Looking into booking a 4-5 night stay in Berlin over Easter. We are a family of 4 and can do 2 rooms or 1. Ideally I'd like something for €200/night total without pre-pay. Wi-fi would be nice.

Open to hotels, B&B or self-catering apartments. Prime goals are near to sites and/or public transport and good eating options close to the hotel (we invariably return to the room before dining out). We will not have a car.

A quick perusal of previous posts suggests that 'Mitte" is a good general area and Friedrichstraße in particular. The Melia seems get get recommended more than most but that would required 2 rooms and about €300/night as a result. Seeing if we can do better.

I've also heard Prenzlauer Berg mentioned but I'm not sure if that's for a younger/hipper crowd. Seems a little further out.

For some reason the west side doesn't appeal as much. Should I be talked out of that?

Any B&B or apartment options?

Appreciate the input.

Indy_dad:
You can check the NH Mitte; really good and near to Friederichstrasse.
We were there last june and were very happy with the choice.

We stayed at this hotel chain in Frankfurt and it was an amazing value for the money.Highy reccomend.http://www.adina.eu/

I stayed at Melia twice, but if it is too expensive for you, there are number of hotels and apt.
in the same area.
I would not pick PB

In July, I stayed in the West and really enjoyed it.....
but for a first time visitor Mitte is a good location.
For you, an apt is probably most economical.
HomeAway. offers many apt.in Mitte.

indy-dad,

I just went to hotels.com and found a no of decent looking hotels in Mitte [you can specify the area] for under your budget, including some big discounts for the period you're looking at. [i guessed at some dates in April].

I definitely agree that Mitte is a good area to stay in, but i'm biased as I've not stayed elsewhere.

Thanks for the replies.

So what area should I focus on? all of Mitte or a subset? any general guidelines on boundaries to stay within?

At the more budget end of things, for instance, is the Novotel at Fischerinsel 12. Still a decent location?

http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-3278...te/index.shtml

indy-dad,

we stayed near here and really liked the area - reasonably close to Unter Den Linden, right next to an underground stop [no long treks underground with this line - just a few steps and you're right there] by the water where there are nice bars and boats moored - easy to get everywhere.

you'll love Berlin.

what ann said.

Fischerinsel is "okay" from a location perspective. You will find yourself heading north and west for most of the major Mitte sights. The Pergamon Museum is about 1.5 km N, Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag about 2.2 km NW.

The Friedrichstrasse S - Bahn station is probably the most central place you can be in Mitte. You can walk to almost all of the major sites and you have the best connections possible on the S/U - Bahn to the rest of Berlin.

As mentioned, the NH (NH Friedrichstrasse, is much closer than the NH Mitte) is often a reasonable choice right up at the S-Bahn station.

There are some hotels just north of the Spree, off Friedrichstrasse, that you might find to be more of deal than south of the river.

The Melia is probably the perfect choice, but everyone seems to have found that out and the rates seem to stay annoyingly high - I booked it for 85 Euro in 2009 and have not come anywhere near that close in subsequent attempts.

I would suggest searching using the Friedrichstrasse S-Bahn station as you "target", moving out from it to find what suits you. If you get too far away, then you have consider maybe moving to the Hackescher Markt area (which is on the edge of Prenzlauer Berg. Prenzlauer Berg is a hipper area than Mitte, but not so much that you should consider avoiding it. It's hip in a Soho kind of way. If you would stay in Soho NYC, then you will be comfortable (relatively speaking, it is Germany not the US) in P-Berg

Thanks again everyone. I'll keep a casual look out but I think I might go ahead and book the Novotel as a backup. Comparing 5 nights of a refundable booking it is only €547 versus €1284 for the Melia and €1130 for NH because the latter 2 require 2 rooms. It makes a big difference!

indy-dad, i think that's a good strategy. I often do it in big cities while i look/wait for a better deal. often as not I end up going with a different pick, but it's nice to know that you've got it up your sleeve.

do watch out for the cancellation terms though!

Ah, yes, Novotel. By the far the best choice for traveling families children stay free and they allow 4 people per room.

If you want to really spread out, Prenzlauer Berg does have quite a few apartments

I think apartments are good! We used homeaway and a site called inventia. I booked quite last minute for July and probably didn't get the best deal for apartments. We were near Wilhelmstrase, right on the 200 bus route, easy walk to Brandenburg, Sony Centre and the u-bahn. You also could get family rooms which accommodate 4 too.

We would recommend the All Seasons (Ibis Styles) Alexanderplatz, because:
- it is part of the same chain AccorHotels (true that in a lower hotel class);
- muore comfortable room: at All Seasons you get 1 double bed and 2 single beds, while Novotel has a gouble bed and a sofa
- it is only 90 eur per night (we saw it on hrs.com);
- in this price you have included: breakfast + free wireless internet (which are an important extra-cost if you want to stay at Novotel);
- your kids will feel better at All Seasons (many more kids staying there than at the Novotel).


In Berlin we stayed at the All Seasons Berlin Mitte and we were very happy:
http://in-luxembourg.blogspot.de/201...el-berlin.html

Thanks, I'll have a look.