martino

is it the best hotel in berlin?how does it rate??

DavidO

I had a client stay at the RC Berlin, and it got very good reviews from him. It is a FHR and Virtuoso property, btw. Virtuoso guests receive upgrade on arrival if available, complimentary full American buffet breakfast for two daily, Afternoon Tea once, early check-in and late check-out.

Raffles

Do a search and you'll find lots of info.

The new Rocco Forte is potentially better but I haven't even been inside it so you can't comment. R-C is probably just behind it. Regent and the Grand Hyatt also well regarded. Adlon generally seen as a bit of a joke.

You can't really go wrong in Berlin - its probably the cheapest place in Europe for a five star experience.

elitetraveler

I stay at the RC and have been since it opened about four years ago - i have one annual trip and am there for about four or five nights.

The is an excellent fine dining restaurant, interestingly a french brasserie (no sausage and pretzel bread ) and a small pool in the basement and a small fitness room with a couple treadmills, two bikes and a couple weight machines.

The hotel is spotless and the service is generally good. There is a Club Floor lounge that has a good breakfast and some lite evening treats plus a very good open bar service. There is a separate smoking library which is nice as Germany is still a big smoking country it seems.

I've stayed at the Hyatt but didn't like their ultra modern bathrooms where the toilet and showers are in one area (water all over the place) and the Regent when it was the Four Seasons (also very nice).

I did go to a reception at Rocco Forte's new hotel and the lobby and lounge areas were very nice.

If it is worth anything, I'll be back at the RC again next year

Non-NonRev

The above summary is spot-on. The Rocco Forte de Rome has stunning interiors and refreshingly modern room decor. Half of the rooms are in a newly-constructed addition which sits on top of the restored historic building (the former head office of the Dresdener Bank, later the State Bank of the GDR during the Communist years). I believe the suites have the views out to the Bebelplatz. I stayed there three weeks after the hotel opened, and experienced some serious service lapses that hopefully were caused by an inexperienced staff (my review of that stay is linked *here* , if you're interested). I will be staying again in a few months, as the de Rome's location (literally a 30 second walk to the Staatsoper) is perfect for my needs.

Vaclav

How about The Adlon?

Kagehitokiri

that about sums up the sentiments in this forum. "touristy" is also used a lot.

robyng

I stayed at the RC Berlin last month and wrote it up here. If you do a simple search - you should find what I wrote. Robyn

Adam Jones

Can i have more information about Hotel Adlon????

DavidO

Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin is also a Virtuoso/FHR property. 256 rooms and 80 suites. Marble bathrooms with separate shower and tub, twin sinks, three restaurants, and a spa with pool and fitness area.

Virtuoso guests receive:

• Room upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• Daily gourmet buffet breakfast for two in Restaurant Quarre
• Complimentary use of Spa facilities with pool, whirlpool, saunas and gym
• Fruit plate, mineral water and welcome note
• Daily newspaper

Non-NonRev

Its greatest asset may be its location on the Pariser Platz, the plaza immediately adjacent to the Brandenberg Tor.

It was at this hotel a few years ago that Michael Jackson dangled his young child in public in a dangerous manner.

Czech28

I like the Adlon a bit more than the Ritz as the rooms in A are bigger and
a bit nicer - the RC is very nice though a bit too kitchy and the rooms
a bit smallish .. Also the location of Adlon is bit better.

Better are the (Executive) rooms in Adlon's new wing, they have no view but are new and very nice. Also the pool/spa area at the Adlon is great.

The restaurant Lorenz Adlon (not the one downstairs) is one of best
in Berlin, just few tables, superb Brandenburg Gate views, old-world
service and premium cuisine.

Also staying at the Adlon skips the lines to enter Felix - one of the best
nightclubs in Berlin, just next to the back entrance of Adlon - just
show the Adlon key and you're in .)

The Ritz however makes much better value if you opt for a Room/Suite
w club access - their Club Lounge is the best I ever experienced and has all day
liquor/champers service and very nice choice of food all day as well.
The price for a standard room in the Adlon approximately equals to a price
of a Ritz Club Room where you get the Lounge Access ..

wireless033

I was there for the last 2 nights and I'd say I did enjoy it a lot although to be honest I expected a bit more. I booked it through virtuoso agent David Ourisman (he's here in the FT too) and I think that I got the best rate possible.

I paid 225 EUR for a Deluxe room which is the second category with quality being the lowest (for 195). I was really waiting for an upgrade which was on arrival cuz I wanted a club level room but I was too cheap to pay for it considering there are 5* properties in Berlin for as low as 99 € (Swissotel, Steigenberger) so I had already spent more than necessary to survive...but I think it was worth it now, in the end!

Well let me start I flew with LH to TXL for just 99 Euros, man I made some deals on this trip. It was just to see the city, havent seen it for a while and it's probably the newest city in Germany, especially the eastern part that looked so bad 17 years ago. We have the german saying "Geld spielt keine Rolex" which means something like "Money doesn't matter" but, now the fun part of this saying the german word for matter is changed to Rolex, haha.
They had money in Berlin to build everything, all the trains, public places and museums were highly subsidized by the government.

On arrival the door man was very friendly, there's one thing though that I find quite discriminating, the door man is a black guy and he was literally the ONLY black guy that I saw in that hotel. And it was not a coincidence, the other door man was black as well.

At the reception they said we can check in in the club and escorted us upstairs. I remember reading the Gault Millau saying the Lobby is not generous enough and I have to agree. There are the massive marmor stairs but no free space or something like an atrium. You are not like WOW when you come inside.

The club lounge was very nice and quiet and VERY attentive service who brought you drinks a few seconds after you entered. I loved this, you never had to wait too long. The cappucino was really good. I asked for an orange juice which was, to my surprise, freshly squeezed. So I went for it again but that time it wasnt fresh. Too bad!

The staff was very friendly and always had a smile on the face when serving something however I think that some staff members had a rather unnatural way of being friendly and some had a natural one. I'm not the one who is always smiling for no reason if you know what I mean (I know I'm being picky) so I felt a bit uncomfortable being the serious guy when they were serving me stuff.

They had like 8 different newspapers and some women's magazine that I didn't look at exactly.

The food selection was really good and I skipped lunch after eating there. It saves a lot of time and is really without worries. No bills to sign, very prompt service. They had salad, rolls, something like a pastry, salmon sandwiches and more stuff that tasted good but sometimes I couldn't figure out what it was (they didn't have signs at the buffet). The club lounge was never overcrowded, I was sometimes the only one there.
All in all the food was good, not as good as a real lunch though but it saves time. It's a joke to say it saves money, because the club level rooms cost 50 Euros more, you won't drink and eat worth 50 Euros if you pay for everything but I like the atmosphere.

The room was smaller than expected, I thought it was special cuz it was Club level, but it was bigenough of course. The touchscreens are fun, something to play. The beds are great for perfect sleep. The bathroom is amazing too with doors to the toilet and to the shower. They were full with marmor, really nice. The room was nice too but not that special.

The Spa was small but nice and not busy. Not too exciting, the usual stuff, shower, pool and saune but nice - enough for me.

They had turndown service which was good.

The next morning I had breakfast in the club lounge but I was a bit disappointed. Am I the only one yet to see the real PERFECT breakfast in a 5 star hotel? The service was very attentive again, the lounge more busy now. One thing I didn't like was the fruit salad, always too much melon and no apples, pears, oranges. The cappucino was good. The omelette was good but not perfect, the tomatoes inside came with skin. The bircher muesli was very good. I expected something like banana pancakes, but I dont think they had that. They should also provide you with a menu what you can order from the kitchen. There was no freshly squeezed orange juice again and not a very big selection of juices on the buffet. The rolls were really good. i also think a breakfast in a really good hotel should have something new that you wouldn't make yourself at home such as french toast (at least I am too lazy to make it) smoothies, milkshakes, something chinese like egg noodles, something like spinach quiche.

Another I went for a drink at the hotel bar, had a Raffles Singapore Sling for 14€. Every seat was taken it was really good.

I willl finish this report another time..

Ok I will continue another time, hope you liked it so far.

DrivingRain

Thanks for taking the timr to write the review.

If these are criticisms of the Club Lounge, then Club Lounges just arent for you as you will never be satisfied with the seleciton. Geez...they had omeletes! That's great for a club lounge ^. FWIW, they will delvier room service to the lounge but you will get charged for it (and rightly so).

wireless033

i guess your right then driving rain but i hope my review has helped