My husband and I will be visiting Berlin in early May. I have read Sleeping in East Berlin in RS Berlin book. There are not many hotels listed. Has anyone stayed at any of the hotels in RS book? Have you stayed at any other hotels that you would recommend. We would prefer to spend 100- 140 Euro a night, but not apposed to less. Not interested in staying in a hostel.
Carol, If you'd like to stay in a Hotel in the former "western" section, I would highly recommend Pension Peters. It's in a fantastic location, about halfway between Savignyplatz and Bahnhof Zoo. There are some nice restaurants and Pubs in the area, and Schwarze's Cafe is just a few doors from the Hotel and open 24 hours. The staff were wonderful and the room I stayed in was very modern and comfortable. Happy travels!
I stayed at the Hotel Kastanienhof in former East Berlin, in September 2012. I would definitely stay there again, and it should be in your price range. Here's what I wrote in my trip report: >>Kastanienhof negatives: WiFi is only in lobby; rooms have only wired internet (fine for me with a netbook, but not for those with tablets/smartphones/iPods only). Kastanienhof positives: everything else! Wonderful and helpful staff, great breakfast (most diverse of three hotels we stayed at), right at a tram stop, a few blocks from Oderberger Strasse with a great collection of wonderful and inexpensive restaurants, elevator in hotel (although our rooms were up a few stairs from the elevator, and there are stairs to get to the lobby, so it's not suitable for someone unable to do a few stairs). For a single room, it was very well laid out, and it was the only one of our three hotels with grab bars in the shower and with a magnifying mirror (both important to my mother). We'd both stay at the Hotel Kastanienhof again. A Rick Steves tour was there for part of our stay, so if you want to stay there, book early.<< I'll add that the tram went to LOTS of useful places, so we often didn't even have to connect to other transit, but it did connect to several S-Bahn stops. One negative is that the trams run all night, so if you're a very light sleeper, they might awaken you.
If you check out Berlin- Mitte you'll find many hotel options in your price range. This district is actually in former East Berlin and quite central to lots of major tourist attractions.
Beatrix is right. Mitte is full of hotels, mostly off Friedrichstrasse, that are reasonable and quite stylish. I stayed at the Arcotel Velvet, on Oranienburgstrasse. Wonderful staff and location, for a good price. Next to a lot of restaurants, bars, a pharmacy, and Tacheles Kunsthalle (now sadly closed, from my understanding.) Lots of people here like the Circus Hotel, on Rosenthaler Platz.
Prenzlauer Berg is another great option in the former East Berlin. A bit more residential, but full of good places to eat, drink, and shop.