SeanG]

Intercity hotel Graz has been missed off the list. A transport ticket for trams/busses and local S-Bahn was available as an added cost to the room (a bit like adding on breakfast) but I didn't opt for it.

 

[AnkleBoots]

In towns like Düsseldorf and Essen many HTLs also offer the same free VRR-travel, or in really cheap HTLs for a very modest sum.

genrally it is not just station or intercity hotels but many offer a regional travel pass.

Judging from how the free transport are given out also to event ticketholders, it seems to be easy/cheap for hotels to offer full VRR validity in this area. But not generally the chain hotels I think, just Intercity, and small mom and pop outfits which may not have much Internet presence.

 

[ashkeba]

In towns like Düsseldorf and Essen many HTLs also offer the same free VRR-travel, or in really cheap HTLs for a very modest sum.

Who or what are HTL? Another chain?

 

[DanielB]

Who or what are HTL? Another chain?

Just an abbreviation for "hotels" AFAIK.

 

[dutchflyer]

No-tipically the chains, like Ibis or Premier-now also quite prevalent in many german cities, do not offer it. But its certainly not just tiny mom+pop HTLs. Find the list by dr google: Rheinbahn+free transport from hotels. For Essen: Rurbahn+same.
For those who would like to use it: as I get all the info from IC-hotels there is currently-I think till 5/3/23, book before 31/1, a 25% discount OFF room-prices, but you first have to make yourself a member of the H-Hotels chain-easy to do in a few secs.
From above I kind of conclude this offer is as such thus limited to Germany-but then it amazes me that not yet some German, always on the lookout for what they think of was false advertising, has not yet protested. IC is also in Oman-not a country known for good or plentiful publ transport.
BTW: the old IC-HTL In DUSseldorf was the one IN the main station building-but this is now an Ibis, apparently it was too big for IC. IC has since opened a new building on the left side of forecourt-leaving the station. A much less noisy and mostly cheaper too Ibis is at the back side off the main station.

 

[rg177]

Ibis in Konstanz gave me a free pass in 2019 for the local area which at minimum included the city buses. Not sure whether it included trains as I already held an Interrail.

 

[Flavio Bassi]

Not like the big capitals, but South Tyrol (a very beautiful region in the Alps) offers a free card for all regional trains and transport to the guests of several hotels and apartments:

Südtirol Alto Adige Guest Pass Meran | Advantage card

Having fun with Südtirol Alto Adige Guest Pass in the holiday region Meran! Read more about it here.

www.south-tirol.com

Südtirol GuestPass Algund | Free advantage card

Your free ticket for unforgettable holidays in Algund near Meran: 80 museums, all public transport in South Tyrol and much more - Südtirol GuestPass Algund!

www.south-tirol.com

South Tyrol Guest Pass Klausen | Advantage cards

South Tyrol Guest Pass provides you an unforgettable holiday in Klausen, Barbian, Feldthurns or Villanders with numerous advantages in South Tyrol!

www.south-tirol.com

VinschgauCard | Free advantage card in South Tyrol

With the VinschgauCard, you can use all means of public transport in South Tyrol for free and benefit from many other advantages and discounts.

www.south-tirol.com

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Not like the big capitals, but South Tyrol (a very beautiful region in the Alps) offers a free card for all regional trains and transport to the guests of several hotels and apartments:

I used the Brixen/Bressanone version of this card last year, with a 1-night stay in the very nice town.
It's valid from day of arrival to day of departure, so 2 days in my case.
Apart from local travel, in my case as far as Toblach/Dobbiaco, it was valid to Brenner (not on IC/EC trains), so I was able to restart my journey to Munich there using lower fares than if I started in Brixen.
No checks of any kind on board!

 

[Man of Kent]

More than five years since I stayed, but at that point:
- Darmstadt covers the whole RMV network.
- Mannheim covers the whole VRN network (+ access to the DB 1st class lounge at Mannheim Hbf. That got either free coffee or free wifi, something that wasn't available in the hotel at that time).

 

[Capybara]

In respect of InterCity, I think that assuming things are as they were five years ago would be a mistake. As has been said, you now only get offered a ticket if you are an H Rewards member but that's not really a big deal as joining is straightforward. This is something that came in a couple of years ago. By the way, you also get access to faster wi-fi by being a member. Also, the list in the original post on this thread (which I contributed to on the old thread) is out of date. There are new hotels that have opened since then and at least two - Gelsenkirchen and Wuppertal have either closed or are no longer InterCity. The only InterCity hotel I have stayed in since before the pandemic is Essen and they still offer the full VRR ticket.