Hotel in Berlin

We used Rick's recomendation...Peter's Pension. Right on a bus line, a very short ride or walk to Zoo Bahn Station with easy access to the entire city. The place is nice, clean, good breakfast, great people and decent price. A tip - if you want to visit the Bundestag, get a reservation WELL in advance as you can no longer merely pick up tickets at the gate.

Are you arriving at Hauptbahnhof? If so, it might be easier to stay in Mitte rather than near the Ku'Damm. I stayed at Arcotel Velvet on Oranienburger Strasse, which is next door to a U-Bahn stop (the stop after Hauptbahnhof) and a short distance to the TXL bus to Tegel. It is a 10 minute walk to Museuminsel and there are a ridiculous amount of very reasonably priced restaurants near there.
Enjoy your time in Berlin. It's my favorite city.

Regarding at what station we are arriving: I've no idea... I'm just now starting to plan this trip, and it's our first time in Germany. I'll spend some time at bahn.de later tonight and find out what stations we'll be using in Frankfurt and Berlin. How easy is it to get to the airport in Berlin? And as I believe there is more than one airport, I'll mention we'll be flying American Airlines, I believe we're leaving out of BER.

I see your two posts inquiring about lodging in Berlin and Frankfurt. Do you have a copy of RS Germany Guide Book yet? If so, great. If not, I would suggest you get one (it can be ordered elsewhere on this web site - see "Books") as it was very helpful for us in planning our visit to Frankfurt this coming September. Happy travels

We just recently stayed in a private room at the Circus Hostel. I would highly recommend it. I have no idea if all their private rooms are like this but our room was on the 5th floor with a balcony overlooking the city. Amazing view!! It was 70 euro per night. It is in a fantastic location, with bus and metro connections right outside the door. And the hostel will rent you an all day use transportation pass that is cheaper than if you bought it elsewhere. But really you will end up walking to most places since it is so centrally located. Also they have a delicious 5 euro all you can eat breakfast. I know the hostel also has a hotel version across the street that looked really nice.

Emily - good to hear about the Archotel Velvet. I almost stayed there, but we "upgraded" to the Archotel John F instead. Which I loved, but it's not a particularly good value in Berlin where hotels are so reasonable. And probably unneccessarily "upscale" for JH's needs with a teen. I would happily stay at another Archotel property again, though, and plan on trying the Velvet next time I'm in Berlin. JH - I would recommend staying near the Hauptbahnhof/Mitte/Museum Insel/Alexanderplatz as opposed to West Berlin/Ku'daam. While the public transit in almost all of Berlin is great, it's just that much easier when you are within walking distance to many of the major sites. West is nice, but a little sedate compared to some of the locations in the East.

Thank you all for the feedback so far, very helpful. Charlie: yes, I have the Germany book. I've been using Rick's books for all of our european travel planning over the last several years, they have been invaluable.

JH, I would also highly recommend Pension Peters, as suggested in the first reply. I stayed there last year, and found the room very comfortable and the staff were fantastic. It's in a good location between Savignyplatz and Bahnhof Zoo, and there's good transportation to the HBf via the S-Bahn. The Original Berlin Walks walking tours depart from the McDonald's in front of BHf Zoo, which is an easy 10 minute (or so) walk. Your Son would probably find the "history lessons" on the walking tour very interesting. I would recommend booking soon as it's quite popular. Happy travels!

I stayed at a very nice Maritim Hotel a short walk from the Friedrichstraße S Bahn station. The hotel sits about two blocks off of Unter den Linden, close to the Reichstag and Brandenburger Tor, and within easy walking distance of the Museumsinsel. Excellent breakfast buffet as well.

I also recommend "The Circus Hotel". We stayed there 5 nights in May 2010. It's #1 of 650 hotels on Trip Advisor. Couldn't fault a thing! You'll love Berlin.

Ken: regarding the walking tour, are you referring to berlinwalks.com? Thank you.

My wife and I stayed at Pension Peters in Nov. 2011. We enjoyed it very much. The public transport is very easy to use. We used bus, train, and metro. The staff was very helpful with any transport questions and gave us good recommendations on restaurants and shopping. We also enjoyed the neighborhood. It reminded us of Paris. There is a lot to see in just 2 days. We stayed 3 and could have stayed a couple of more days easily. Have fun!

JH, I believe THIS is the tour company that I used. I took three tours with them - Discover Berlin, Third Reich and Sachsenhausen. The Guides were excellent on each one! They're listed in the Guidebook. If you're staying at Pension Peters, it's an easy walk to Bhf Zoo, which is where the tours meet.

Hi. We were in Berlin last month. Stayed at a rental apartment near Friedenau S bahn station. The area is really nice and we loved it. I booked through the Homelidays website. You can try various options on this site. Public transportation by buses, U bahn or S bahn is the easiest. Just buy a group ticket and you are good for the full day. These tickets are great value for your money.