Going to be in Berlin and Prague in Feb. Need the name of a nice place to stay for one night for both cities that's near the sites - don't need a fancy hotel.

For Berlin I used Priceline and got the Westin Grand, which was extremely convenient for sightseeing. I'd recommend that hotel if you want to pay the price or are lucky on Priceline.

If you don't want to take the risk of Priceline (and you do have a good chance of getting a different hotel), consider this hotel across the street:
http://www.hotel-unter-den-linden.de/en/
I don't know what the rooms are like, but I had dinner there and it was fine.

The Radisson SAS is a new hotel and also very convenient.

Another very convenient hotel would be Jolly Hotel Vivaldi, which again I don't know about personally, but I saw it on my sightseeing.

I stayed at a very interesting and quirky hotel in Berlin - the Propeller Island Lodge hotel. It's one of Berlin's "art installation" hotels - eg room is a work of art and is unique. Some rooms are fairly conventional (but still unlike any hotel room you've ever seen). Others are quite exotic (the coffin room, for example, or the prison cell room). Limited but friendly and efficient services (breakfast, morning receptionist; otherwise let yourself in with a key) on a residential street in an apartment building very close to the main street in West Berlin. Quite moderately priced - around 110-140 euros per night per room. Very close to the subway, and close to the airport. We loved it here, and will choose it again for another visit.

Go to http://www.propeller-island.com/

Even if you decide to stay somewhere a little more conventional, you should at least check this website out.

We stayed in the U Lilie, a pension in Prague last June that was clean and in a great location by the Charles Bridge, but not especially remarkable.
I did collect brochures from three hotels I wanted to remember in case we returned: The Hotel Neruda (mentioned above), the Hotel U krale Karla, and the Grand Hotel Bohemia.
The Neruda is on the hill going up to Prague Castle, near the Bazaar restaurant. Its brochure says it's four-star, an historical building reconstructed. Lobby had a nice, contemporary feel, clean and well-done. Rack rate is 220 EUR in high season for a double. It's website is www.hotelneruda.cz
The U krale Karla brochure says it's a gothic building, rebuilt in 1639, renovated in 1993. It had more an old Prague feeling to it, old elegance. In Lesser Town, also near the Castle, only 16 double rooms and 3 suites, high season rates for double room deluxe is 6900CZK. Website: www.romantichotels.cz
The Grand Hotel Bohemia is a five-star, in Old Town next to the Powder Tower (also a good location), 78 rooms and suites. It's a classic, old, elegant-looking place that looked charming, too. (No rate sheet in their brochure.) Website: www.grandhotelbohemia.cz
So, that's all I know! We didn't see any of the rooms themselves, but from walking through the lobby and asking at the desk, they looked promising.
Also, many posters here have recommended the Pension Dientzenhofer, which we also had researched.

Thanks for the info. Never used priceline - do you just put in what you want to spend and they pick a hotel after you've paid and that's where you'll be staying? I've found that 3 star in Europe is not nearly as nice as 3 star in the US.

I can recommend a Berlin hotel..it is NOT in Mitte where a lot of people who post here think you simply HAVE to stay but it is close (2 blocks)to the U-Bahn (Wittenburger Platz), the KaDeWe, a few minutes walk from the Zoo station, Ku-dam, etc. The President on An-der-Urania..a Best Western-affiliated property and the "Presidential Club" rooms are a bit nicer and come with full buffet breakfast....just a thought.

Wherever you stay, enjoy the wonderful city of Berlin.