Being one who loves staying at small European hotels in the middle of the city, I read all of the reviews, and thought I knew what to expect from the Callas am Dom - small, older room with tiny bathroom, bells from the cathedral, and some sort of issue with room keys. No problem, or so I thought. If these had been the only issues, I would have been satisfied, however I must share some things that I had not expected, and would caution you to consider them carefully before booking a stay at the Callas am Dom.
We requested a room at the back of the hotel, to minimize the noise from the pedestrian street, which is indeed crowded at all times of the day and night. We received a back room on the first floor, which turns out to be right next to the breakfast room. The staff meets in the breakfast room at 6 am and the loud talking begins, as well as the clanging of dishes and silverware. This continues non-stop until 11 am when the dishes are finally done, and the room is cleaned. The wooden floor means that every footstep was heard from our bedroom as well as all conversation taking place in the breakfast room. While sitting in the breakfast room, one can also hear the snoring of the guests who were somehow able to be sleeeping in the rooms that adjoin it (rooms 14-17)
As for the room key, it is interesting that in order to lock the room from the inside, they key must be used. Heaven forbid an emergency in the middle of the night where one needed to exit the room yet could not find the key. The doors and walls are thin, and unlocking the doors takes considerable effort, meaning that any time a guest enters or exits his room, the unlocking event will be heard by all, as it takes 10-20 seconds to actually get the very thin door opened.
Please be aware that there are no hairdryers, in addition to the other missing amenities listed by other travelers in these reviews.
Finally, although we were warned by other reviews about the bells at the cathedral, a more accurate representation is that the bells begin ringing at 6:45 am with a 15-minute symphony every hour. Beautiful music, unless you are trying to sleep and are already frustrated by the other noise factors mentioned above.
Although we had a non-smoking room, the smell of other guests' cigarettes continually filled our room.
The good parts of our stay were that the staff is friendly (maybe too friendly with their loud greetings in the mornings), the rooms were clean, the beds were comfortable, and the breakfast was nice.
This is my fourth time staying overnight in Cologne - three times during business trips at nicer, more expensive hotels, where I do not recall issues with noise, although I was equally close to the cathedral.
After reading this review, if you still want to stay at the Callas am Dom, I would adivse you to avoid the first floor rooms at all cost, and plan to be awakened early each morning by the noises.