Taltul

We're going to be in Berlin next month for nine days for the first time. We want to stay in a neighborhood that we'll enjoy being in. Since we can take our time touring the city, we don't have to be in the center of the action. I found several good hotels near Savignyplatz square but I am also looking into hotels in Mitte. My husband is rather picky and always wants a quiet hotel which is sort of a mission impossible in any large city!
We're 60ish, well travelled, enjoy museums, parks, restaurants, tourists sites, shopping, performances, jazz clubs etc... but we also want to be someplace where there is a choice of restaurants/ cafes where we'll feel comfortable (not places that are only for the younger crowd).
Is the Savgnyplatz area suitable or should we look at the Mitte area? I found a good deal on a hotel (Hotel H’Otello K’80 ) close to the S Bahn tracks but my husband is afraid there will be too much noise (the windows are soundproofed.) which will ruin his vacation. I read that the S Bahn is an electric train so how much noise could it make?
Please don't suggest looking for an apartment (airbnb). We did it twice on other vacations and didn't enjoy the experience at all. I guess it was just bad luck but my husband won't even consider the possibility.
Thanks!

Dukey1

If that hotel is close to an elevated rail line there can be a certain amount of vibration as trains pass by, electric or not.

PalenQ

There are no such vibrations or noise from Berlin's very modern S-Bahns so unless the hotel is right within a few feet from the line that should not be a factor - I've taken those S-Bahns a lotd - very smooth - you have much more to worry about street traffic - Savignyplatz is a known nightlife area so it would depend where in that general area you are.

The weather in Berlin never dictates open windows and hotels are modern too in keeping it quiet but be sure to ask when reserving that quiet is imperative to you.

Cowboy1968

The elevated crosstown section carries four tracks, two for S-Bahn and two for long-distance trains.
Neither one is especially quiet or noisy.
I've stayed at a different hotel (the Motel One) in a similar location - some 100 feet away from the tracks and at same level as the tracks - and did not hear nor feel one bit from the rail traffic. Or anything else.
Whether or not the H'Otello is as soundproof and "feelproof" can only be answered by someone who actually stayed there.

PalenQ

U-Bahns are more likely to cause vibrations IME than elevated railways and the Savignyplatz itself which the hotel is on could be more noisy at night with traffic, jazz clubs and cabs coming and going than the S-Bahn/DB trains.

Taltul

Thanks for the information. Anybody have an opinion about my second question - which area (Mitte or Savignyplatz) for an extended visit (for someone our age)?

Dukey1

Do excuse my obviously totally INCORRECT response to your question. Ask one of the two experts above.

PalenQ

The Mitte is a large area - it contains all kinds of environments - be more precise in your question.

dukey have you ridden Berlin S-Bahns in the last say 30 years or so? Seems not - the ones that were run for eons by East Germans were rattle traps but Germans have a penchant if not mania for quiet and believe me anyone living near a S-Bahn would have complained zillions of times if vibrations were a problem. Germany is quite modern now.