Thanks to all for a great bunch of suggestions.

Ended up using Priceline since it was easier to figure out where things were through their interface. Secured a four star at $65 as promised, right next to KaDeWe.

For architecture/design interests:

http://www.bauhaus.de/english/index.htm

I was there this summer for a few weeks, so I had some time to scope out a few "undiscovered gems":

The Anti-War Museum - http://www.anti-kriegs-museum.de/ - founded after WWI, run by the grandson of the founder IIRC, he gave my friend and I a personal tour of the museum that I will NEVER forget, this is a great place, though not in the best part of town.

The former Stasi HQ (http://stasimuseum.de/) - you can sit at the same tables where DDR security bureacrats made world-shaking decisions. Also plenty of DDR relics, which really allow you to get a "feel" for that time period.

Make sure you also check out the Reichstag, the Prussian Summer Palaces and Gardens in Brandenburg, Ku'damm (Kurfurstandamm) for good shopping, the TV Tower (the crowning achievement of the DDR), Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz, the German Historical Museum, and, if you're up for it, famous "museum island." I think the German Technology Museum is pretty good, too, but I'm not sure, because it is closed Mondays (oops!).

i am planning a trip to europe this summer - anyone know where the conc. camps are in relation to berlin? i was thinking of seeing if there was a tour to go see them.

thanks

Some websites that will give you ideas of what to see (or what you are looking at...)

World War II locations and remains:

http://www.thirdreichruins.com/berlin.htm

http://www.geocities.com/isanders_2000/ww2index.htm

A visit to the Reichstag/Bundestag should also include a visit to the nearby Soviet War Memorial:

http://economist.com/cities/displayo...07&city_id=BER

and if time permits to the larger (very Soviet) memorial and cemetary at Treptower Park:

http://www.wcities.com/en/record/,12307/9/record.html

Heiko Burkhardt's great page dealing with the Berlin Wall (1961-1989) itself:

http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/index.html

More info about sights relating to Berlin as a Divided City:

http://www.berlinfo.com/Traveltime/S.../divided_city/

R. Rynerson's excellent webpages about serving with the U.S. Army in Berlin:

http://home.att.net/~rw.rynerson/index2.htm

Don't forget to learn about how you will want to get around using Berlin's excellent transit system:

http://www.bvg.de/e_index.html

And finally the city's official web site in English:

http://www.Berlin.de/english/index.html

The nearest one is Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Oranienburg

http://www.gedenkstaette-sachsenhaus...s/en/index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/isanders_2000/oranienburg.htm

Take the S-Bahn to Oranienburg. Directions here:
http://www.gedenkstaette-sachsenhaus.../service01.htm

Or as you wanted, take a tour with this outfit, who know their stuff:

http://www.berlinwalks.com/v1/berlin_tours.html#tour4

As for the others, here's a good map:

http://history1900s.about.com/librar...blmap.htm?rd=1

Most of the camps were placed far from German cities (plausable deniability?), although Dachau is a suburb of Munich. Auschwitz/Oswiecim and Treblinka are in present-day Poland.