Recommended neighbourhoods Berlin and Munich accomodations

We just stayed at Hotel Jurine last week. It might be a bit over your mentioned budget. But, we loved the neighborhood, food, and ease of public transit. It's also in Steve's book.

Motel One is a great 2-star chain with locations in both Berlin and Munich. In Munich I prefer the Haidhausen area.

DJ

I'm a fan of the Eurocheapo website. They not only have individual accommodation listings, but also neighborhood descriptions.

Here's the one for Munich: http://www.eurocheapo.com/munich/hoods/

and for Berlin: http://www.eurocheapo.com/berlin/hoods/

There is certainly nothing wrong with 2-star hotels in Germany. DEHOGA, the German Hotel and Restaurant Assoc. requires the same level of cleanliness and maintenance for all hotels, one to five star. The big difference in stars isize of rooms and beds, hours of desk and room service, and whether or not they have heated towel racks. To have 2 stars they have to take credit cards and to have three stars they have to have someone on the staff who speaks English. In fact, most of the places in which I have stayed have eschewed the star ratings and have been fine.

As for specific recommendations, I stayed once at Münchner Kindl. It's inside the Altstadt. It was a little noisy during the day because they were renovating the building across the street, but that should be over by now. The next time I go to Munich, I will try to stay in Pension Lindner. It looks to be ideally located at a reasonable price.

We stayed at the Hotel Antares last time we were in Munich and it was perfect for us. About a 10 minute walk to the old city center and just a couple of blocks away from the Alte Pinakothek. Fairly quiet neighborhood of shops, cafes, and apartments. It was very clean, had an extremely nice bathroom for a cheaper hotel, and the buffet breakfast was very good. Terrible wi-fi but I don't really care about that all that much.

I always recommend mittendrin, a 4-bedroom B&B in a building built in 1905 just off Ku'damm, in the former West Berlin. The owner, Sabine, is a former Munich actress, an English speaker, and an amazing host. She and her other guests (primarily Europeans) will join you each morning for a spectacular breakfast. There is an Einzelzimmer (1-person room) that runs 79-99 euro/night, but you do have to share a hall bathroom with one other room (if booked). Sabine will also do laundry for a very reasonable price while you are out exploring Berlin. The U3 line at Augustraße station is a block away from mittendrin; the U1, U2, and U3 lines are 2 blocks away at Wittenbergplatz. Check TripAdvisor reviews. A friend and I spent a week here last year; we loved it so much that we are spending another week here this year (right now, actually!). If you stay here, you will arrive in Berlin to find a caring host and will leave Berlin with a friend in the city.

On your other thread, Fred refers to your specific budget and his experiences:

The price range you indicate 35 to 55 Euro is what I pay at a Pension
or a small hotel (2 star) for a single room (EZ) in Germany, (Berlin,
Hamburg, Munich, Düsseldorf), depending on the town or location. This
is in the summer. If it's a two star hotel, the single room will come
in between. 35 to 55 Euro, depending on the amenities. In Berlin I pay
40 Euro for the EZ, in Munich I pay 48 Euro at those Pensionen.

I believe such prices may be possible for rooms that either don't include breakfast or that require the sharing of a hall bathroom. I have not seen prices quite that low myself in these cities, at least not for the rooms I prefer in the locations I prefer. I suggest you send a PM to Fred and get his recommendations.

Thanks to Russ's reply, I read your other post. I also have used and like Motel One. It looks like the cheapest in Berlin is the Mitte location, which is a 1/2-block away from the U8 station at Moritzplatz -- connects to the U1 in one stop and to multiple lines at Alexanderplatz in a few stops. Prices from 59 euro per the website. You are definitely going to want to use public transportation in Berlin. Things are too spread out to walk to see them. A great free activity is walking the dome of the Reichstag/Bundestag -- sign up ahead of time online for a reserved time. There are lots of free things to do in Berlin.

Was just at Pension Lindner from Steve's book in Munich. €105 per night with private bath and breakfast. Marion is very nice! 5 min walk from Marienplatz. Other rooms are less money.