Berlin Hostel - a Hostel with an Excellent Location

We booked the hostel and started counting the days until our holiday. After the plane landed, we took the train to the city centre to Alexanderplatz and then took the underground to our hostel. The hostel is located on Kluckstraße, right next to the Kurfürstenstraße U-Bahn station. Tourists quickly become aware that Berlin is a very large city and the city centre itself is spread far out, so it’s only logical to book accommodation near public transport stations, rather than near attractions. The hostel has an excellent location when it comes to that.

There’s a reception desk on the ground floor, available 24/7, a bar, a large dining room, a launderette, and there are also a lot of lockers for the luggage. Guests can therefore put their luggage in the lockers on the last day and carelessly explore the city.

The staff are really friendly and always eager to help or offer advice on which U-Bahn line to use, how to get to a certain attraction, or what to see in a certain part of the city. The hostel is good at providing security for its guests. The entrance door is locked after 10 p.m. and can be opened by ringing the doorbell after which the receptionist checks if you have the key. Such a security check is completely understandable in a hostel that big and with so many guests.

Delicious breakfast is available in the dining room. Each morning, there’s a great selection of freshly baked bread rolls, wholemeal bread, different types of cheese and meat, jam, cheese and chocolate spreads, fruit, juices, and different types of tea and coffee. It’s a buffet breakfast. Even if guests, like us, like to sleep all morning and have a late breakfast, the staff makes sure there are still plates packed with all the goodness awaiting them. The hostel also offers its guests the chance to order a lunch pack or make a dinner reservation. The latter needs to be made a day in advance, though, and there’s a set menu each day.

We were very pleased to find a welcome drink coupon upon entering our room. So, we went out to a bar one evening (before exploring Berlin at night) for a cocktail. We also received two bottles of water, maps, and a catalogue with useful city information. Our room was very lovely, tidy and clean, and the beds were freshly made. It was a room with four beds and with a private bathroom and a shower. The rooms are spacious, and the walls are decorated with panoramic photos of the streets of Berlin and its attractions. There were also towels and mini shampoos on the beds when we arrived. Since we washed our hair during our holiday in Berlin, we asked for a hairdryer at the reception desk. The staff lent us one without any problems.

There’s a huge lawn in front of the hostel entrance, with many trees, benches and a bicycle shed. Since we visited Berlin during winter, the weather was changeable (it was cloudy). We could, however, easily imagine what it must be like relaxing under the trees after a long day and sipping cocktail from the bar in spring and summer.

We came across many families with children, young couples, tourist groups or individual travellers during out stay, and the hostel even hosted a group of Asian musicians that practised their instruments in the common room each morning. The hostel was really packed with travellers each day. No wonder an extension is being built in an already large complex.

The hostel also has a common room where guests can play table tennis, a TV room, sofas in front of the bar, tables and chairs at the entrance to the dining room, and a vending machine with snacks. There’s free wi-fi available throughout the entire hostel.

The most important qualities of an excellent hostel are cleanliness, comfort, security, perfect location, and kind staff. Youth Hostel International has all of the above, that’s why I gladly recommend it to anyone who’s planning to visit Berlin. And what’s more important, HI Hostel Card holders are eligible for a 10 per cent discount per night. Isn’t that great?

In my next travelogue you’ll find out what to do in Berlin, where to go out for a drink and all the things you definitely need to try.