My family is from Germany and collectively I've probably spent a year of my life in Germany. That being said, I haven't visited Berlin in nearly two decades, so it's one of the major German cities I'm least familiar with. I was excited to finally visit it, so we planned a three night stay there.…
Continue reading: Review: Grand Hyatt Berlin
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Why would the lounge food labels be in English instead of German? The hotel is in Germany after all.
Just soooo...happened to...be there during Folsom...eh? 😉
It always shocks me how cheap Berlin hotels are--everything is cheap, as a matter of fact. I've stayed at the Intercontinental a couple of times, but the Sana Hotel is my favorite. It's a small Portuguese (I think) brand, but the rooms are great. I've had a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath suite (on the top-floor corner of the hotel with a wrap around terrace) for something like €195 a night. It's great being able to stay in the same room as 2 or 3 of your friends and only pay that much. The bedrooms aren't even next to each other. I would definitely recommend checking it out.
@Patrick, in Berlin I rarely hear German spoken at all. English is far more common, at least in the more central areas.
One thing to add is that (at least as soon ago as 2012), if you stay in a Grand Suite and up (I redeemed suite upgrade certificates), you get access to the Grand Club *and* you get a full bar in your suite with spirits, mixers and snacks, all of which are complimentary.
Sofitel Kurfurstendamm. Great location, if a tad touristy, right across from the U Bahn, recently redone so looks very brand new and spiffy. Nice modern large hotel, great f&b and wonderful big rooms. Disappointing gym, Hermes toiletries. Huge wonderful bathrooms, the reason I really love it the most, I always got a great price, this last stay in April I got a deluxe club king on Hotels.com for $138 USD! I've stayed there 3 or 4 times and in terms of 5 stars in Berlin this deal can't be beat. Just make sure you get a rate that includes the breakfast OMG it's awesome. The club lounge is tiny and often packed at peak hours, like breakfast. As a solo traveller I never had a problem, getting a table. I never went at any other time so I don't know what it's like in terms of capacity, it is a very nice room with wonderful windows and views. More cozy than spacious. Try it you'll like it 😉
My guess about English there is that most guests are likely businessmen or tourists and English has replaced French as international language. If you stay at a pension or Gasthaus it will be Deutsch gerne.
"Just soooo…happened to…be there during Folsom…eh?"
Nope.
https://onemileatatime.com/the-park-hyatt-vienna-is-incredible/
Note the publication date and the following (emphasis added):
"We finished up our trip to Europe with a visit to Vienna..."
Nice to see the readership stays classy, though. 😉
The Grand Hyatt is very much a business hotel. When we stayed there (my family of 8) last year, they really did not know how to handle us all. We went to the club lounge for breakfast and they looked at us and looked at their (rather small) lounge and told us to go downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast! I am pretty sure that our children were the only children we saw during our stay. The restaurant breakfast buffet was quite amazing, so I was happy to oblige them. The service was very good, we appreciated it after having quite poor service at the Park Hyatt Paris.
Agree with farnorthtrader...business hotel but great service. One minor quibble: at the incredible breakfast buffet (comped for Diamonds), I asked for a Diet Coke and got about 4 oz in a glass. Then I was informed when the bill came that there would be a 6EUR surcharge as soft drinks were not included -- even though I could have gone up to the Club and pulled as many Diet Cokes from the fridge as I needed.
Aside from that minor issue, everything was top class.
Is "...sleek and minimalist..." a euphemism for "Most of the furniture got re-possessed?"
Having spent 1 year of my life in hotels in Berlin collectively 😉 I still go with the Ritz-Carlton. Actually not a big fan of the Grand Hyatt, as it often is pricier than the Ritz and in my opinion the Ritz is one category above the Grand Hyatt and it still has the best breakfast in town. Hotel de Rome (Rocco Forte) is also great but usually really expensive. Not a big fan of the Adlon, can't really tell you why, but I just never really feel comfortable there. So my ranking would be:
1. Ritz-Carlton
2. Hotel de Rome
3. Waldorf Astoria
4. Marriott
5. Hilton
6. Adlon
7. interconti
8. Grand Hyatt
9. Westin Grand
Lucky, you mention quite a lot that it could be a Park Hyatt instead of a Grand Hyatt, but you never mention what is the difference between the two. From your comments, I can only guess that Grand Hyatts are for older retired people and Park Hyatts maybe are for families with children? But I'm not at all confident in that. A little explanation would go a long way.
The photos of cute little snacks in jars are adorable.
Next time you're in Berlin... Take one of this group's walking tours http://www.insidertour.com. We took the Cold War tour. Normally, I despise tours. But this group's are great, creative, and fun. And, there is none of the "selling" of certain products or restaurants along the way.
I echo your point on club lounges being a great place to work. Glad to see I'm not the only one - having gotten stares from other hotel guests before for being at the lounge three days in a row just working and not actually 'using' the lounge otherwise. Heh
Was that a hotel you stayed at or were you in a hospital for medical treatment...I couldn't tell from the pictures? And that room...what a joke! The Ritz Carlton Potzdamer Platze kicks ass over this place with more luxurious rooms, larger and more plush bathrooms, and Purple Rain toiletries for LESS money.