As someone who has backpacked through Europe, I’ve always done my research to find the most interesting city hostels and inexpensive hotels. I’ve found Berlin boasts some of the most unique bargain hotels in Europe. Here are four great low budget hotel options for this cool German city:
Pension Funk
The name fits perfectly. This ornate hotel was built 90 years ago as a retreat and secret love nest for Europe’s trendiest cafe artists and silent film stars. Some believe it’s still haunted by such long-ago luminaries as Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. When you spend the night there, think of it as bed and breakfast with amorous ghosts. The comfortable rooms are decorated with 1920s furniture, and the aura of that roaring era’s glamor still pervades the halls.
The Pension Funk is a perfect place to be your haunt in Berlin. It’s located a few steps away from the Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s version of Fifth Avenue, Rodeo Drive and Champs Elysées all-in-one. Strolling along the tree-lined avenue, you can enjoy everything from hip bar hangouts to trendy shops. Prices start at $45 per night, including breakfast and free wireless (but no bathroom). $70 per night gets you a shower and private bathroom.
Pension Funk
Fasanenstrasse 69, Kurfurstendamm, Berlin
hotel-pensionfunk.de
Propeller Island City Lodge
Friends spent several nights at this small hotel, and ever since continue to tell the tale of sleeping in a coffin. Actually, there are no recognizable beds, just 30 colorful theme rooms, designed by a contemporary Berlin artist. The non-bed decor includes large birdcages, all-around mirrors, mine shaft and upside-down floating on clouds. Prices start at $105 per night for one person, each additional person is $20. Most of the rooms are $155 per night.
Propeller Island City Lodge
Albrecht Achiles Strasse 58, Berlin
propeller-island.com
Hotel Huettenpalast
Created just two years ago from an old factory building in an area frequented by partying students and young professionals. The owners are avid outdoor people, and designed this “hut palace” for glamping, a composite of glamor and camping.
Guests sleep in a variety of trailers, lofts, cabins, tents and huts on what was once the factory’s workshop floors. All of the sleeping places are modern and comfortable private quarters. Prices start at $60 per night, single, including breakfast. A cabin for two is $86 per night.
Hotel Huettenpalast Hobrechtstrasse 66, Neukolln, Berlin
huettenpalast.de
Hotel Q!
Today’s movie, TV and music stars frequently stay in Hotel Q! when performing or filming in Berlin. The decor is all white with red carpeting, giving an image of a space ship. The rooms feature beds and other furniture built into the walls, and would be very comfortable for Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew.
Along with the space theme, hotel employees are all dressed in black and look like young astronauts who just stepped out of their space gear. We stayed at Hotel Q! last year, hoping to rub shoulders with some stars. Our timing was off, and the only stars there that night were Austrian politicians. Prices start at $75 a night, including room fruit basket
Hotel Q!
Knesebeckstrasse 67
Berlin
loock-hotels.com
Freddy Sherman is a world traveler and editor of the travel blog travel4people.com. You can follow him on twitter, @thefredsherman
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