Ted M.
Yelp
Pros: As great as the property itself is, the staff is what made it special. Especially the young, shorter woman at the front desk and Jonny the Concierge
Cons: Not a whole lot. There is construction going on in one of the restaurants, Eck, and work starts pretty early. That was it. Very minor.
Location: A little far away for walking to most of the tourist attractions but only a short bus ride away from everything and the stop is about 75 yards away.
Stayed there for a week and really helped make the Berlin vacation memorable and enjoyable. The hotel itself is beautiful. The food was very good (try the schnitzel and the mousse). Beds comfortable and showers powerful. But the staff was what really made it special. Jonny the Concierge is about as friendly and knowledgeable as I've ever seen. When I checked in on Sunday, 8/17, I lost one of my credit cards. The young, shorter woman w/ short hair (didn't get her name) checking me immediately called Visa and efficiently checked me in as well as help resolve my issue. All throughout the week, the front desk people and Jonny made a non-German-speaking, lone traveler like me visiting Berlin for the first time, comfortable and knowledgeable about their great city. Few hotels have had staff top to bottom that was this good and trust me, I travel a lot and am a hotel snob. Don't worry about the distance to the main tourist attractions. A 75 yard walk gets you to the M100 or M29 bus for only 2.60 Euros and gets you there while driving through the other tourist attractions. One piece of trivia, I learned from visiting the Bendlerblock memorial to the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler as depicted in the movie "Valkyrie" that some of the guys that were supporting Von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) were hanging out at the lounge of the Esplanade waiting for word to get going. Bendlerblock is only about a ten minute walk from the hotel.