Pitero

Just arrived here (Sat.) for a two nights stay.

Friendly early check-in, but disturbed by constant drilling noises - well audible even on 5th floor - from 'garage refurbishment'.

Was told about it during check-in and that noise would stop around 4pm. Nothing's mentioned though under the "Announcements" section of the hotel website (I most probably would have booked elsewhere). Glad my stay includes a (hopefully quiet) Sunday.

Antonio8069

Indeed skrosvik, updates are required! I read the entire thread, the property is barely two years old & FTs have identified # issues with this property:

- sauna charges for Plat guests;
- lounge;
- upgrades?
- construction noise?

I see that Starwood has a new property (Cosmo) in Berlin? No threads (yet) but I appreciate comments on its location (better/worse than Sheraton?)

submonte

Member of Design Hotels. IMHO much better located - Berlin Mitte. You reach "Gendarmenmarkt" square and "Quartier 206" departmentstore by foot in around 10 mins, the Westin Grand / Unter den Linden in around 15 mins (+10 mins to Brandenburg Gate). Many shops, restaurants and cafes in this area - Französische Strasse / Friedrichstrasse. And "Museumsinsel" in 10mins, "Alexanderplatz" square in 15 mins. U-Bahn (Metro) Spittelmarkt should be some minutes away only.

Forstbetrieb

The property is barely 28 years old. It was opened in 1988. It is barely 2 years a sheraton...

rdlmitedu

I'm at Cosmo 31 DEC - 2 JAN; it's amazing, and everything I wanted in a Berlin SPG option. I'll probably do a full review later.

SPG recognition is flawless (I booked a deluxe room; got a junior suite on new years, and there was a nice gift waiting for me in the room); the hotel itself is my preferred "focus on the rooms, not the public spaces", while still having solid design throughout. Great location, too. And staff were friendly/efficient (and spoke English perfectly; my German is pretty weak, especially when tired.)

Rock72

I just finished a stay here. It was a short 1 night stay. The location is ok but not great. It's not too far from KaDeWe for shopping but it is still around a 10 minute or so walk. Otherwise, it isn't really walking distance from anything special.

They have bikes that you can rent for 15 euros/day. I rented one. It was a piece of junk but it worked enough to get me around. The handlebars were misaligned so I fixed it. The saddle was loose but I just lived with it. My bike also didn't have a front basket but oh well, I just rode with my small camera bag slung over me.

The club lounge is nice. It's in the corner on the ground level. I didn't eat food at night but got some drinks. I had a quick breakfast there in the morning.

I'm platinum but I don't think I got a room upgrade. They asked if I wanted the full breakfast but I said no and just opted to eat in the lounge and take the points. You can buy hot food in the lounge as well.

I didn't use the pool or sauna. I thought it was complimentary for platinum but I didn't use it anyway.

Overall, it wasn't a bad stay. I'm in the Westin now and I like this better. The location is better (more stuff to do walking around), etc.

abcx

I stayed at the Cosmo Hotel in Berlin for 5 nights on points recently. Hotel is perfectly fine - free Wifi too now contrary to TA reviews. Occupancy generally seemed low to me. It's in a quiet area of Mitte about a 10 min walk from the main attractions listed above. Spittelmarkt U-Bahn is right across the street. A Lidl supermarket is 4-5 mins away. You're in the touristy part of town and there's not many local restaurants or cafes around despite the large apartment buildings nearby. If I didn't want to burn my SPG points (I burned 28k for 5 nights at maybe 2cpp), I would probably just book an airbnb, which are cheap in Berlin, in a slightly different and more local location like Prenzlauer Berg. But that's only because I've lived in Berlin before and already done the touristy circuit. For a first or second timer to the city, this is a totally fine hotel - though don't except too many facilities in the way of a concierge etc. The Westin is marginally better located but not worth premium in points. Let me know if anyone has questions.

SunshineStay

Just stayed two nights at the Sheraton. As the hotel was fully booked (I checked the app before I checked in), I was upgraded to a pretty large club room facing the Luetzowdamm. The lounge is fine, both in the morning or the evening, but do not expect a breakfast comparable to the full spread in the regular restaurant. They offer free drinks (including beer and wine) throughout the whole day, so that is nice.

Overall it was a pleasant stay (especially for the 87EUR SPG rate, that I got) and I would definitely return.

arjen05

Does anyone know whether lounge access is extended to multiple rooms in case one SPG plat is staying in one of the rooms?

Antonio8069

I doubt they will do this. But PM me if you want a local contact to try.
I too completed a one night stay recently. This is one weird hotel. Situated near a bunch of embassies (e.g. India) the location is off the beaten track. Its angular look and feel reminds me of Soviet architecture. Seven stories, its surprisingly big. You enter via revolving glass doors. The club lounge is down a hallway to your right. Straight ahead is the Front Desk. There is a Preferred Guest Check in line and it was staffed. I was upgraded to a suite on the 7th. I asked about the suites and it turns out every room on the 7th is a suite except 4. Many of them say Penthouse Suite. So if I were to stay again I would ask for one of them. Mine came with a soaker tub, stand alone shower, espresso coffee maker and annoying steps to get to and from the bathroom. Missing from my suite were all of bottled water and a Plat amenity. I did use the saunas and they are divine. To get there, I took a dedicated lift down to the lower level. The attendant gave me a key card and that gave me access to 3 saunas (I am not kidding) and a relax room. Reminded me of Japan. The saunas ranged in temp from 90 F Finnish to 60 F Aromatic. The relax lounge was a nice touch albeit cold. And there was a dedicated foot bath nice and a decent pool (did not use). As others have said, the lounge is quite good. Hot and cold options for breakfast, pastries during the day, a two hot hors doeuvres in the eve. Nice. Free beer and wine, as I recall. What is not to like about this property. Its not centrally located in Mitte (10 minute walk), has no complimentary transportation unlike say the Sheraton Rome and there are no comp Sheraton Link computers where one can print a bp. And they charge for local calls. This was all very strange considering the WIFI worked well in the room. I notified the property about my concerns and they took a very long time to respond. Overall, I would stay there again if I got a good BRG deal and needed a cheap stay. Otherwise, the Marriott, Oxy and the Hyatt are all better located.

skrosvik

I have had multiple rooms booked here on several occasions previously - and they did indeed put lounge access on all key cards, weird....but very nice of them! I did not ask for this, so it was a nice gesture of a very nice guy checking us in. It is never to be expected, so at the full courtesy of the hotel.

I have stayed here many times, and I am here this weekend as well. It is, like other people say, a weird hotel. Huge building a little bit off the path, but the location works very well for me. You can walk to both Kurfurstendam/Zoo and Potzdamer Platz in about 15 minutes. The staff is bit a hit and miss, some are surly and arrogant while others are very nice and service minded. The "suites" called Panorama Suites on the 7th floor is just a larger room with a sofa and a balcony. The bathrooms are large, but does not have a separate shower and tub. I'd prefer an executive suite to the panorama suite, as the executive suite is a proper suite with separate sleeping- and livingroom. The panorama suites were removed from the platinum upgrade pool for some strange reason....yes, they are nice in the summer, when its hot and you can enjoy a cold beer on your private balcony, but pretty much useless for 8-9 months of the year. On the other side it is nice to have the ability to open the balcony door cause the rooms at this hotel tends to get very stuffy when its hot or sunny outside. Well, unless you're a smoker. They have sauna suites as well, which are my favourite, but they are also removed from the pool. The first years as a SPG property the sauna, panorama and executive suites were all in the upgrade pool. Now you can only use SNA's for the executive suites.

When I checked in yesterday, I was told all executive suites were booked, which was true, according to the SPG app. I was, however, offered an upgrade to a panorama suite for 20 EUR per night. He said the upgrade was usually 120 EUR per night (HAHA!!!), but as a Platinum I could have it for only 20 EUR per night. It might be usable if you want more space or a balcony. Now it is way to cold to sit out there. Besides there is no furniture there now.

I was also told they are changing their package policy, now you can receive a maximum of two packages for free. If you receive more than two packages there will be fees on the additional packages. Good to know. Even though I haven't seen any info about that on their website yet.

I see several small changes to the room amenities also - the complimentary water bottles are gone, now they provide one smaller carton with water. I haven't seen large bottles of Le Grand Bain here, only small ones - even in their suites. They are still providing the old Bliss products here by the way, I have got Bliss conditioner and lotion in my room. I have only two English language channels in my room - CNN and CCTV News. BBC World News and other English language channels seem to be blocked or scrambled. I can watch religious Quran TV, but not major channels such as BBC World News There is no phone or tv directory in the room either. They now have "Take Away Menu" in the room service brochure - meaning you can order pizza and burger calling room service, and then you need to pick it up in the restaurant downstairs and bring it to your room, that way you will save 9 EUR on the room service bill....they have a 9 EUR delivery charge on room service, that is more than 11 USD. That is plain out ridiculous!!!

I have trouble seeing the Sheraton brand shine throughout this hotel - the design, the furniture, the colors, etc, etc does not feel like a Sheraton. My room does not even have the Sweet Sleeper bed. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels slightly outdated.

The lounge is alright, beer/wine only from 6 PM. They changed their evening snack hours, so now its starting at 6 PM. One frustrating thing is that they often forget to put out signs explaining the dishes, cause I never know what I am eating here. The lounge attendans are very nice though IMO They always have curated meat, cheese and soup. Then they have some types of salad - today they have seafood salad, herring salad and potato salad....and there is one warm dish, yesterday it was pizza, and today it's the leftovers from yesterday's pizza Some of the items are tasty, whilst others are digusting. Not the best lounge in the SPG system, but way better than the lounges in the US - but that's not too hard.

WIFI is fast and reliable, no trouble streaming Netflix or tv.

The hotel is alright and definately does the job, it feels very industrially and bland. It is not cozy or "warm" by any means. I used to like this hotel much more before, but I feel its starting to slip away from me, hehe....But, I prefer it over the Westin, and I will stay here again.

AYellowBelly

I stayed here several weeks ago and was disappointed. Business takes me to Berlin every 6 weeks or so and I've so far stayed at The Westin, IC and the Waldorf Astoria. This was by far the worst stay:

- Very little recognition of SPG Gold other than lounge access
- Hotel overbilled me for F&B (SPG gets 15% off)
- Gym is tiny and 50% dedicated to classes each morning
- Laundry managed to stain a shirt of mine
- Hotel was at 100% capacity and the breakfast restaurant had a large area cordoned off - I had to share my breakfast table with strangers

In submitting feedback/complaint to address the overbill and the damaged item (I did express checkout), I was given a very surly response with little substance in the apology. Not very rewarding and does not give me much incentive to stay here on my next Berlin trip.

cln

Lounge access as gold ? You can call yourself lucky !

mmogdan

SunshineStay

For one night? I wouldn't bother. For longer stays, sure.