Hotel Classic Apartment

I want to make one thing clear from the beginning. This is basic accommodation, nothing fancy. I give it 4 stars based on the value for money and the location. The apartment had two bedrooms, one bathroom (bath with big shower head), one small kitchen (microwave, toaster, electric kettle, fridge, stove top but no oven). There is no living room or dining room, just a small foyer. The kitchen had glasses, cups, dishes, silver wear and some cook wear. All linens are provided along with two towels ("bath" towel and hand towel) per person. There was dish washing soap in the kitchen and liquid hand soap in the bathroom only. There was plenty of hot water and the heating worked well.The apartment was clean and serviceable (however there was a big crack in the wall behind the bathroom door frame). There is a balcony area for both the bedrooms. Free Wi-Fi is provided also. The exterior of the building is nothing to look at. The interior has an elevator and wide stairwells. The entrance and stairs was not 100% clean but it is obviously cleaned regularly. The neighborhood is quiet and there is an Italian restaurant 50 meters from the entrance doorway to the apartments. Parking was free and on the street. I believe that the location is the best aspect to the apartments as it is only a 10 minute walk to Adenauer Pltz U-Bahn station. We picked up the city bus there every day. Finally I would also like to say that the receptionist was very friendly and helpful with excellent English. I would recommend this property based on what it is.

Located in a quiet residential area of the city, the apartment block was a leisurely twenty minutes walk from Charlottenburg railway station (trains travel directly from Schonefield airport to Berlin- Charlottenburg on a regular basis). The apartment was very clean, spacious and furnished with an excellent kitchen and en-suite bathroom. And with central heating throughout we were very comfortable during our winter stay. There was a supermarket at the end of the road for any essentials, as well as a good few places to eat out, if you felt so inclined. Most places of interest in the city can be reached on foot from the apartment but for those further a field buses and the underground offer an affordable alternative. We would be happy to stay at the apartment again should we ever revisit Berlin as we felt that it represented good value for money.

Over the years I have tried several so-called apartment-hotels. If you are on a budget and gourmet-eating is not your first priority, cooking your own food can significantly cut travelling costs. In addition, these hotels usually offer more space and comfortable furniture than your average budget hotel room. Quality varies also in apartment hotels of course, but in every incident so far I have found that the accommodation offered consisted of (at least) two rooms; a bedroom and a combined living room cum kitchen in various layouts, and that some effort was put into making the place homely. Not so with Classic Apartment (Ha!) in Eisenzahnstrasse. The aptest description of this accommodation must be a large kitchen with a bed and some furniture thrown in. Lighting – or rather lack thereof – was downright depressing; an ugly lamp in the ceiling and two bed-stand lamps is what you get. There was a sofa – but no reading light, and there was also a work desk – but no work light; I had to move the desk so that I could use one of the bed lamps to get some work done. But perhaps “Classic” in this case is a reference to the Dark Ages. Heating was not turned on (in September!) which didn’t make the place any cosier. A complaint to the – otherwise kind and helpful – receptionist didn’t make any difference. He was probably powerless to remedy the situation. In retrospect, he was actually the only person I encountered during my stay, staff or guests. The entrance hall was rather messy; the whole place was eerily silent, somewhat in disrepair and had an abandoned, almost dilapidated air to it. There was a free WiFi, but the connection was very unstable on the first day and I got thrown off every other minute, both my laptop and phone. Connection improved, however, after complaining to the receptionist. The bed was OK. Kitchen appliances functioned. Bathroom was clean and with hot water. The lack of heating, however, obliterated the pleasure of the towel-dryer. There was ONE SMALL towel available. Luckily there was a balcony where the towel could shed some of the moist. And BTW; at that point I discovered that the balcony door could not lock so in reality, the room was accessible for everybody at all times! --- In all fairness I guess one will have to say that a price around 60€ per night for a so-called “apartment” isn’t a lot of money – but you sure don’t get much for your buck here either. I’m no Mr. Picky, but as I started writing this on the first night after my arrival, and the refrigerator was humming noisily in my right ear while my feet were getting numb with cold, the prospect of spending four days in these surroundings were kinda gloomy. The following days didn’t mollify that sentiment very much. In conclusion I find the place somewhat sub-standard, even at that price. I’m fairly convinced that I shall not return here as a guest! --- Practical info: Nearest U-Bahn station is Adenauer Platz, a 10 minute walk. There is a coin laundry and a Netto supermarket only a few minutes away.