Help - Where to stay in Berlin

Alexanderplatz is the logical choice. Alexanderplatz is a real transport hub, and you are so well connected there that you can go just about anywhere you want to go with the U-bahn, S-bahn, or tram. It has also many great tourist attractions within walking distance, making it the ideal starting point for a sightseeing tour of Berlin. That's the reason.

I do not see any criteria provided by OP to make a choice. Both are very contrasting and have pros and cons.

Descriptions are available on VisitBerlin for Alexanderplatz and for Gendarmenmarkt.

@OP:
What is important for you?
Date / purpose of travel?
What is your budget?

Thank you for your reply!
@MarkK - I was just hoping to get other travelers opinions on what they liked and didn't like about each area.
I will be using Hilton points to stay and they have a hotel at each area. We will be traveling in the Winter to see the Christmas Markets.

Thanks

Thank you so much Rjean!

Info: Hampton by Hilton Berlin City Centre Alexanderplatz is not located at Alexanderplatz directly. Some walk in German winter needed to reach the full choice of public transport.

Subway line U2 connects both places.

Christmas markets at both places will feel very different. "Alex" has two, the one at Rotes Rathaus is at south end of Alexanderplatz.

At the end to me more a choice of style you look for.

Let's see what others will write.

@MarkK - Thank you so much for that information!! So helpful

We were in Berlin several years ago with friends from Germany. We stayed in Potsdam because it was much cheaper, and took the UBahn to Berlin each day. (Potsdam also has incredible things to see.)

Info: Potsdam is connected to Berlin by S-Bahn and by regional trains, no U-Bahn available between both cities.

Hi,

Between these two choices listed, I would take Alexanderplatz. First of all, I know the place a lot better relative to Gendarmenmarkt. It's also on the S-Bahn lateral lines, a main junction point, going west to Berlin Hbf or in the other direction to the Jannowitzbrücke area, Berlin Ostbahnhof, Köpenick, and Karlshorst, which is a lot more familiar to me than working the U-Bahn system.

As you can probably guess, that was the so-called traditional French quarter in Berlin. At one point the French population in Berlin reached 20%. Of the 3 cathedrals in Berlin, the Französischer Dom is one of them along with Deutscher Dom and Berliner Dom which is first see you as you walk east on Unter den Linden.

Another feature of Alexanderplatz by way of incentive: One of the oldest (or the oldest) restaurant(s) in Berlin is located at Alexanderplatz, say ca 10 min walk from the Große Uhr, went there twice...worth it if you want traditional German and Berlin cuisine, the same as I found in the Köpenick restaurant.

I'm a fellow Hilton person and I've been eyeing the Alexanderplatz one, too. If I have enough points, I'm going to do the Hilton though. The Hampton Berlin City West doesn't look bad either, by the park and near KaDeWe. The East Side Gallery one looked further away from the "stuff" to me than the others. It may help if you make a Google Map of the places you want to visit in Berlin, and then choose the hotel that is nearest the most places you want to go.

Berlin is more spread out than other German cities so good public transit access is a must. Alexanderplatz location edges it out there for the S-Bahn, but I've stayed near the Gendarmenmarkt several times before and it's not a problem if you don't mind changing trains. The hotels are not really that far from each other and both are in central locations and border some of my favorite areas.

The Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market is one of my favorites in all of Germany (not just Berlin!) so if it were me that might give that location the edge.

Anyway, you really can't go wrong with either location, just don't stay in former west Berlin, it's far away from the "action" and there's a lot less to do. I will never understand why so many people on this forum insist on staying in the west.