Why can't hotels just be hotels these days? You know...places to lay your head, eat some good food, possibly get a massage and be mildly entertained by the box-office stinkers that you order from the hotel TV's movies-on-demand system?

Nope, not anymore. Hotels are routinely trying to best each other with new services (did anyone say "Gladiator Lessons"?), new amenities, and funky design.

One Berlin hotel, the Hotel Ostel, has really gone overboard by essentially recreating East Germany and all of the trappings of Communist living. No, we're not kidding you.

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]]> juliana 2007-06-21T13:24:04-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/2/19/11333/9679 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/hotelderome_berlin.jpg" class="imgborder"> <p><br>The <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+De+Rome+Berlin/local/266">Hotel de Rome</a></b>, which despite the name is in Berlin, has all the trappings of a top-notch downtown hotel. The building is a converted bank, with the vault now turned swimming pool. Rooms are super-huge with price tags to match. And the bathroom is full of schmancy products and heated towel racks.<br> <p>But that didn't do the trick for Denny Lee, who recently checked in for a New York Times <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/travel/18check.html">article</a>. Maybe it was the lack of WiFi, or the insane $26 a day fee for wired internet that got him miffed. Or it could've been the dicey service:<blockquote><p>An empty minibar shouldn't require three follow-up visits and a dozen apologies delivered with sheepish grins. pbb 2007-02-19T12:28:07-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/12/8/165356/011 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/symbol_room.jpg"><p>And we thought spending a night in the dizzying black and white rooms at the Night Hotel were bad enough. But now we find the Symbol Room at the <a href="http://www.propeller-island.com/"><b>Propeller Island City Lodge</b></a> in Berlin.<p>Actually, all of the 31 rooms here are pretty crazy. <a href="http://funny-town.blogspot.com/2006/10/extraordinary-hotel-with-31-crazy.html">Funny Town</a> has descriptions and pictures of all them, from the Orange room to the Castle room (which pairs with the Dwarves room), to the Mirror room (heh, heh) to Grandma's room and to the Table room, where your bed and desk are atop a giant table.<p>Each room was created by artist Lars Stroschen and the hotel asks that you remember that while you are staying there, you are living in a piece juliana 2006-12-08T16:53:56-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/11/14/7287/6892 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/women_berlin.jpg"><p>Sorry guys, this one's not for your eyes (and that's not a ploy to get you interested).<p> Sometimes hotels are just for women. In Berlin there's more than one women-only hotel, and your experience can be good. In particular, the almost hostel-priced <a href="http://www.hotelintermezzo.de/seiten/coming_soon.html"><b>Intermezzo Hotel for Women</b></a> isn't fancy, but has a lot of pluses. Location is the first bonus: in the heart of the center of old East Berlin, walking distance to Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial or the Postdamer Platz, and still near public transport like the subway (<i>U-bahn</i> line 2) and the tram (<i>S-Bahn</i>).<p> Berlin's generally a safe city for tourists anyway, but sometimes its size and constant day-or-night buzz can be a bit amandak 2006-11-14T15:19:13-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/10/24/95631/498 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/spklng_wine.jpg"><p>Like movie stars and their affection toward gift bags, so are we to free surprises in the hotel world. It can as simple as a Godiva chocolate on our bed to free WiFi. <p> Every once in a while though, hotels really step it up. A recent past guest at the <a href="http://www.deraghotels.de/en/"><b>Derag Hotel Grosser Kurfuerst</b></a> in Berlin was lucky enough to get a bigger prize: sparkling wine: <blockquote><p>The staff at the hotel were very pleasant and helpful in getting us booked in and also with local knowledge of things to do, places to see etc. Upon reaching our room (which I had ordered flowers &amp; chocolates for my wife) I also found a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine Courtney 2006-10-24T10:59:29-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/