WEBMU 2012 Berlin - Hotels
-
Hello everyone. Finally I am here with a list of hotels which I suggest. Of course you are certainly welcome to stay where ever you please. The idea is to keep us in the same general area (which you will see is quite big enough for all of us) to avoid long public transport times. Booking services will take you to the old standards, the Ibis and NH... the hotels on the list below are known either for being unique, or are simply well placed and reasonably priced.
If anyone would like to consider setting up a block of rooms at a specific hotel and requesting a discount, simply let it be known here. I would be more than happy to talk with the hotel and try to arrange something. Normally for at least 20 hotel nights booked, (or 10 hotel rooms), we could assume a 15-20% discount per room. So pick a hotel and let's see what we can do!
We are going to try to center the Berlin WEBMU in two districts of the city, with possible excursions into the other areas.
Prenzlauerberg and Friedrichshain are in the former east and have seen a lot of change in the last 20 or so years and are joined at the center by Alexanderplatz, the city-center of the former east.
If you have any specific hotel needs and are not finding something which makes you happy, let me know. Perhaps I can find a way to accommodate you.
A map showing all hotel possibilities:
http://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=207443749502522256790.0004c0a0391ccef1a8dbb&msa=0&ll=52.524681,13.414736&spn=0.02987,0.055189
Brilliant Apartments – close to the Mauerpark where we will finish on Sunday
Oderberger Straße 38, 10435 Berlin, 0172 9986435
http://brilliant-apartments.de/?lang=en
Charleston House Berlin (apartments with a lovely central garden)
Wörther Straße 20 10405 Berlin (0)30 44043641
Hotel Jurine Berlin Mitte (hostel)
Schwedter Straße 15, 10119 Berlin (0)30 443299 ext. 0
http://www.hotel-jurine.de/
Meininger Hostel Berlin Prenzlauer Berg
Schönhauser Allee 19 10435 Berlin (0)30 66636100
http://www.meininger-hotels.com/hotel-hostel/hotelsuche/berlin/prenzlauer-berg/
Pfefferbett Hostel
Christinenstraße 18, 10119 Berlin, (0)30 93935858
http://www.pfefferbett.de/
Precice Meyer’s Hotel Berlin – Charming hotel
Metzer Straße 26, 10405 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, (0)30 44 01 40
http://www.precisehotels.com/de/hotel/berlin-prenzlauer-berg/willkommen
The Circus Hostel /apartments – a little out of the way, but it comes highly recommended
Rosenthaler Straße 1, 10119 Berlin, (0) 30/20003939
http://www.circus-berlin.de/circus_hotel_berlin.html
Wombats City Hostel Berlin (fairly new hotel)
Alte Schönhauser Straße 2, 10119 Berlin, (0)30 84710820
http://www.wombats-hostels.com/berlin/
Old Town Apartments
Schönhauser Allee 5, 10439 Berlin, (0)30/5471 ext. 3890
http://www.ota-berlin.de/
Soho House Berlin – trendiest (and priciest) place on our list
Torstr. 1, 10119 Berlin, (0)30/4050440
http://www.sohohouseberlin.de/
Park Inn Berlin-Alexanderplatz – yes, THAT Park Inn, overlooking Alex and facing the TV Tower
Alexanderplatz 7, 10178 Berlin, (0)30/23890
http://www.parkinn-berlin.com/default-en.html
Singer109 – hostel/apartments
Singerstraße 109, 10179 Berlin, (0)30/8687870
http://www.singer109.com/
Innside by Melia Berlin
Lange Straße 31, 10243 Berlin, (0)30/293030
http://www.innside.com/de/hotel-berlin-innside-premiun-berlin-deutschland.html?music=1&kalender=1
NU Hotel Berlin – Looks like an IKEA hotel to me
Gubener Straße 46, 10243 Berlin, (0)30/68811220
http://www.nu-hotel.de/
Juncker's Hotel Garni – in the party district of Friedrichshain
Grünberger Straße 21, 10243 Berlin, (0)30/2933550
http://www.junckers-hotel.de/
Ostel - Das DDR Design Hostel - SIMPLE rooms with the retro flair of the old east
Wriezener Karree 5, 10243 Berlin, (0)30/2576 ext. 8660
http://www.ostel.eu/
Upstalsboom Hotel Friedrichshain – Trendy part of Friedrichshain
Gubener Straße 42, 10243 Berlin, (0)30/293750
http://www.upstalsboom.de/hotel_berlin/hotel_friedrichshain/?n=10&pRegion=3&pOrt=21&pHotel=39 -
I like the idea of trying to arrange a block of rooms for WEBMU participants. I understand this will not suit everyone as people will have specific accommodation needs but for those of us just wanting a good-priced bed, I think it is a great idea. Should we see how many are interested in this type of arrangement?
-
We stayed in an Old Town Apartment in Berlin just off Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz back in 2005 with two friends visiting from California. It was our first time renting an apartment while traveling (instead of a hotel stay) and the staff made a very friendly impression.
The building itself was on the dumpy side -- from its outward appearance. Inside, someone had obviously put a lot of effort into modernization and renovation.
I'd stay there again!
-
I'd be interested in a group rate, provided we can make the weekend.
-
What a great list, Marcy. Totally using it to book my overnight in the capital next week :)
I'd be interested in hunting down a group rate (and could do that legwork for the group if the group can went until the first week of July -- I'll be in Berlin then and could actually look at the hotel), but with the caveat that I'm kind of picky when it comes to hotels and I'd prefer to have a kid-friendly one.
Ain't no way I'll stay at the Ostel or The Circus Hostel and I've already been at the Park Inn, which is expensive and strange (can anyway say glass bathroom walls -- awkward if you're sharing a room) but well located so would be on the maybe list. All that's my way of saying I'm happy to ask Soho House for a group rate :) -- just kidding.
-
Last time I went to Berlin, I stayed in (and can heartily recommend) the Hotel Casa Camper. It's not one for the budget-minded, but the rooms are amazing and the included amenities are great. It's not far from the biggest cluster of hotels on the existing map you posted.
Web site: http://www.casacamper.com/berlin/
Address: Weinmeisterstr.1, Mitte, 10178
That being said, is there an "official" Webmu hotel out of the list? I'd be up for a group rate if the Collective chooses a great hotel.
-
I've booked our train tickets. Should I wait to book a room until there is some kind of final decision on whether we are seeking a group rate somewhere?
-
Thanks Snooker. :)
-
@CNHeidelberg, can you give some guidance on the train tickets as we are not frequent train travelers?
-
I use bahn.de to book, but you can also do it at the Reisezentrum in the train station. They are usually really helpful. If you know for sure that you're going to go, you should book as soon as you can because there are Sparangebote (deals) which run out as time goes on. They will save you a ton of money! It's a good idea to reserve seats on the IC/ICE.
You can email me if you have specific questions: eastie216-blog at yahoo.
-
tehnyit, I'll second the advice to reserve seats. The ICE trains are *frequently* at capacity, and if you don't have a reservation you're likely to spend several hours sitting on the floor in between the wagons.
-
Snooker, any good news yet from the hotel side of things?
-
Well Gang, I wish that I had better news for you on the hotel block.
Way back in May when I extended feelers for blocking rooms I ran into wall after wall.
And today I just hit the final wall for certain. Although I had two hotels stringing me on, neither would commit, and today I found out they will not offer anything to us either.
Chains: Most of the chain hotels let me know that they were holding large blocks of rooms for the IFA which is a consumer electronics show held during that same weekend. Since they already had these blocks reserved, they would not be making any new block reservations until those rooms were released. Several of them let me know that the blocks were held back until July 1, and if not reserved, would fall back to the hotel to book on an individual basis. I have spent the morning touching base with my contacts at these hotels and no one is opening their doors to us, and IF they do, they won't be offering any discounts on a weekend that they assume they will oversell.
Mom and Pop hotels: A good majority of those on the list above are smaller places. Either they are hidden, unique, or are simply recommended as a place to stay. Many of these hotels don't have more than 20 rooms in the entire place and do not want to block what few rooms they have with the fear that they might not have enough time to fill the hotel if that block does not book out.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN, MARCY?
Unfortunately it means that even though the IFA is happening on the other side of town, it has effectively stopped our ability to ask for lowered rates.
The next set of blocks are to be released to the hotels on/around August 1st.
But I am afraid to tell people to wait any longer because meanwhile the rooms could fill and folks would have a problem.
So book. Book now... book often.
When I made the list above I confirmed availability at each one of the locations.
Give them a call or hit Booking.com for any special needs.
Unfortunately it is actually companies LIKE Booking.com that are causing these difficulties. They hold the blocks on the rooms and do their best to sell them by a certain, contracted date. Since they have so much power, they are able to negotiate contracts to block rooms much closer to the destination date than "normal" people. In this case, it would be normal to hold rooms until two months out. But these big companies can hold the rooms until 15 days out... which normally isn't a problem because they will sell those rooms.
Sorry that the news isn't better. But I'm afraid that my hands are tied, and even those in my work's hotel department are shaking their heads in futility.
-
As far as kids goes, that is hard to tell for childless me.
I personally would probably try to stay in an apartment with a kitchen and some "running around" room.
My suggestion for reasonably priced apartments is Brilliant Apartments, which can be found in the list above. Kitchen and breathing room. Old Town Apartments looks to be a bit higher in price, but also a good option.
Perhaps some others have experience with kiddies in Berlin hotels.
-
Thanks for the update, Snooker! :)
-
Thanks for trying, Snooker.
Btw, all, as of this writing, Park Inn Berlin-Alexanderplatz is claiming sold out via their website. I just booked my room at the Casa Camper that I mentioned in my comment above- it's familiar to me, and the food is included (and tasty).
-
Hi all,
As per Marcy's Twitter request, I'm throwing out this option for people who either a) want to share an apartment or b) are just looking for a room, you can book using Slow Travel Berlin's partnership with Be My Guest: http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/accommodation/
Alternatively, I've used airbnb.com to find places in Berlin, and they've got loads to offer. If you're coming alone or as a couple and don't mind sharing a bathroom with the hosts, Andrea's house is in a to-die-for neighborhood in PBerg (near Gethsemane Church): http://www.airbnb.com/users/show/456085 and the couple is lovely.
Marika has an awesomely located apartment (she rents the whole apartment out and it's kid-friendly, though alas with only one bed) directly in Mitte, just a short walk from Rosa-Luxemburger Platz and Hackescher Markt. http://www.airbnb.com/users/show/825627
In fact, I like Marika's space so much I'm thinking of using it on my next trip to Berlin; for WEBMU, though, I'm staying with a friend so it's all yours if you sign up now :)
-
Also, Tehn, if you need help with the Bahn tix, let me know. Your kids, by the way, travel free (except for the costs of reserving the seat). If you include them in your seat reservation request, you'll likely get a spot in the "Kleinkindabteilung" where they can be as loud as they want. And if you book at a non-busy time (i.e., leave Cologne after 8 a.m., before 3 p.m. on a weekday), you don't have to worry about sitting in the aisles :)
-
Spoiled, effete, middle-aged homosexuals, that's us. So when I stumbled onto the Hilton at half price via booking.com, I snaffled it for three days.
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Categories
- All Discussions182
- WEBMU 20131
- Meetups5
- Travel2
- Local Events36
- ↳ Bavaria8
- ↳ Berlin7
- ↳ Frankfurt2
- ↳ NRW2
- ↳ the East2
- ↳ the North7
- ↳ the Rheinland6
- Meta27
- Other Stuff19
- Tiddlywinks, anyone?5
- WEBMU 201219
- WEBMU 201122
- ↳ Cologne16
- WEBMU 201020
- ↳ Hamburg16
- WEBMU 200926
- ↳ Munich20
In this Discussion
- cliff1976 May 2012
- CNHeidelberg July 2012
- fraudietz May 2012
- Futile Diatribes July 2012
- mandi May 2012
- Riayn July 2012
- Sarah1976 July 2012
- Snooker July 2012
- StevenGlassman July 2012
- tehnyit July 2012
- The Honourable Husband July 2012
Tagged
- berlin 9
- apartments 1
- hotel 1
- accommodation 1
- hostel 1