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.
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.
If staying in hotels where artists have gone wild in the design process is your thing, then Budget Travel has just published the ideal art hotel round-up for you. Their list features hotels across three continents that have just one thing in common: every room is a grand work of art where you should expect the unexpected.
In the Netherlands, for example, the St Christopher's at the Winston, has now retreated from its previously far, far out art that included animal corpses to room designs with highly energetic walls and paintings (pictured above)--interesting to look at, but we're not sure if we could get any sleep.
Getting wireless internet access in hotels is still incredibly hit and miss, and it doesn't really seem to matter much where in the world you are. We've been thinking of a trip back to Germany's vibrant capital of Berlin, a big international city where many hotel guests would surely need good internet access, but things still don't look too good.
Take the luxury Grand Hyatt Berlin as a typical example: it offers Wifi in public areas of the hotel, as well as in meeting rooms, but you have to plug in your cables to get access in your room. The confusingly-named Golden Tulip Berlin Hotel Hamburg (we promise it's in Berlin, really) proudly advertises that it has wireless internet access available to its guests in all rooms and even dining facilities--but the catch is that you have to pay for it. And the Hilton Hotel Berlin has free WiFi to those using its Executive Lounge and Business Centre, but you have to pay up plenty to be one of those guests to start with.
Can other Berlin hotels step up to the plate? Let us know if you have any good Berlin WiFi experiences. And wherever you stay, keep asking hotel staff for free WiFi. We need a revolution!
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by amandak
