Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?

Booked Classic Park View (category does not exist anymore) and got Premium King City View in west building, I consider it a one category upgrade

How are the rooms?

Very spacious, separate area with desk and sofa, bathroom quite large and spacious as well. Bed was comfortable., Looks exactly like the picture on the hotel website for premium room

How is the exec. lounge?

Fantastic! Had no problems accessing it as my milestone benefit and had the lounge pretty much to myself for 9 days. Nice cooked-to-order breakfast (I could have gone to the main restaurant for breakfast as well but preferred the lounge as it was quieter), I was enrolled by the staff (thank you Marika(?), Victoria, Flavia and Maxim) to give canapé reviews, had choices of three cold and three hot (plus cheese and sweets buffet) every night and all were excellent. Discovered German sparkling and decided it was better than the Nicolas Feuillate Champagne also on offer (which is pretty decent as well). Made for an excellent stay overall.

What was good and what was bad?

GOOD

• I have to say that the staff at this hotel are fantastic across the board and really made my stay excellent. I was shocked to hear some of the staff I was talking to had only been there for 3 weeks yet it felt like they had worked there forever.
• Instant recognition of all benefits I was entitled to without having to ask
• Great location
• Room was cleaned every day, had a Marlene Helles beer as a welcome gift (on top of drink coupon) in my room as well as bottled water being replenished regularly during my stay
• Even though the Marlene bar was closed for renovations (see below), the staff working the temporary bar area were, once again, fantastic. From manager Angelo to Louisa my server most evenings as well as Fawad the bartender, they took care of me very well. I like traveling solo but it is nice to see some friendly faces at the end of the day before retiring for the evening.

'BAD' (I had a wonderful stay so these are more nitpicks/observations)

• AC in the room is rubbish like everywhere in Europe
• Extensive renovations going on, I did hear some banging above me in the morning (nothing ear plugs could not fix) and had water pouring into the entry way one morning to help me wake up. Nothing got damaged but I though the service recovery was lacking (a drink coupon would have been nice) but I am not one to ask compensation for small things like this, nothing of mine was damaged.
• I was hearing about all the measures Germany was taking from September 1 to conserve energy (the spinning MB logo on the nearby building stopped spinning on that date), every time I would come back top my room after it had been made up, all the lights were on, AC at max and windows open (I open them in the morning to air out). Quite a waste of energy and I do not understand the thinking behind it. Happened every day, not just a one off.
• Even though the staff is great, the temporary bar area has all the charm of an airport arrival hall.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
I did not get a particular cheap rate (especially the first weekend of September nights) but I felt I got very good value for my money spent there and will return there in a heartbeat when I am in Berlin