Don't forget to consider the two (Accor) Novotel properties, one near the Tiergarten and the other on the southeastern edge of Mitte. Definitely on the business-traveler side, but good value for the money.

They are showing rates as low as Eur. 89,- and Eur. 79,- for your dates, respectively:


http://www.novotel.com/novotel/fiche...he_hotel.shtml


http://www.novotel.com/novotel/fiche...he_hotel.shtml

Most of the above suggestions are way above your budget. Here are a couple of comfortable hotels in my neighbourhood, which are within your budget ballpark and also meet your location criteria:

Hotel Jurine
and the Kastanienhof

Of the two, I would say the Jurine is nicer. It's a family-run hotel owned by a French fellow and his German wife. Both places are in Prenzlauer Berg just on the border of Mitte, sort of eastern Berlin's Greenwich Village, with oodles of hip restaurants, caf�s and bars in the immediate vicinity, a sort of budding fashion/artist's district on Kastanienallee and Zionskirchplatz, a fast tram line, a nearby U-Bahn (subway) line, the trendy Hackesche Markt district with its stylish bars, restaurants, boutiques and clubs only 15 minutes walk or 5 minutes tram away, the equally stylish Kollwitzplatz neighbourhood also about 15 - 20 minutes walk, and fast access to most of the principal tourist sights ie Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, Reichstag etc and the Friedrichstrasse shopping mile.

He/she is willing to pay 100 Euro.
I paid $100+ via Priceline for this hotel + Euro 15 to get a suite. It's a great hotel. Very friendly staff too.

http://www.moevenpick-hotels.com/hot...cultureLang=en

BTW, I went from Potsdamer Platz to Prenzlauer Berg for Dinner at Restaurant PAPARAZZI! Prenzlauer Berg is great, but a little remote.

A little remote??!! What on earth are you talking about? We are 15 minutes by tram from Friedrichstrasse station. Maybe 20 minutes by tram and S-Bahn from Potsdamer Platz (which is only part of the city centre - actually Berlin has a very spread-out centre), 15 minutes from U-Bahn station Stadtmitte, 20 minutes WALK (10 min. tram) to Hackesche Markt S-Bahn station which is close to the Spree, Cathedral, Alex, Gendarmenmarkt, museums. Remote?

The Paparazzi is in Husemannstrasse in the trendy Kollwitzplatz district of P-Berg. Also considered "central." Certainly not "remote." It's a 20 minute walk from where I live and from the 2 hotels which I recommended. (20 minutes from Potsdamer Platz by U-Bahn). I often walk there on Saturdays to go to the Kollwitzplatz open-air market.

By the way, for dining there, I'd rather choose the Gugelhof (where Schroeder once entertained Clinton), the Belluno, or the Maothai.

Fully agree - but if somebody considers Schoeneberger Strasse to be central, well - what do you expect?

PB is for sure THE location to be in if you do not want to stay in Mitte either for budget or whatever reasons and very well linked with all parts of Berlin by public transport.

Well, that it is *central*! Flying Lawyer, how else would you call the location??

Moevenpick Hotel Berlin
Schoeneberger Strasse 3
10963 Berlin
Germany
Phone +49 30 230060
Fax +49 30 23006199
The Moevenpick Hotel Berlin is located nearby the Potsdamer Platz (a few minutes walking distance). Most of the famous museums and sights are reachable within a distance of 1 km from the hotel. A bus stop and a railway station are right next to the hotel.

Potsdamer Platz Distance: 1 km Potsdamer Platz is one of the most popular attractions of the New Berlin. With its mix of restaurants, shopping opportunities, theatre and cinemas, both Berliners and tourists are drawn in to pass the time.

Reichstag Distance: 1 km
The Reichstag is the seat of the German Bundestag or federal government and, with its new dome, one of the Berlins biggest crowd-draws in Berlin. Its colorful past reflects the turbulence of German history since the 19th century.

Well, USAFAN, I do not need to read the description since I know where that hotel is. It is not even *very* close to Potsdamer Platz but about 1 km away into Kreuzberg. The hotel is directly located at the S-Bahn Station Anhalter Bahnhof, not an area which is a MUST in Berlin.

For somebody spending a lot of time in Berlin, even Potsdamer Platz is an artificial newly build remote area where English with several US-accents is the most common language. The heart of Berlin Mitte is the area between Hackescher Markt, Unter den Linden, Muesumsinsel, Friedrichstraße and Gendarmenmarkt. Let Bahnhof Friedrichstraße be close to the Centre. This hotel is about 2 1/2 km from Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. Or take the centre of the old West and let Breitscheidplatz (close to Bahnhof Zoo) be the centre: This hotel is about 4 1/2 km form there. Berlin has quite a few centres and there are several hotels in these centres - no need for a remote location like the Moevenpick.

I need some hotel advice. First timer to Berlin. I am interested in a hotel that is easily accessible to and from TXL via public transportation. I would also like something that is centrally located because I have less than 24 hours there and I want to make the most of it. Using Priceline is fine with me. Ideally, I would like to pay $120 US or less all-in, which may or may not be difficult given the atrocious value of the dollar against the Euro. I'll be arriving on February 16 and departing on February 17, 2008. Thanks for any advice.

You may want to check out gtahotels.com, otel.com, and hrs.de to see what's on offer. You're coming during the Berlinale film festival, so prices may be a bit elevated. Finding something acceptable and central for ca. 80� may be a challenge.

What are your requirements for the hotel?

I was just there (last Sunday through Wednesday) and I split my stay between Potsdammer Platz (the Grand Hyatt, on an FFN, so the normally usurous price was not a factor) and the sacond half of the stay at the Melia Berlin, a stylish 4* hotel that opened in October 2006. It is directly on Friedrichstrasse, the central street of Mitte (at the north end of Mitte, just to be sure) and it sits directly across from the Friedrichstrasse S+U Bahn station. With the Hauptbahnhof only one stop away from Friedrichstrasse station, all forms of the BVG public transit system are within very easy reach. The TXL Express bus stops three short blocks away (at the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Unter den Linden), or you can take the TXL to the Hauptbahnhof and transfer to the #147 bus (at the same stop, no further walking)and be practically dropped at the hotel's door. They were running a pay one night, get the second free special and so I paid the princely sum of €119,- for two nights (admittedly the rates are not always that good, but the hotel offers good value and is maybe six or seven relatively short blocks from the Gedarmenmarkt itself.

The stay at the Grand Hyatt was my first at Potsdammer Platz, and the fact that its closest neighbbors seemed to be McDonals, Starbucks and Tony Roma's seemed to bear out the point made by Flying Lawyer about the lack of a true Berlin feel. Maybe if the area had retained any of its 1930s essence, when it was truly the crossroads of Berlin, it might be different (IMHO).

Also, I realize that not everyone agrees, but, since your stay is so short, you might also consider (not as your only consideration, but as one of them) what your nighttime activity is going to be - if you're going to be out late, be sure that the area you're going to offers night transit servcie so that you are not stuck with a long and expensive cab ride.

The Melia is a good recommendation, though it's sold out the night that SATLawyer needs to be there. It stayed there last year, having been one of the winners of a free night from their grand opening contest. They were still fixing some of the opening issues, but it is stylish, comfortable, and well-situated.

Luckily, finding nighttime public transit is pretty easy in Berlin--especially on Friday and Saturday nights, when a lot of the subway lines run through the night.

I've decided to go with the Park Inn Alexanderplatz, as the Jet Express Bus from TXL apparently stops right in front of it and the hotel is ideally situated for public transportation access to all of the city. Although Park Inn's website quoted me a rate of €139 for a business room, I found a rate elsewhere for €91, and accordingly submitted a best rate guarantee claim, which should result in a 25% savings off the lower rate (€68.25/$100.12 all-in if the claim is successful). If it isn't, my booking with Park Inn is cancelable without penalty, and I can head back to the drawing board.

The highly-regarded Grand Hyatt Berlin was very tempting on a Stay Certificate rate of $165 all-in (approximately €112.50), but from what I could tell, it is a little bit more of a hassle to get to and from TXL than the straight shot to and from the Park Inn Alexanderplatz.

The Park Inn is enormous--it's okay, but full of package tours and groups.
You'll almost certainly get denied with the "business room" claim. They also have standard rooms for 119� available that night, and that is probably what you are seeing at the other site (GTAhotels?). Another problem is that the rate (if it's the GTA one) includes breakfast. You could try a BRG claim for the Welcome Weekend Rate-STD for 129� because that one includes breakfast, but Park Inn, in the wonderfully unfriendly Carlson group of companies, has denied such claims for me in the past.

Good luck. YMMV!

www.otel.com/ shows a rate of $136 all-in for the business room including breakfast. $126 all-in for a standard room including breakfast. I don't care about whether breakfast is included or not, but I don't see why my claim should be denied. We'll see.

Good...Carlson looks for little things to deny BRG claims.
I hope your claim is accepted.