2023.04 Amsterdam and Berlin (Part 4)
We left late afternoon to drive to Berlin. Being Easter Monday, traffic was okay, and we didn’t have any delays. We arrived in the city as the sunlight was fading, headed to the middle of the city and easily found our hotel for the week.
Hilton Berlin
The hotel is located in the Mitte district of Berlin, directly across from the Deutscher Church. That church is in a square shared with the Concert house of Berlin and Franzosischer Church to the north of the square. The hotel is well connected to transit with the stairs to the U-bahn stop “Stadtmitte” in the middle of the road directly in front of the hotel.
We checked-in quickly, and were assigned room 4100, a deluxe King room. The staff were outstanding and caring as they were able to handle the fact that my mom’s reservation would not be put to use. Exceptional service from the front desk staff.
Below is a picture of the central atrium area. Breakfast is served in a large room directly behind me. Entrance to the spa/gym is behind my photobombing fingers on the right. At the bottom of the atrium on the main floor is a restaurant and a bar.
Room
The hotel occupies the entire block, so there were two banks of elevators available in the hotel. Our room was along the hallway close to the main street and around a corner.
Upon entry it was easy to realize that this was not the standard room, as our room was largely than I had expected. When you enter are two wardrobes, and an open area to hang coats along with a place for luggage.
There was a kettle that had complimentary tea and a Nespresso machine. The ledge along the side with the TV proved useful as we used it to put our purchases on it, instead of the floor.
Pictures of the wardrobes at the entrance that also included an in-room safe, and also where bathrobes, and slippers were waiting for us.
The bathroom was in excellent condition. The shower was controlled by the push buttons in the shower. Temperature and pressure were spectacular. And as an added feature the lights in the overhead shower would change colours as well.
I didn’t include a picture of the desk and chair, where the desk was an extension of the ledge that the TV sat on. As well, there was a couch as well. Our room had a Juliet balcony that faced the interior courtyard.
Breakfast
We had access to the breakfast buffet, and being a large hotel, the breakfast area felt almost as large. One a few occasions we were seated far from the windows overlooking the street, and the space didn’t feel anything special.
However, on one morning were were able to get one of the few seats in the bay windows areas. This gave us an outstanding view of the Church, and was much brighter given it was a sunny morning.
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a few pictures while we had breakfast.
One thing that Little Miss learned during this trip is that sparkling wine is sitting out with the rest of the beverages available. She managed her stress of the Easter weekend events with a mimosa or two. As I didn’t need to drive, I joined her. We were on vacation, right? 😉
The buffet itself had a full selection of items, however I wanted to highlight that the offerings included a vegan, and a lactose-free section. I smiled at the oatmeal selection as well, because that would have made my mom’s morning with such variety.
Here’s a slideshow of the buffet:
Near the back of the buffet space was an egg station. Here you could watch your made-to-order eggs or omelet being made.
No we didn’t ask them to use the Mickey Mouse mold for our eggs.
Now from the massive amount, here’s a sample of what we picked from the buffet: (yes another slideshow)
executive lounge
When you use the main entrance, to the left is the Executive lounge. In the evening it appeared that the front desk was staffed, however during I cannot recall if it was staffed in the morning, or throughout the rest of the day.
Once you enter, you walk past the central food and beverage area. To the left is a semi-private room, complete with a door. Beyond the buffet area are plenty of seats, and even a bar area even though I do not think any beverages were available or served from that space. During evening hours, this place was jammed packed. At the end of the evening hours, when some snacks and alcohol were available, the crowd had thinned out.
Beverages
Throughout the day, the coolers under the counter are open and available and filled with water, juice and soft drinks.
And then during the evening hours the cooler containing beer, would be unlocked. Wine and a small selection of liquor would be brought out and placed on the buffet area.
On our first evening, we arrived just in time for final call in the lounge. By that time most of the food had been picked clean. We’d have to find another option for dinner, after we finished our drinks of course.
Executive Lounge Breakfast
On one morning I visited the lounge to see what was available for breakfast. Given that fewer people access the lounge the selection was only a handful of items compared to the main buffet, however, if this is your only option for breakfast you won’t starve.
Evening Snacks
The selection of items did rotate through each evening. On a few occasions we were able to make the food on offer a substitute for dinner.
Room Service
On the day of our arrival, after departing from the lounge we decided to order room service. During the drive we had not eaten a proper dinner, and neither of us wanted to head out and find a restaurant. Once our food arrived, we were happy with our selections. A Burger, Club sandwich and French fries were good comfort food to wrap up a busy holiday weekend.
Listo
One of the spaces on the main floor past the entrance is Listo. We visited here as we wanted to try the desserts they had on display.
We thoroughly enjoyed our desserts.
Both of us would enjoy staying here again. It’s central location, especially if you want to visit tourist hotspots (Brandenburg gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Museum Island) are all easy walks from the hotel. The subway station out front enables you to easily access the rest of Berlin.
Explore other parts of this trip:
Part 1 – KLM Lounge and Flight Toronto to Amsterdam
Part 4 – Hilton Berlin (this post!)
Part 6 – Berlin, not sightseeing
Part 7 – Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol