Staff: very friendly, well trained and ready to help

Rooms: clean, super cosy bed, super soft toilet paper, nespresso machine in every room, windows can be opened

special tip: hotel bar with great atmosphere, good choice of ambient music, nice staff to chat with, 24h they serve appetizers and if they run out of something they offer very interesting and creative alternatives

I thought I would kick off the new year by writing about how a branded experience can surprise and delight through multiple touch points. I stayed in this hotel with my sister and parents over the Christmas period. We were doing some geneaological research into my Dad's family in Hamburg (the name Arning comes from Minden, Germany and many of them lived in Hamburg, there is even an Arningstrasse across the Elbe river).

It is such a relief being able to go onto Trip Advisor and give someone a positive review. My stay at SIDE was one of the best hotel experiences I have ever had. I stayed at SIDE for the first time in 2001 just after it had opened and so relished the opportunity to go back. Whereas on the first occasion I was just wowed by the design, this time I was impressed by the whole The service was impeccable, the food is to be relished and the SIDE brand concept follows through on their promise of 5 star excellence throughout.

My experience is that some design / boutique hotels present a luminous patina of sophistication but that patina is often weaselly. It hovers over an absence of care, shoddy service and a soulless brand. This is true than more than one joint in NYC.

YOu know who you are. SIDE hotel, Hamburg in contrast is an establishment that exudes class and thoughtfulness from every pore. Everything worked, but there was a warmth to the kraftwerk. Vorsprung Durch Technik. It was like Audi built a soulful hotel without the brushed steel and the clinical edge and dodgy Liefenstahl choreography.

The atrium is a stunning space giving on the one hand a shrill and vertiginous welcome to the hotel. The narrowness of the space and the sense of floors extending up above is like something out of an updated German Expressionist painting. It dwarfs the visitor and gives the hotel a narrow and elongated profile but over time you get used to the scale and it is all counterbalanced by the warmth and friendliness of the service. This was knowledgeable and helpful to a fault. Ferret out the address of a jazz club for me? No problem. Do you have any sellotape to wrap these Christmas presents? Yes, sure and would you like me to decorate it with some ribbon too sir? Yes please. What is this lounge music you're playing? I like it. It's from a CD sir (I receive the playlist written out in immaculate handwriting later at dinner); thought they'd forgotten me but they hadn't.

Like other hotels I have been to I have admired (the Sukhothai in Bangkok), the use of black hardwood across decor and soft lighting created that brand idea of solidity with organicism and warmth so that the Bauhaus was balanced with some sequoia sinew.

The hotel mixed colours in different zones but this just worked. Luminous white and blue downstairs in the toilets, ochre in the spa and the walls of the elevator changed colour chameleon like as the lift speeded you from our ninth floor bedroom downstairs.

The rooms were fantastic, from the subtle click open of the doors to the SMEG fridge like cupboard, it was all white and sculpted but balancing the warmth and minimalism.

The restaurant agai followed the no nonsense profile of the other rooms but had hanging from the ceiling like a couple of chrysalis air bags Tizani Chandeliers - that we were told were worth about EUROS 15,000 each. Each of them was draped with filigree chain mail giving it that shabby chic, distressed feel. It somehow just complemented the ambience of the room however.

German breakfasts are always great but this one extended to all sorts of yoghurts, cured meats, halibut and sturgeon fish with a toasted bagel and of course the usual bewildering variety of bread (I could just about identify the pumpernickel!) on show.

The restaurant sources its meat from Argentina which means that the filet mignon was excellent. The burgers (and you might expect these to be okay give that we're in Hamburg!) were great - top quality ground meat served with a choice of French fries or allumettes. Overall, it was impossible not to be super impressed with this design hotel. It simply exceeded expectations at every turn - amenities, design, service, food and was actually quite reasonably priced too.

On arrival, I had it pegged alongside the Camino Real in Mexico City and the Sukhothai in Bangkok as my 2 favourite hotels in the world. I would say now that SIDE stands alone as not only a create hospitality experience but also a masterclass in experience branding - the funky lounge music in the atrium, the chunky menus, the neo-mosaic patterning in the pool. The only complaint I have is in being woken up by house keeping at 9am in the morning. But I guess this is Germany!

The hotel was very stylish, helpful staff, good location in a fabulous city. The (m)eatery restaurant is well worth a visit too. On the down side the wifi was dreadful but they were actually changing provider that week so maybe this has been rectified. Also the bed was rather on the small side, along with the bedding.

Spent a wonderful weekend at the Side. A friendly personalised welcome note on arrival together with a bowl of fruit, Ren toiletries, fast and complimentary wifi and all the other gadgets in the room, incredibly friendly staff including the housekeeper who warmly greeted us each day. We loved the design of the room, the reception areas and the bar was great and vibey. Sadly we didn't try m'eatery their steak restaurant but will do so next time. Fantastic experience!