We got it when Berlitz wanted to team up with a hotel to teach us French in Montreal. But going to Germany to learn French? There's something missing in the logic there.
Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, assume they've done some market research and discovered there are travelers who want to stay in Berlin but learn French.
If you belong to that particular market segment then you need to know that the deal is at the Hotel Concorde, a five-star hotel which does, at least, belong to a Paris-based group of hotels, giving the whole French speaking thing just a scrap of credibility.
For those of you who want a more traditional hotel in Berlin rather than a trippy experience like the Propeller Island City Lodge, consider the Regent Berlin. It sounds regal and it looks it too.
With one of those fancy-looking chandelier and marble lobbies, you can guess it's going to be a bit pricey and considering the fact that accommodation prices in Berlin are usually really reasonable, a starting rate of €315 (US$490) for the basic "superior guest room" is quite a lot.
Is it worth it? The location at the Gendarmenmarkt is pretty classic Berlin, and you can walk to many of the best spots of the city. Service is nearly always impeccable and the rooms are both large and full of neat stuff.
Perhaps the only complaint we'd have is that it all sounds a little bit too formal and even a bit on the pretentious side. In a city as fun as Berlin, that might not be exactly what you're looking for; but if you are happy with luxury and a regal feel, then the Regent is what you need.
In the beer-drinking heart of south-east Germany, the Mandarin Oriental Munich is proving popular with travelers since its renovations finished recently (although personally we're a bit puzzled by the new furniture in this picture).
Right now it's rating as #3 out of some 350 hotels on the TripAdvisor ratings so are hunch that it's a good spot to stay is definitely shared; on top of that, their website boasts that a Travel + Leisure poll put them in the Top 10 of the world's best hotels.
The location is great, right near the Marienplatz which is where Munich ticks. The hotel has everything, even a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the rest of Munich is right at your feet anyway.
What we like is all the different packages available--sounds like there would be something to suit most people.
Our inbox just brought word of a recently opened hotel/hostel/lounge in Hamburg, Germany, and we must say that staying in a hostal has never looked like so much fun.
The place is called Superbude, a name we find ourselves partial to for no other reason than that it reminds us of the hilarious "Superbad." Rooms, priced from about $90, come with up to four beds and are spread across six different colored floors. Guests get to choose whether they want to stay on the brown, grey, red, pink, green or blue level.
Amenities include in-room TVs, a Wii sports room, an in-house "private cinema," Skype cordless phone rentals and a Kitchen Club, comprised of three fridges full of food for the paid-taking. However, the best part may just be rooms' individual showers. Turn the loo's red light on to turn it into a discoteque: the mirror, your discoball; the showerhead, your mic.
Problem is, the hostal is so new (it opened April 18) it lacks guest reviews. So, if you've recently stayed here, let us know about it, bathroom concert review optional.
This weekend, the New York TimesrecommendsMövenpick Hotel Berlin as a choice pick for "hipsters on a budget." While we don't know anyone who actually likes to be identified as a hipster these days, we do know that the Times seems to have uncovered something worth looking into.
Despite its penchant for trendy guests, the author notes that the hotel isn't in the coolest part of town. No matter, because S-Bahn and U-Bahn stops are just blocks away and Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten Park are within walking distance. Rooms are chic and comfortable and come equipped with TVs, on-demand video and wireless. The Times bottom line: "What you give up in location, you gain in affordability, with rooms starting at about 100 euros a night."
Even if you can't stay the night, the paper says it's worth stopping by to check out Mövenpick's "space-agey" Anhalter Bar, which attracts a late-night loving younger crowd--hipsters, you might say.
Leonardo Hotels, the European subsidiary of the Israeli-based company Fattal Hotel Management Ltd., now is converting the former East German Stasi police headquarters into a new luxury hotel to be called the Leonardo Royal Berlin.
For those unfamiliar with the Cold War years, the Stasi were East German Secret Police who reigned supreme from the previously walled-in city of East Berlin.
The historic building is slated for preservation, so the new hotel will keep the exterior facade of the Bauhaus-style property in tact, as well as the interior décor, which includes marble, lighting and a vaulted lobby ceiling. The renovation will cost $45 million and when completed the hotel will have 304 rooms including 43 suites and first-class guest services.
But you can't book reservations just yet, as the hotel won't open until August 2009.
We've been looking around for a Berlin hotel at Easter time, and we've learned just one thing: Easter's just an excuse for a pretty unexciting hotel deal. We're looking for something with chocolate and bunnies and heaps of Easter spirit, but we can't find it. The good news is, however, that plenty of Berlin hotels are keen to lock us in to a German Easter break, and there is at least the chance to save some Euros.
At the Steigenberger Hotel on Los-Angeles-Platz, for example, you get one night, free use of the pool and "an Easterly three-course meal", from €191 (US$295) for a double (cheaper, ironically, for the weeks either side of the actual Easter break).
At the Grand Hyatt Berlin, they're tenuously grabbing on to the Easter tag by including an "Easter egg" at breakfast, by which they mean you'll get the choice of having your egg cooked exactly how you want it. They also say that fresh bread and brewed coffee are "must-haves at Easter", although we strongly suspect they're available every day of the year. Double room prices start from €175 (US$270) between March 20 and 30.
And just to prove that boring Easter specials are all over Berlin, the Hotel de Rome in Berlin has an Easter deal that's completely free of Easter eggs or Easterly meals. They do, however, want you to stay three nights for the price of two, the kind of deal we rather like, and that means you could have a double from €560 (US$860) for three nights. But bring your own Easter eggs.
Luvvy friend's just raved to us about this super-trendy art hotel in the centre of the butt-spankingly cool city of Berlin in Germany. It's called the Propeller Island City Lodge", but it's nothing to do with propellers, islands, or lodges. It's to do with bizarre, contemporary art and freaky design fantasy.
You see, we have this huge great ego, and the place seems made for us: "a magnet for creative individuals, those weary of consumption, those who see things differently, philosophers and seekers of perspective and vision." Describes us down to a 'T'.
Not only that, the website alleges: "frequented by personalities from around the globe, this vision machine is a much-desired shooting site for photo sessions and video clips." There's our springboard for a modelling career.
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by amandak
