Lodging Berlin and Munich

In Munich, I stayed at Hotel Amba. It's a no-frills kind of joint, but breakfast is included and it's next door to a pretty great pizza place that shows football (soccer) games and has good beer on draft. Across the street from the Hauptbahnhof.
In Berlin, I've stayed in a hotel and I've stayed in an apartment. Both were great. The hotel was Arcotel Velvet on Oranienburger Strasse in Mitte (near Friedrichstrasse station) and the apartment was in Prenzlauer Berg near Schoenhauser Allee. I highly recommend staying in either neighborhood. Berlin is such a reasonably priced city that it's not hard to find great deals on center-city accomodations.

Dennis, In Berlin I would highly recommend Pension Peters. It's in the former "western" section, in a nice part of the city. It's between Savignyplatz S-Bahn station and Bahnhof Zoo, so transportation is convenient. In Munich you could consider Hotel Uhland (quiet residential area) or Hotel Royal (close to the Hauptbahnhof). Both are very comfortable hotels and both serve a great breakfast. Happy travels!

In Berlin I agree with Ken. We (4) stayed at Pension Peters (RS recommended) and enjoyed it. Everyone there was very helpful and the breakfast was great. Good deal for the prize.

Dennis, Check out the Hotel Monoco in Munich. Near the main train station, and located on the 6th floor of an office building. Christina is very inviting, nice rooms, good breakfast. I think you can find it in the RS guide. We stayed at the Senefelder once and enjoyed that too. Also near the main train station and within easy walking distance of a lot of the sites. J&D

Pension Peters and Hotel Uhland are the favorites on this board that RS recommends, but the former is not in one of the most exciting or well located neighborhoods IMO (in Berlin, stay in the east!) and the latter is expensive. Apartments are really cheap in Berlin and it's not hard to find ones in great neighborhoods. I'd consider staying in Prenzlauerberg, Kreuzberg, or Mitte. Mitte in general has the least charm, but it's the most centrally located neighborhood to sites and good deals abound. The area around Hackeschermarkt in Berlin would be my ideal area to stay in, although it's not a "quiet" neighborhood, it's lovely and there's a lot going on, and you've got great transit connections all over the city. P-berg is lovely and quieter, though. In Munich, there are a ton of affordable options by the train station. No, it's not a romantic neighborhood, but you're 10 minutes walking or 2 minutes on the subway to the city center, so at that point, who cares? You're paying half as much as you would to stay in the center. I liked Hotel Eder.