Thoughts on area to stay in Berlin
 

DH and I will be spending a week in Berlin mid-June. I've never been and I'm conflicted on where to stay. My sister loved Mitte, near Checkpoint Charlie. She stayed at the Mercure and said the area was nice, lively, and convenient. The area looks good, but so do a few others so I would like to hear what in-the-know Fodorites have to say.

Mitte is a big area. Near CC is good although I prefer a bit further north
I stayed at hotel Melia 3 times and found the location perfect.

I stayed at the Maritim Proarte Hotel on Friedrichstrasse, really close to the Melia, and I liked the area too. The Friedrichstrasse train station is super convenient for day trips (e.g. to Potsdam), and Unter den Linden is only a block or two away. (If you fly into/out of Tegel, the direct TXL bus runs right up Unter den Linden.) Even Checkpoint Charlie is not far of a walk (or the U-bahn if you have a transit pass) and the Topography of Terror (Nazi indoor/outdoor documentation center) is not far of a walk from CC.

I got the Maritim for $75/night USD total with taxes/fees on Priceline (I bid $65) which is the only way I would recommend it. (I thought I got a great deal but wouldn't really pay more.) I got a room on a low floor; they tried to upsell me to a room "away from the street" on a higher floor but I declined and the room I got didn't face the street anyway. The Melia gets much better reviews on TA so if you can stay there for near the same price I'd probably stay there instead.

Checkpoint Charlie seems like a good place to stay. DH and I are rather picky about hotels as we do spend time in them--happy hour before going out to dinner--so we like a nice room. My first choice is sold out (boo hoo, I waited too long) and my second choice has a surcharge for internet access, something I swore I would never pay for again since it is usually so expensive at hotels that don't include it. I wish I could find a way to know what they charge. I'm afraid to wait until tomorrow to book, prices go up and hotels sell out.

Can't you book second choice now or is it pre-paid/cost to cancel? Internet charge may not be as bad as you think - and you can simply email the hotel and ask what it costs. (May charge per device though.) I think the Maritim was only about 10 euros per 24 hours but I just used my T-Mobile's free 2G/hotspot and lived with slow access.

CC is perfectly good location...if you like the hotel and get free Internet
- go for it.
Last year Melia did not include Internet If I remember they sold cards to connect to some provider.
for 5 euros a day .
Berlin has fantastic public transit..you can get a weekly ticket with unlimited use on all means of transportation.
.

5 euros a day is fine. Whenever we've stayed at hotels in Europe that didn't include internet, it cost 20 euros a day, which I think is nuts. 5 I would pay for a good hotel. A hotel that I really like is the Adina Apartment Hotel at Checkpoint Charlie. I think I will take Andrew's advice and ask how much they charge for internet access.

.I have a mini IPad
so sometimes I had a coffee at Starbucks and connected for free.

danon, I have an iPad and did that as well, but I really like to be able to get on the internet when at the hotel. I upload photos and want to post but I don't feel like paying 20 euros a day to do it! I emailed the hotel I'm interested in and hope they will answer tomorrow so I could make up my mind.

I assume you read the TA reviews of the Adina? A lot of people do complain about the WiFi access not being free (30 minutes free only) although supposedly it is free in the lobby.

If you have an unlocked GSM phone (or unlocked smart phone that has GSM capability), you could also buy a 3G data SIM for a week - that might be cheaper than paying for WiFi, and you could use it not just at the hotel. I considered doing that with my Android phone but just lived with the slow 2G, because it was free. But yeah, I know - WiFi is easy...

Did you notice how many reviews this place has received in just the last few weeks??? Some of the hotels I reviewed on TA in Germany had only a few reviews in the last YEAR. I wonder of the Adina encourages its guests to write TA reviews?

(Or use a data SIM in your iPad, of course.)

My iPad is wifi only. I do have several phones I could get a SIM card for but I would rather just be able to connect through wifi. I could actually live with 30 minutes per day but I'd like more.

When I stayed at Melia
I looked at it as a few more euros for the room.
I liked the hotel , so it was not a deal breaker