Where to Stay in Hamburg? Our Hotel Tips!

You’re looking for great place to stay in Hamburg, but you aren’t sure where to start looking for a hotel? Then you’ve come to the right place! We’ll show you which districts of Hamburg are best suited for your trip and share our personal hotel tips for each district.

Hamburg is one of the most popular destinations for a city trip in Germany. And for good reason: The Hanseatic metropolis is one of our very favorite cities in the world.

To help you make the most of your visit, we want to show you the best places to stay in Hamburg.

Would you rather go sightseeing or dive right into into Hamburg’s vibrant nightlife scene? Or perhaps you’re traveling to Hamburg to see a musical?

Whatever brings you to Hamburg, there’s a perfect district to stay for everyone and we’re going to help you find the best area for you.

As always, we’re going to be sharing our personal hotel tips for each district and every budget. That should make it super-easy for you to start planning your city trip to Hamburg and finding the perfect place to stay.

The best districts to stay in Hamburg on a map

With a population of almost 1.8 million, Hamburg is the second-biggest city in Germany. That might sound huge, but don’t worry: Hamburg’s actually very compact and you can easily get around most parts of the city by subway.

Even so, some districts in Hamburg are better suited to stay than others. And which one is the best for you really depends on what exactly you plan to do while you’re in Hamburg.

We’ve split this accommodation guide into four sections to help you find the perfect hotel in Hamburg for your trip.

Important note: We’ll be providing a selection of 2-4 hotels for each of the 3 districts we think are the best places to stay in Hamburg. We hand-picked all the hotels ourselves and made sure that all of them are up to our standards.

The best areas to stay in Hamburg on a map
These are the best areas to stay in Hamburg.

The classic option: Hotels in Hamburg’s city center

Hamburg’s city center is an excellent choice for a place to stay if this is your first time in town and you want to be close to all the main sights.

The city center encompasses the area around the Binnenalster lake, which includes some of the city’s best and most expensive hotels. For example, you could stay at the famous Atlantic Hotel. With a bit of luck, you might even run into cult singer Udo Lindenberg, who’s been a resident at the Atlantic for almost 25 years now.

Other areas in Hamburg’s city center include the area surrounding the central railway station as well as the shopping streets around Mönckebergstrasse and Gänsemarkt.

Pros of staying in Hamburg’s city center:

  • Many sights are within walking distance
  • Very good public transport connections, as all subway lines pass through the city center
  • Great shopping opportunities
  • Some of the city’s most famous hotels are located here

Cons of staying in Hamburg’s City Center:

  • Room rates are higher than in other districts
  • There’s not much happening in the city center in the evening

Our hotel tips for Hamburg’s city center

Finding a place to stay in the city center isn’t cheap. You’ll have trouble finding anything for less than 100 euros per night. At least not a room with your own bathroom. But there’s a good selection of mid-range hotels and some choice upscale options, too.

Modern and stylish: Hotels in HafenCity

HafenCity is an entirely new district that was formally established in 2008.

The area is considered the largest urban redevelopment project in Europe. Fans of modern architecture will be thrilled, as some of the world’s most famous architects were given the opportunity to let their imaginations roam free here.

The last few years have seen the construction of several brand-new hotels in the area that stand out for their modern decor and stylish design.

Pros of staying in HafenCity:

  • Many new and modern hotels
  • The Elbphilharmonie concert hall, Speicherstadt warehouse district and the Port of Hamburg are within walking distance

Cons of staying in HafenCity:

  • Since everything is so new, it still feels a bit sterile and lacks a certain lived-in charm
  • Very small selection of hotels

Our hotel tips in HafenCity

So far, there are only a small handful of hotels in HafenCity – but the few that exist are all outstanding.

Our personal tip is the 25hours Hotel. What we love about 25hours Hotels is their individual design that’s always tailored to the respective city. The hotel in HafenCity is no exception and looks great.

Another very special hotel is the Westin Hamburg. It’s located in what has to be the most exclusive piece of real estate in the entire city: the Elbphilharmonie concert hall.

For night owls: Hotels in St. Pauli

For everyone who wants to dive deep into Hamburg’s nightlife, there can only be one place to stay: St. Pauli.

There’s a great selection of hotel along the famous Reeperbahn. Prices here are generally lower than in HafenCity or the city center. If you’re looking for a real bargain, you’ll also find a huge selection of hostels in St. Pauli.

Pros of staying in St. Pauli:

  • Lots of hotels (and hostels) in all price ranges
  • There’s always happening in St. Pauli and you won’t get bored here in the evening
  • Good public transport connections

Cons of staying in St. Pauli:

  • It can get a bit noisy around here
  • The city center is too far to walk

Our hotel tips in St. Pauli

St. Pauli has some of the most quirky and unique hotels in all of Hamburg. Chez Ronny is one of these very special hotels and we highly recommend staying there.

The bar with the very best view of the city is located on the top floor of the Empire Riverside Hotel. Because it’s so popular, getting into the 20up Bar often entails a long wait. Guests at the hotel don’t have that problem: They’re free to waltz right into the bar whenever they want without waiting in line.

Also read our blog post: 9 special guided Hamburg Tours

Bonus: The best hotels for seeing a musical

Hamburg is the German capital of musicals. Are you planning to see a musical while you’re in Hamburg?

If so, we’ve collected some information in this section about the best places to stay if you want to see a musical.

The Lion King and Tina Turner

The Lion King musicals are being shown at the Stage Theater in the Port of Hamburg.

A boat will take you straight to the theater from the St. Pauli Piers (Landungsbrücken) in a matter of minutes. Definitely a very cool location for a musical!

There’s also another musical you might want to see near the Piers: Tina Turner at the ‘Stage Operettenhaus’.

If you’d prefer to stay close to the theater, then we recommend taking a hotel near the St. Pauli Piers. That way you can be back in your room just a few minutes after the final curtain call.

Mamma Mia

The musical Mamma Mia is being shown at the Neue Flora Theater, located in the Altona-Nord district.

Right next to the theater is the Boston Hotel, which we can definitely recommend. Apart from that, there are hardly any hotels in the immediate vicinity, but most hotels in St. Pauli are within reasonable walking distance.

Good and cheap
Better

OK, those were our tips for where to stay in Hamburg. We’re sure you’ll have a great time in Hamburg if you stay at one of the hotels we recommended here and look forward to your feedback.

Do you have a hotel in Hamburg that you’d like to recommend? Or perhaps you have a question about staying in Hamburg that we haven’t answered yet? Please let us know in the comments below!