Where to stay in Berlin

We found Pension Peters to be a great small hotel with a staff that was very helpful. Everyone checking in got a 10-15 minute sit-down with Uwe, the owner, who gave a rundown on how to get around Berlin, sites to see, local restaurants. Good breakfast for a low price, nice location on the west end (not Kreuzberg) about 4 blocks from the Zoo Bahnhof.

To get to Kreuzberg, you would need to walk to the Zoo Bahnhof (or take one of the frequent busses in front of the hotel), and take the U-12 subway to Kreuzberg area, south of Mitte (center).

During the era of The Wall, Kreuzberg was the resident area of Turkish guest workers and bohemian types who liked the low cost housing and exemption from required service in the Army. It is now a somewhat trendy area with many ethnic restaurants and hostel type lodging facilities. The closest "normal" hotels are not far away in the Mitte district. Holiday Inn Express, Crown Plaza, Novotel, etc.

The city is fairly spread out, but with good U-bahn (subway), S-bahn (trains) and buses to get around on. Lots of museums, historic sites to keep you occupied.

So until a Berliner with two good eyes chimes in, you'll have to go on my one-eyed view.

As I understand it, Checkpoint Charlie is at the north central part of Kreuzberg. I stayed at the Mercure there and was very happy with the hotel and the location.

Kreuzberg is a fairly large and also very different district. In the west it is rather middle-class and to the east it is slightly colored.
In the "Stresemannstraße" and in the side streets you will find different Hotels. The most convenient is of course a hotel near the school or in the near from a Subway or S-Bahn Station from where you can quickly go to the school.

What in the world does the bolded "slightly colored" mean?