Sleeping in Berlin

"West" and "East" are sort of obsolete terms. The distinctions between the two have largely evaporated. More useful would be to describe the specific neighborhoods (ie, Kreuzberg, Charlottenburg, Tiergarten, etc.) that you had in mind.

The city is very large. I'd make sure I stay in a central location with good U-Bahn, S-Bahn and bus connections just to anywhere in the city. I don't know what your budget is but a good, low budget, nice hotel in a very central location but also with plenty of bars and restaurants within walking distance is the "MotelOne Berlin Ku'Damm". And it's also wakling distance to some of the sights...

I loved this place, a "Rick-pick" from his guide:
http://www.pension-peters-berlin.de/ It's in a quiet, residential neighborhood, around a 10 minute (easy and pleasent) walk from Banhoff Zoo, so I though the location was great. Typical Rick place; small, homey, family run, and a very good value. My room was large, clean and welcoming, and breakfast each AM, served in a pleasent common room, was good. Loved the owners, too; couldn't have been nicer/more accomodating.

Hi Simone, My husband and I stayed in the Mitte area of Berlin and LOVED it. We stayed at the Circus Hotel, it was a great hotel, with easy access to the U-bahn and trams. Nice helpful staff it was a great stay. We loved Berlin! Hope you have a great time. Not sure when you're going in September but we were there last year during the Berlin Marathon. It took place towards the end of September, check your dates and plan accordingly. We had a heck of a time getting to the main train station as that was the day the marathon started.

Thanks you all for such prompt replies. You have given me some things to think about as to the areas of Berlin to look at as well as great ideas on hotels. I will do more research with respect to all your coments. Again, thanks so much.

Another vote for Pension Peters. We stayed there in September and would go back there next time we are in Berlin. Good everything. Request a room in back (away from the street) if you are an early to bed or light sleeper.

Simone, One more vote for Pension Peters. I was also there in September, found the room very comfortable and the staff were wonderful. As Charlie mentioned, it's in a nice neighborhood with easy access to transportation. Bahnhof Zoo is only about a 10-minute walk, and Savignyplatz less than five minutes. There's a good ion of restaurants in the area, including Schwarze's Café & Bar, which is open 24-hours. Dicke Wirtin's Bar is just across the street, which is a convenient place to get a pint in the afternoon. Many of the walking and day tours recommended in the Guidebook leave from the area of Bahnhof Zoo, which is one reason I decided to stay in that area. Happy travels!

I would have to recommend Pension Peters. The neighborhood reminded us a lot of Paris. Transportation is easy to all the sites from Peters and the staff is most helpful. We rode the S Bahn,Metro and bus with no problems. We also walked quite a bit wish we enjoyed.

Thank you all so much. Your comments are most helpful and we are really looking forward to our visit to Berlin.

What is your budget like? We just splurged at the Archotel John F. which was wonderful, had the best service of any hotel I've stayed at in Europe. Then again, we tend to go significantly cheaper. Honestly, I would stay "East" because most of the hotels in the "West" while in lovely neighborhoods, require a good bit of schlepping to get to a lot of the major historical sites. (Admittedly my U-bahn trips in the western part of the city have been delayed due to ongoing construction on one line which requires detours - that should be finished by September, I'd imagine). If you do stay in the west, I'd follow the previous advice because being on an S-bahn line (like at Savignyplatz) is a lot faster to getting to a lot of the other major sites. But I think it's really nice to be walking distance to Hackescher Markt, the Berliner Dom, Unter der Linden, Museum Insel, the Telespargel, etc. So for that you want the Mitte, generally. Of course hotel prices in the Mitte do tend to be higher. The nice thing about the Mitte is that unless you're actually on Unter der Linden or Freidrichstrasse, or over on Alexanderplatz, the area actually feels very quiet, particularly on weekends and after dark.

Another vote for Pension Peters for all of the reasons listed above!!

Simone, If you decide on staying in the Savignyplatz area, (Charlottenburg) ie., Kantstrasse, Schlüterstrasse, Bleibtreustrasse, Grolmannstrasse, Mommenstrasse, etc. as recommended above, numerous restaurants of various cuisines dot the area: German, such as Dicke Wirtin, as suggested above, French, Austrian, Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, etc. It's the area I always stay in but at a different Pension; it's also well served by buses and the S-Bahn for going east. Staying in Charlottenburg means you'll have to take S-Bahn to the sights in Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, two districts in vogue with younger travelers, and possibly Friedrichshain. Of course, you can walk the stretch from Savignyplatz to the Brandenburg Gate and Unter den Linden. My recommendation for staying in Mitte is the Meininger Hotel, right outside (2 mins), to the right of Berlin central station...Berlin Hbf. The advantage is you'll be closer to some of the general historical sights...and the esoteric ones.

Another vote for Motel One. I stayed in the one in Bellevue. Very residential neighborhood and the hotel was about a 10 min. walk to the U-bahn. Location is 1 stop from the Hauptbahnhof and in the other direction, 1 stop from the Tiergarten and Zoo. Can't beat the price of 59 euro a night for a double, unless you stay in an apt. of which there are 100's to choose from at super cheap prices.