"Altstadt" Hotel Bielefeld

Hotelier gives an all-round positive assessment. It has been nine years since the Altstadt Hotel Bielefeld was refurbished and refitted. As part of the refurbishment work, all 27 guest rooms and corridors were fitted with PURLINE from wineo in 2014, followed a year later by the reception, lobby and breakfast room. Now, owner Lasse Haufler takes stock – and remains highly satisfied.

A key priority was to replace the ageing and grubby carpets. “We’re also receiving more and more enquiries about an allergy-friendly environment without carpets. As our holistic refurbishment concept focused not only on a new, fresh look but also on a healthy indoor climate, we looked for an alternative,” explains the hotelier. He found it in PURLINE – an innovative polyurethane flooring ‘made in East Westphalia’, which has been awarded various eco-labels, including the Cradle to Cradle Silver certificate and the Blue Angel, attesting to its excellent environmental performance. The flooring, based on the high-performance composite material ecuran – produced predominantly from vegetable oils such as rapeseed or castor oil and naturally occurring mineral components such as chalk – has a positive effect on the indoor climate. Containing no added chlorine, plasticisers or solvents, it releases no harmful substances into the indoor air and is completely odourless.

At the heavily utilised Altstadt Hotel, the performance characteristics of the hard-wearing flooring (use class 43) really come into their own. It remains, quite literally, unfazed by the heavy footfall: even after years of use, there are hardly any signs of wear, whereas the old carpet soon developed visible wear patterns. Another advantage is how easy it is to clean and maintain. “The carpet was very prone to stains. The cleaning team often had to step in with specialised products,” recalls Haufler. PURLINE, by contrast, is stain-resistant and very easy to clean – which saves time and money, emphasises the hotelier: “In the guest rooms, a single wipe is often enough – especially if they’ve only been occupied for one night.”

Haufler’s initial concerns that the building might be too echoey without carpet have not materialised – on the contrary: in the breakfast room, which was previously tiled, the room acoustics are now significantly more subdued. Even the sounds of heel clicks are reliably dampened. The reason for this is the permanently elastic surface, which effectively absorbs impact noise.

Visually, PURLINE exudes timeless elegance: large-format concrete-look tiles run through the public areas, emphasising the interior’s vintage character. In the guest rooms, a combination of light and dark planks with an authentic wood grain creates a cosy atmosphere.

Even after nine years, Lasse Haufler remains satisfied with his choice. Guests frequently ask about the flooring out of personal interest. “As PURLINE is water-resistant, pleasantly warm underfoot and joint-free, next time I’d even have it fitted in the bathrooms.”