Berlin Sol Melia hotel: Should I be one of its first customers?
 

I'm looking to book a hotel in Berlin and in October, a new Sol Melia will open on Friedrichstrasse. The location looks fantastic, I can get a free breakfast (I'm a MAS member) and I've liked every other Sol Melia hotel I've stayed in.

Think I'm taking a risk they won't be open by their announced date? Or that half the hotel will still be undergoing painting, noisy work?

Thanks -- especially if anybody lives in Berlin and has seen the hotel I'm talking about!

I walked by there several times last week on my visit to Berlin. It doesn't look quite finished yet, but I'm sure that will change. I agree that the location is just about perfect, and I greatly enjoyed the single Sol Melia hotel I've stayed at. When I saw it, I wanted to stay there and I was wondering what their special rates will be.

I stayed in another hotel on Friedrichstrasse last year & found the location ideal.

Caroline,

How were noise issues in general on Friedirichstrasse?

WillT,

Thanks very much for your eyewitness report! The rate I am getting off the web is 160e for a double.

I didn't notice any noise at all but we weren't at the front - I think we were facing a side street.

It was my first time in Germany but I'd say my impression was the street noise generally wasn't like the street noise in - shall we say, more Mediterranean cities ? :-) i.e. less mad traffic generally, no horns blowing. And there wasn't a lot of pedestrian traffic at night (no groups of 'revellers' :-) ), at least not at the end we were - up towards the northern end of the street, a couple of blocks before the station.

I'd highly recommend the area because we liked the buildings, most sights were easy walking distance and for those that weren't we were handy for buses & the Metro, & there were good eating & drinking areas within a short walk too.

I'm not sure if you've been to Berlin before, but in case not & it's helpful, here's a link to my trip report - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34614269

Thank you, Caroline! Great minds think alike. This morning, I clicked on your name to see if you had, by any chance, written a trip report. I read it before I had to run to catch a train, and I am only now getting back to this thread to thank you for it -- and here you are, giving me a link to it.

The level of detail in your report was especially helpful to me. No, I have never been to Berlin and this time, I will only have about 60 hours in which to see the sights. I think I may spend all of them in the Pergamon museum and the film museum!

Which hotel did you stay at? Did you like it? Do you think it would be OK for a business hotel?

Hi ! We stayed at the the Maritim ProArte and I think it would be good for a business trip - it was a large corporate-style hotel which could have been anywhere but pleasant enough, and the breakfast was ace !

I'm afraid that in the Pergamom museum we got audio guides & just did the 'big 3' sights. Apart from the fact we had lots more we wanted to do, it was was very busy with lots of school parties - and it was raining that day, so maybe that made it busier too. So we weren't tempted to hang about too long. We probably just spent about 1 or 1.5 hours there.

Thanks again, Carolne. In the meantime I've booked myself into the Sol Melia Berlin, and hope I've made the right choice. I'm trying to figure out where it is on Friederichstrasse. The address (I think) is in the 50s, and I'm trying to figure out the nearest cross street and some casual but tasty restaurants in the area.

The Sol is only steps from the Maritim ProArte. Just behind Friedrichstr. station by the canal.
For casual but nice restaurants in the area, try Lutter & Wegener's Gendarmenmarkt outfit, a mere 5 to 10 minutes by foot away. Borchardt, just around the corner from Lutter & Wegener, would be another option.

Hi, I saw this hotel advertised on hotel.de for a cheaper rate than on the SolMelia website (I think it was 106 euros a night for the days I was looking at). So give that website a try to see if you can get the cheaper rate.

With that hotel, you are very near Oranienburgerstrasse, which has numerous restaurants. On that street, we liked Mirchi - which had Singaporean Indian fusion food. I also liked Cafe Orange.

sol melia should have a guaranteed lowest price. they matched one offer for me once and also gave me an additonal 10-15% reduction.

What happens if you show them the hotel.de rate and it's indeed lower? Will they match that?

Fall06:

Try putting the exact street address of the hotel folowed by Berlin, Germany into the Google (NOT Google Earth) search box and hit "maps"...you'll get a pinpoint location on a map you can zoom into.

Once on the map page click on "hybrid" in the upper right and you'll see the cross street names overlaid.

if they have the guaranteed lowest rate offer, your request should be in writing within 24 hours.

however, i had a CANCELLABLE reservation with their sister tryp hotel in granada, i wrote them with the URL showing the price difference i saw TWO DAYS later, and suggested i would cancel it since i had seen one so much lower (it included buffet breakfast AND tax for less than i was paying , and we had two rooms!).

they wrote back saying i had not written within the time limit but were going to honor that rate along with their bonus discount. i was happily surprised.

Interesting. I'll keep this in mind for the future if I come across the mispricing again. I did check their website and it showed 160 euros for the dates I wanted. Thanks for explaining how this works. fall06 may find your tip useful. I suppose if the reservation is cancellable, as you say, he/she can cancel and rebook, so Sol Melia ought to honor the lower rate.

I ended up booking the Holiday Inn Express to save some money as the average rate was 59 euros (breakfast included). Didn't think that I could beat that.

Will,

Mirchi is that Indian place on the left side of Oranienburger Str., about 70 yards from the corner of Friedrichstr, right opposite the Arcotel Velvet Hotel, isn't it?
If so, I completely agree with your suggestion - makes for a great lunch spot, too. I cannot remember having had such a dirt cheap lunch at that quality before.

is i the holiday inn epxress near potsdamer platz? if so, it was a fabulous hotel for the price.
nice buffet breakfast, and a bus and metro nearby.

nice,safe neighborhood, and clean, functional room.

Have to say I didn't care for the Potsdamer Platz area - I thought it was rather soulles & was glad we weren't staying there. Everywhere we went felt safe so I don't think that's anything to worry abput.

Yes, it's about 150m from the Anhalter Bahnhof S-bahn.

I picked it for the price, really. I agree that it's not the most exciting area. I'd prefer the Sol Melia location, but for about half the price of that hotel, I'm willing to stay in the Holiday Inn.

Also I'm spending some time in Munich during Oktoberfest and a basic hotel is 185 euros a night. I can save some money.