Berlin rental advice

I recommend the Adina Apartment Hotel in Hackescher Markt. They have 1-2 bedroom apartments with fully equipped kitchens, washers and dryers and so on. They do have hotels in other Berlin locations as well, but I personally really liked this location. The staff was friendly and courteous, and the rooms were very well prepared, large, clean and nice. Breakfast is available although given the kitchen facilities, I just ate in my room in the morning. Price was reasonable for what was offered.

Also, the hotel is very convenient to the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and trams, and is an easy walk to the major museums. The DDR museum is only a few blocks away, along with the TV Tower, and Museum Island is a quick 5 minute walk. You can easily walk to Lindenstraß from there, There are several grocery stores a few blocks away along with a couple of wine shops, many cafes and good restaurants. I would definitely stay in the Hackescher Markt location again.

In Berlin better prefer hotel to single apartment because not all of these are operated legally compliant and may disappear from the market upon arrival. Berlin and all other large cities have a ban against misusing housing space for vacation rentals.

Adina has also other locations in Berlin besides the one mentioned by Mardee. The one at Checkpoint Charlie is highly rated.

Newer and good rated stars at Berlin apartment hotels are KPM Hotel & Residences and Apartments Rosenthal Residence.

Adina has also other locations in Berlin besides the one mentioned by Mardee. The one at Checkpoint Charlie is highly rated.

All of them are highly rated, but I checked out a few of the other locations (including the one at Checkpoint Charlie) and liked the Hackescher Markt location the best for convenience to the main sights and dining/shopping opportunities. I found the Checkpoint Charlie location to be a bit depressing and more touristed. Of course, that's my opinion, but I just found the HM area to be so much fun to stay in and loved being able to get around and use public transportation.

I found that the Hackescher Markt area has several sharp tram curves that are incredibly noisy. If you will have an open window, take that into consideration.

Edit: That is, Haeckescher Markt neighborhood, not referring directly to any one business.

I didn't have any noise problem when I was there, and there is a thread where several people who have stayed there agreed. Either way, you can always ask for a quiet apartment.

I found the Checkpoint Charlie location to be a bit depressing and more touristed.

Very different opinion from a local. The hotel area is very much in private living and small business area - not directly Checkpoint Charlie. Hackescher Markt is nearly full tourist-driven.

Berlin and all other large cities have a ban against misusing housing
space for vacation rentals.

I havent heard about "all other large cities in Germany", but from what I have read, short term rentals are pretty much illegal in Berlin. I guess there are exceptions, but I would be careful. Nothing I read about Berlin identified the term "misusing" when identifying short term rentals relative to long term rentals when discussing the need for legal changes.

I think the whole discussion is facinating. I discovered in Berlin only 16% of the population owns a home. Since this is a very wealthy society we are talking about, its a cultural difference not a cost issue. Not right or wrong, just an interesting difference from the US. (for a little context Berlin low, but isnt terribly low for Western Europe, the US is about 65% and most of Eastern Europe its over 90%; and its usually defined as "the percentage of people who live in a home which is owned by one of the occupants of the home")

Apparently apartment hotels are legal. That appears to be where a large company comes in and buys and converts an entire apartment block as opposed to a landowner renting one place in an apartment block. So look for apartment hotels as I think is mentioned above.

If 16% is the accurate number in terms of Berlin districts, I would be interested in which district these places are? Zehlendorf, Charlottenburg or Grunewald would be the logical guesses.

Years ago, maybe 2015 or so, I saw at breakfast in a Berlin Pension in a newspaper, can't recall which, ( "Berliner Morgenpost"? ) an article about which nationality of tourists spent the most, buying up things, etc in Berlin. This was shown in a pie-chart followed by the more detailed article. Americans were even listed, let alone shown in the pie-chart.

The top two contenders were Russians and the Chinese, who obviously had no compunctions about spending.

havent heard about "all other large cities in Germany"

Mr É: just as update for you. I listed the largest and touristically relevant German cities in the linked thread - the list is by far not complete. Hanover for example has decided for a ban against misusage in 2023 but not realized yet. Leipzig and Dresden decided one year ago and started realization.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/planning-for-areas-dealing-with-overtourism

short term rentals are pretty much illegal in Berlin

Fully wrong context. In Berlin "residential space is protected from misappropriation through vacancy, demolition and conversion into commercial space or vacation homes" (link to official regulation). If someboday really lives in a housing unit and rents this during 2 weeks vacation (if contractually allowed) - no problem.

The administrative word in German is "Zweckentfremdungsverbot".

I discovered in Berlin only 16% of the population owns a home.

I have different context of such number. 15.9% of Berlin's housing units were used by the owners themselves - they lived in their owned unit. Sometimes they own several other units which are rented.

Roughly 2.015 million housing units in over 333 thousand housing buildings (2023 IBB Housing Market Report). 57% of buildings are one and two family houses. 360 thousand housing units are owned by Berlin, administrated by six state-owned companies.

A look at the ownership structures shows that around 32.3% of Berlin's rental housing stock can be described as being managed for the common good. Municipal housing companies manage around 21.0% and cooperatives around 11.3% of Berlin's rental housing market. Around 3.3% is accounted for by private apartments subject to rent and occupancy. Around 64.3% of rental apartments are privately owned and not tied to a specific tenant.

So we are down to someone renting their home 2 weeks a year? Imagine strangers living in your home while you were away .... Yup, short term rentals are pretty much illegal. It will probably be beneficial for the Berlin tourism industry as the trend i keep reading about is to eliminate working class tourists by pricing them out of the market; making the environment more attractive to wealthy tourists that spend more money. Which is their right to do. No complaint from me. I just go where my kind are welcome.

Very different opinion from a local. The hotel area is very much in private living and small business area - not directly Checkpoint Charlie. Hackescher Markt is nearly full tourist-driven.

Mark, locals usually don't stay at hotels in their home town. I was there at the Checkpoint Charlie location. I actually walked to the hotel because I was in the area and happened to see it, so my statement above stands. FWIW, here is a photo of its location and it is definitely not in a "private living and small business area." https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipOFeYSklSO39U_58PIy4Lv2exkieFQJw8SxuWqO=s1360-w1360-h1020

Yes, Hackescher Markt does have tourists who stay there, and there's a reason for that. It's a nice hotel, and it's very convenient to sights and public transportation. I'm also sure that the Adina Checkpoint Charlie is also a nice hotel. The Adina brand is a good one and I would stay in any of them. I'm just pointing out that I preferred the location at HM for all the reasons named here.

I usually pay attention to someone who has actually stayed at a particular hotel, rather than a local who has not. If people ask me questions about hotels where I live, I usually tell them I don't know, because I don't stay at them.

Mardee, I have discovered (and know first hand from my foul ups) that locals are great for how to get from A to B, but beyond that tourists often provide better insight for all the obvious reasons.

Mardee, please just look at a map. The Adina Apartment Hotel Berlin Checkpoint Charlie is by far NOT located at Checkpoint Charlie. Got it now???

And yes, Checkpoint Charlie is touristy. But this is Springer area or in German Springer-Areal.

And be sure that I know my city very precisely, esp. where a Kiez is incl. the touristy areas although not each hotel from inside.

Mardee, please just look at a map. The Adina Apartment Hotel Berlin Checkpoint Charlie is by far NOT located at Checkpoint Charlie. Got it now???

Mark, I did look at a map. Even better, I was there! And I didn't say it was located AT Checkpoint Charlie, but it is in that area (hence the name). All I'm saying is that I liked the HM location better than the CC location. And unlike what you said, it is a business area. Look at the photo I linked to - that is a photo of the Adina CC Hotel. I'm not trying to one-up you here, honestly; I'm just giving my opinion as a tourist who stayed at one of the hotels and had the chance to compare it to the same hotel at a different location.

Just an info for tourists: some hotel names in Berlin are not a geo location information, sometimes a few blocks are between hotel and the named location. This happens with location names such as Alexanderplatz, Zoo, Ku'Damm and other locations such as Checkpoint Charlie.

Another info for this Adina CC location: there are people living in the 4 double housing blocks wth 25 floors each, as well as in the side streets. So tourists have infrastructure there like supermarkets, pharmacy, tech stores, restaurants and a good access to bus 200.

I am more interested in knowing which of the large cities that have this Verbot that are not frequented by foreign tourists, makes no difference to me whether "my kind are welcome." (ie, as a foreign traveler/visitor in Germany).

Then this option of getting rentals is not one of my accommodation options, relying rather on small hotels/Pensionen or good hotel offers by local chains.