Best place to stay in Berlin w/3 adult kids?

Berlin does not have any unsafe places. Even our worst places are safer than some big cities on the planet.

Your adult kids can easily use public transport to find their party places - night bus lines replace the subways late at night.
+ Kreuzkölln (Reuterkiez plus x)
+ Boxhagener Platz
+ Oranienstrasse
+ Club lane between Ostbahnhof and Ostkreuz along East Side Gallery with WOW selfie places gallery at Oberbaum Bridge
+ Kastanienallee

If you position yourself at Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstrasse or Warschauer Strasse you will be at one of the main public traffic hubs and will reach sights and parties fast, easily and safely. You can look it up at BVG website.

At clubs and at very lively places such as Alexanderplatz just be a little bit more careful: pickpockets learned a lot of tricks here, see webpage in German language and English PDF flyer of Berlin Police Department. Young ladies shall not leave open drinks / bottles unattended. All three shall avoid any unknown pills.

When I am saying the above do not worry, we have millions of tourists and only a very few issues but a German saying says: "Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellankiste" ("prevention is everything" - freely translated). Other best translations are provided by DeepL - there is no better translation engine from German into other languages.

If you plan to visit Berlin from June 30 2024 on book hotels and transports early due to European Soccer Championship in Germany. Public viewings at that time are very lively and entertaining.

Thank you MarkK for the great info! One of the places that we found a nice Airbnb that gets good reviews is in Neukolln, however, since Rick Steves doesn't mention this area, I don't know much about it. I have read that it's a hip & trendy area but also a bit gritty. Seems quite the opposite of Prenzlauer Berg which is Rick Steve's favorite area to stay. My husband wants a place that the kids will think is cool so hip & trendy Neukolln kinda fits that description, but, again, I usually follow Rick's advice. So long explanation for short question of would you recommend staying in Neukolln? Thank you!

Just as a reference point ... how many nights are you planning to stay in Berlin ?

We are in Berlin for 3 nights. Then heading to Munich.

My husband wants a place that the kids will think is cool so hip & trendy Neukolln kinda fits that description

I think that cool, hip and trendy can apply to Berlin in general, especially if you're traveling from middle America. We stayed on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg several years and it was a wonderful location. Since you're only there for three nights [ not nearly enough IMHO], access to transportation should be a major consideration.

Neukölln is a huge district with over 300.000 people - like a little city on its own - from richer single house areas over Gropiusstadt (suburban high multi-apartment house from 70s to areas like Sonnenallee, Hermannplatz and already mentioned Reuterkiez.

As a local I like to ask you to stay away from AirBnB and such because they destroy our inner-city cultural mix by supporting misusing apaartments for tourists instead of living also for low-income people. In Berlin landlords need a permission by authorities for renting apartments to tourists; AirBnB does not care for that and acts actively against our community. Please choose a hotel, e. g. Schulz or Meininger at Ostbahnhof which are family oriented.

Neukölln is not known for good hotels. If you want it overhip Hüttenpalast is your choice. Your kids can sleep in small huts or campers (inside a building) and you go for a regular hotel room.

A hip tip for music fans is nhow Hotel directly located at river Spree at Oberbaum Bridge, also close Michelberger is a recommendation. They are right in the middle of described Club lane.

Also Adina Apartment Hotel Berlin at Hackescher Markt is an option for small groups. For kids Hackesche Höfe and Rosenthaler Platz are near.