luxury

I stayed there July 2004, 1 night paid and 1 night on reward. As Gold I was offered a large room overlooking the Gendarmenmarkt with breakfast, OR, a smaller courtyard view room on the Executive floor with Executive Lounge access which also included the buffet breakfast. I chose the Executive level room since I was travelling with a friend and we decided to relieve the hotel of several bottles of beer!!

It is a well located and fairly well run hotel. There is some outstanding shopping in Mitte and very good restaurants around. Try Aigner, in Franzosicher Strase only a 5 minute walk from the hotel -- very good food in a nice atmosphere. There is a cool chocolate shop with large chocolate sculptures (Brandenburg Gate, etc) across the street from the hotel.

However, I suggest you head to Hackeschehofe and Prenzlauerberg, the latter being "the" hip spot of the moment. It has a very classy European flavour to it and it is undergoing renewal. A working class neighbourhood there are tons of excellent restaurants and bars in the area and very fashionable with the locals and virtually no tourists. We found a Cuban restaurant which served, according to my friend, some of the most authentic Cuban food he's had outside of Cuba, and at a fraction of the cost of what a meal would cost in Mitte. Hackeschehofe also has a vibrant restaurant scene with great cafes and eclectic boutiques in eight interlocking courtyards. It is still in Mitte.

Prenzlauerberg is my favourite between the two. I feel as if I could live there; it reminded me of the time I lived in Montreal.

Enjoy your trip to Berlin. Hackeschehofe and Prenzlauerberg is easily accesible from the Hilton.

ermdjdsj

I just stayed there four nights as a Diamond with a traveling companion, had requested on the computer in advance we be upgraded to an executive level room if available, exterior view if possible. Overall: positive impression. DEFINITELY CHECK OUT THE AIGNER RESTAURANT, good recommendation, actually LESS than a five-minute walk, not cheap but very nice. Warning: Dress up a bit at Aigner! They'll let you in even if you're in jeans (my companion was), but most men were wearing ties or nice casually upscale tops. Even a little boy had on a suit and tie!

When we got there we had been booked into a small room on the 4th (non-executive) level but with a great view of the Gendarmenmarkt across the way AND executive lounge access even though we weren't on that level. They did not have executive level bigger exterior rooms available, only interior, so this was fine, I prefer view to space and I enjoyed the almost fairytale like view of the market across the way and the well-lit churches and theatre building and still had executive level access for the goodies.

The metro "Stadtmitte" stop is right outside the hotel, easy access to just about everything from there and you can also walk to sights, e.g., 10-15 min walk to Checkpoint Charlie Museum (which I highly recommend if you're at all interested in the history of divided Berlin, people being shot at the Berlin wall to prevent escapes, creative escape attempts, etc.), Jewish Museum, Brandenburger Tor, etc.

We ate one meal in the hotel "Mark Brandenburg" German restaurant. Nice atmosphere, great upgraded German cooking ( I had tender duck with red cabbage, mini dumplings, gourmet potato soup Berlin is known for). Not cheap but average for hotel restaurants at Hiltons and good quality.

We did check out Hackescher Markt and Prenzlauer Berg areas, easy metro access or you can walk if healthy; they are cheap and colorful areas though I suspect in the warmer months they are a lot more interesting than they were on a grey snowy day in February when the highlight seemed to be the varied graffitii on the walls. Reminded me a little of the South of Market area in San Francisco with all the young, artsy types and yupsters shoulder to shoulder with some street beggars and hangout coffee shops.

The executive lounge at the Hilton was nice -- high floor, view over the rooftops, good selection of cake or snacks depending on the time of day, and of course free alcohol (including sparkling wine), decent buffet breakfast and quiet atmosphere. One evening we made a decent meal just out of the lounge offerings of various little meat, cheese and fish snacks + wine!

Daily evening turndown service, not much to wait for, they just close the drapes and turn down the bed but don't leave any chocolates on the pillows. I'd had one welcoming fruit basket on arrival but nothing on subsequent nights (to compare: as a mere Gold at the Prague Hilton last year, they kept bringing in new goodies with evening turndown service each night).

We used the indoor pool, which is heated but not warm enough for me and doesn't have an adjacent hot tob, had a bar area next to it, there is an exercise room which has good climate control and doesn't smell of pool, and several basic equipment pieces, and they offer spa services which we did not use.

I was pleased with my stay and the service and location there, would stay there again when I go back to Berlin.

anteo

The lounge is now open and is superb, although does get a bit crowded over breakfast time, with people having to share tables. The food was excellent though. ^

US1@ORF

Having stayed for a week with my parents and brother at this great property two summers ago I'm curious what they changed about the lounge? It was very nice back then so I can only imagine what they did to improve it. I remember EXCELLENT breakfast each morning for ALL of us, (I was the Gold member - we had two rooms), and after our daytime tourist activities we would refresh in the lounge around 4 pm with drinks and snacks. We'd stay thera about 45 mins before heading to the rooms for shower/cleanup/change of clothes and some rest before heading out for evening activites.

This hotel is great.

stevemason

I'm staying at the Berlin Hilton in a couple of days. What is within walking distance that is a must see? Also, any input on the hotel itself would be appreciated. Any suggestions on how to get an upgrade?

Jassy-50

I really wish the search function was working, because there have been a ton of posts on this hotel. However, since the search is kaput.........

The Berlin Hilton is in an excellent location, on the southern edge of the Gendarmenmarkt, and with most of the east Berlin sites within walking distance (Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Museum Island, Unter den Linden, etc.). For anything further afield, a subway stop is just outside the front door of the hotel, and the public transit system in Berlin is excellent; it will get you to just about anywhere you would like to go.

The hotel itself is very nice, with an excellent executive lounge. If you are at least Gold, you have a good chance of getting an upgrade. It may help (who knows) if you sent a request ahead of time to the manager humbly requesting an upgrade.

fromYXU

Check out recent post: Trip Report Hilton Berlin

ermdjdsj

Checkpoint Charlie museum about the separation of Berlin/the wall history is a 10 minute walk way, don't miss it.

2-minute walk from the hotel is the excellent Aigner restaurant.

The metro stop is right outside the hotel, will take you anywhere else you want to go.

I really enjoyed this hotel last month.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I arrived late on 2nd September ( 2230) but was seen immediatley at the front desk.

I was given room 6005 on the Executive floor which overlooked the Gendenmarket with a sideways view of the TV tower in Alexanderplatz.

The room was large and comfortable ( turndown service had already been done) and quiet.
The bathroom was fine and well lit ( a good number of tv channels ) and bathrobes/slipper provided.
You do have to use your room key for lift access going up.

The lounge is very good with a wide variety of drinks and brreakfast buffet was good ( including bacon and scrambeld eggs). They do have a separte somking area.

The hotel is ideally situated as othe posters have commented with Stadmitte (U2) line just outside the front door). It is a short walk to Unter der Linden, Potsdamer Platz, the Museum Island and Alexander Plat (15-20mins walk) along with the Brandenburg Gate (the new US embassy is being built beside the gate) and the Reichstag.

The fitness room is very good ( open 24 hours I think) and the swimming pool is fine.

The hotel was fairly busy that weekend ( they were preparing for the German equivalent of " American Idol" in the conference center so there was a lot of people with the t-shirts on)

Overall a very nice hotel

Regards

TBS

SkeptiCallie

Just adding my two cents. We stayed at Berlin Hilton over ten years ago and really enjoyed it. Would stay there again. Of particular note: The breakfast (isn't that always the case with those European Hilton breakfast buffets?) Particularly good, though I do recall one or two items might have been slightly overly high in fat for my tastes. Need to go back someday and do further research. @:-) (LOTS of research until I'll have done enough. Have recalled that wonderful breakfast all these years.)

Formal straight, traditional city exterior. For some reason it reminded me of the Capital Hilton in Wash., D.C. and maybe the Prague Marriott in appearance.

I don't see that anyone has mentioned the Pergamon. We didn't have time to visit (still an excuse for revisiting someday?) but it is maybe 2-3 long blocks away, if memory serves.

Down the street, in fall, walking down the Unter den Linden, the linden trees are golden and the leaves fall into a breeze that is tinged with the cold of approaching winter. Remarkable city beauty, in my opinion.

Artie

Does anyone know if internet acess is free, if not, how much is it?

Thanks

2035

I can guarantee it's not free....

If it's like the Munich city (as I suspect - I think they have the contract for all German Hiltons), its very expensive.

This is via Swisscom. You used to be able to use it for 30 minutes, 2 hours etc. for 4.50, 9.50 Euro respectively. The only option from 15th October is 24 hours for 27 Euro. This will change on 1st December, and then the only options will be 1 week for 108 Euro, or from 11 am to 2pm the next day for 27 Euro. This means that access for one day from 9am to 4pm will be a staggering 54 Euro.

Regards

Artie

Thanks much. I guess I'll be using an internet cafe.

flyinglan

Could anyone confirm if complimentary breakfast is still extended to Gold guests at Berlin Hilton. Thank you.

Artie

We were there last week on a GLON. As Gold, was offered full b'kfst. in the lounge. However, you can also get breakfast in the 1st. floor resturaunt which will offer more choices including an "egg station" where they will prepare eggs any way you want.