Haras

This is my first time to Berlin. I will be traveling with my MIL and DH. MIL will be staying with her friends, and they recommended a hotel Agon Franke for DH and I to say at. Apparently this hotel is located nearby their home. Price is not the most important issue for me. I looked on the internet and saw prices for approximately $80/usd per night. I'm looking for a home base since we will be staying for 8 nights. I'm willing to pay up to $200/night if the hotel is worth it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA!

Dutch

Hi Haras,

There is a lot of options in that area of Berlin. You can get a pretty good room for $200. What are you looking for in a hotel?

Haras

Hi Dutch,

I would like a hotel with large rooms and a comfy bed. I prefer newer boutique type hotels over a older antique charm. Free internet would be great as well. We're thinking of renting a vehicle so affordable parking would be nice. Any advice would be appreciated. If you could name a few hotels, I would look it up on tripadvisor. Or even if you know of apartment style rooms, I would consider it. I don't need to be pampered. I just like clean, modern and not cramped.

TIA!

Haras

Is this Hotel Franke in Charlottenburg? I also forgot to mention centrally located would be nice. Basically I want the most bang for my buck. =)

Dutch

The Agnon is not in Charlottenburg, but not too far away. Are you looking for that area? If so try the Art Nouveau or the Schlosshotel im Grunewald. (The Schlosshotel would be more than $200, but worth checking out.)

If you want something closer to the KaDeWa try the Hotel Astoria, the Hotel Ku'Damm, the Ellington Hotel Berlin, the Hotel Otto, or the Bleibtreu Berlin. I really like the Brandenburger Hof, but it might be more than you want to spend.

There are bigger chain hotels like the Swissotel, the Intercontinental, The Kempinski Hotel Bristol if you are interested.

If you don't mind staying in Mitte, there are even more choices.

DAX

Dutch already gave you a lot of good advice. I just want to elaborate further that the Mitte area is more fun to stay since most of the interesting sites are there, so check out Melia Berlin, Sofitel, or Marriott Berlin which accomodates your criteria. If you'd rather stay close to your daughter, I would strongly recommend staying closer to the heart of Charlottenburg. I prefer the french Hotel Concorde over Swissotel because the rooms are bigger and more luxurious despite the lower price. They are across the street from each other and close to the Memorial Church ruin & Kadewe. I think you get more bang for your bucks at the larger international chain hotels than in boutique hotels. Berlin is so large and mixed that your hotel location can make a difference in your experience/impression of the city. It helps if you can tell us what type of neighborhood and activities you typically choose when you travel.

Haras

I think one of main issues is how convenient it would be to travel back and forth to my MIL. My MIL was born in Berlin and is in her 70's so she isn't very mobile. This will be the first time for 20 years since her and my DH have been back to Berlin. DH and I are in our early 30's and taking public transport shouldn't be an issue. This is a spur of the moment trip as we just decided yesterday that we would go ahead and book our flights since it was fairly affordable from LAX. So I have less than a month to figure out where to stay and what to see.

I was search around on Fodors and saw that the Berlin Marriott is centrally located and might be possible to get on priceline. Either the Marriott or Movenpick...what do you think about the location of these hotels? About how long would it take to get to Charlottenburg from that area?

TierGarten is another name that I heard my MIL mention. Is it nearby Charlottenburg?

Thanks again for all the helpful insights. I'm going to start researching the hotels you've mentioned above.

Sarah

Dutch

Hi again,

The Marriott and the Movenpick are near Pottsdamer Platz, the Sony Center, Brandenburg Gate, etc. They would be more central to all of the sights of Berlin. It seems like the Marriott is going for around $95 on Priceline. It's fairly new, has good beds, rooms are sort-of cookie cutter in the Marriott style. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there. Access to public transit should be handy. Movenpick is more eclectic and funky. Gets good ratings.

There is also the SAS Radisson and the Grand Hyatt. They might have some good rates available.

Hope I can help.

Trophywife007

I've heard people here recommend Hecker's Hotel which is located near Ubahn stop Uhlandstrasse - not too terribly far from the hotel your MIL's friends recommended. Venere had it listed at 140 euro.

http://www.heckers-hotel.de/

Tschüss!

DAX

I like Trophy's hotel recommendation beased on the location, it's the good side of Ku'damm.

I would drop Moevenpick, the Marriott in Potsdamerplatz is a better hotel with a much better location. I'll be staying there in a few weeks, they have a lot of great corporate contracted rates, perhaps you or your DH works for an international company. I have paid 140 euro including breakfast and dinner (ala carte 3 course, including kobe beef, seafood etc). The Marriott is right next to the Tiergarten, so you can jog rigt into the park every morning. I've stayed at the Grand Hyatt a few times and it's nice too but the rate can be almost double.

The one comfortable hotel for long term stay is the Mandala Hotel. It is an upmarket all suites hotel located between the Marriott and the Grand Hyatt. The basic suite is fine, but it's best if you pick the management suite or higher. I love the fact that there is a living room, kitchen, dining etc. The staff will prepare everything for your stay before you arrive, rent bikes, and even shop for your groceries if you give them a list.
The SAS has a good East Berlin location but it's a total concrete jungle. It does have an impressive aquarium inside the hotel.

Haras

Dax...what a great rate of 140 euros including breakfast and dinner! was that through a corporate rate???

DAX

Their contracted corporate rates are limited to very specific companies, so check with the HR dept at your/your husband's work to see if they have any special contracted rate with the Marriott in Berlin. The rate can be different if it's booked through a company branch in Berlin than internationally. Otherwise try Dutch's advice.