The Soho House Berlin has opened in the trendy Mitte district, offering the same exclusivity and luxury you can find in other Soho House locations around the world (for example, the Soho Beach House in Miami). The hotel is located in a late-Bauhaus edifice that opened originally as a department store in 1928 and was seized by wartime government before being occupied by the post-war, Communist regime until 1956.  After German reunification the building was legally returned to the descendants of its original owners but, it had been in ruins until now. The hotel’s design is a mixture of industrial — exposed concrete and metal lamps — and a bit of English country charm, with floral seat coverings and velvet sofas.

Not your average Berlin hotel, the Soho House Berlin has a movie theater, spa, state-of the-art gym, and a heated rooftop pool made from volcanic stone. It has 40 bedrooms which come in six different size categories ranging from ‘Tiny’ to ‘Extra Large’ and most of the rooms have a traditional vintage record player and a selection of custom vinyl LP’s.  The private members club has three floors of rooms and they are available to both members and non-members.

The screening room is a 30-seater cinema that is fully equipped for screening films in digital, HD, 3D and 35mm formats, making it an perfect location for screenings and other film events. This room can be rented for 180 EUR per hour and can be used for company presentations and media events. The Library is filled with an assortment of art and design books; it also features a bar that can be rented for private events. There are ample dining choices in the hotel: Café Hoeme, Boheme Kitchen Bar, and Cecconi’s Mayfair.

Whether you are traveling to Berlin for pleasure or business, Soho House Berlin is ideal and it is certainly the most unique of all the hotels we have reviewed on Mapplr.

Check out all of our Berlin hotel and restaurant reviews.

Axel Hotel Buenos Aires

Axel Hotels is a unique concept in the world of boutique hotels: they target a primarily gay clientele, although the hotels are very hetero-friendly, too. Axel Hotels has three locations: Barcelona, Berlin and Buenos Aires. The design of the hotels can be described as stylish, urban chic with lots of comfortable lounges for guests and their friends to hang out. All three have a skybar on the terrace, as well as a pool or Jacuzzi with views of the city. Each hotel also has a ground level bar that is completely open to the public, and is the place to see and be seen with its trendy design, music, and cocktails. Furthermore, these bars can be rented out along with other meeting rooms offered for special events.

Axel Hotel Barcelona

Each hotel holds special events according to the time of the year. For example, Axel Hotel Berlin has a catwalk and their 5th Avenue Fashion show every last Sunday of the month. After all the festivities, you can then relax at the wellness club where you can rejuvenate body and mind.  Whether you are looking for a fun place to stay with your partner or are on the prowl to meet new people, these hotels are great places to hang out.

More information:

The Axel Berlin is located in the Schönberg district. The address is Lietzenburger Straße, 13/15, 10789, Schöneberg, Berlin | Tel. (+49) 30 2100 28 93. Schönberg has been the center of gay Berlin since the 1920s. The hotel is only one block from the amazing KaDeWe department store (make sure you check out the fabulous food hall of the store).

The Axel Barcelona is located in the Eixample district of Barcelona with its stately avenues and grand buildings. It is close to many cool designer boutiques, design shops and excellent restaurants. Plaza Catalunya is just a few minutes walk. This hotel reopened in late spring 2010 after an extensive renovation. The address is Aribau 33, 08011 Barcelona, Spain; Tel. (+34) 93 323 93 93.

The Axel Buenos Aires is located in the trendy San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, a lively area filled with boutiques, restaurants and cafes. The address is Venezuela 649, C1095AAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Tel. (+54) 11 4136 93 93.

I am always on the lookout for new boutique hotels in Berlin, one of my favorite cities in the world. So I am thrilled to see that one has just opened in my favourite neighborhood, Berlin Mitte. The hotel is called The Weinmeister and bills itself as a “high tech” boutique hotel. Instead of a TV in the room, you have an Apple iMac. This is a welcome change in the world of hotel rooms, especially since many people like me, hate TV. Apart from the presence of an iMac in place of a TV, the other welcome change in the way the Weinmeister has decorated its rooms is the absolute focus on the one thing that matters to you when you book a hotel room: the bed. The rest of the furniture is kept to an absolute minimum but the bed looks divine. The Weinmeister has a beauty spa for tired and frazzled travelers, as well as a bar and a restaurant. Rooms start at around 130 EUR per night.

The best feature of the Weinmeister is its location. The area is filled with good restaurants and bars, and small boutiques selling clothes and accessories from young, local designers. The Hackesche Höfe, a shopping arcade whose interior courtyard is teeming with small shops and cafes, draws a fashionable crowd at all times of the day.

The Weinmeister
Weinmeisterstrasse 2
10178 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 755 667 0
Email the hotel to inquire about a booking.

Find more hotels in Berlin and check out our favorite hotspots (restaurants and cafes) in the city.

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About the author

Esme Vos is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mapplr.com, a travel site devoted to ideal holidays, adventure travel, and distinctive accommodations around the world. Since 2007, Mapplr has been providing discerning travelers with advice on which airlines to use, where to stay, where to eat and what to do. Mapplr’s sister site, Shopplr, publishes shopping recommendations around the world.

The Casa Camper Berlin outpost is the second hotel of Camper, the Spanish shoe retailer. The first one is in Barcelona. Casa Camper Berlin is, like its Catalan counterpart, very hip and well-designed. The location – Mitte – is unbeatable. Room rates start at 170 EUR. The hotel has a 24-hour rooftop bar and restaurant called Tentempié, exclusive for hotel guests (see below). The idea is that Tentempié replaces the hotel minibar (nevertheless, I would not wander up there in a bathrobe).

But if you want to dine with others, they have another restaurant called Dos Palillos, designed by Paris-based designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, serving Asian-inspired tapas. The chef de cuisine is Albert Raurich (who was at el Bulli).

Casa Camper
1 Weinmeisterstrasse
10178 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 2000 3410
www.casacamper.com/berlin

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Don’t forget to check out our favorite restaurants, cafes and boutiques in Berlin. We have other Berlin hotels on our list, including the amazing Michelberger Hotel, a funky artsy budget hotel in Friedrichshain.

Just check out the Michelberger Hotel website and tell me if you have ever in your life seen any other hotel website like it. Imagine a web designer presenting a website design like the Michelberger’s to the marketing department of the Marriott or the Sheraton hotel chain. You would see ambulances outside rushing hotel marketing executives to the nearest emergency room after their collective heart attack.

The Michelberger’s rooms range from cosy (for a couple) to Band (4-5 single beds, perfect for a rock band) to Michelberger WG (flatshare, shown below, for a bigger group – what fun you can have).

Personally, I am in love with The Clever One (pictured below) with a private library and bathtub by the window.

The hotel is the brainchild of 32 year-old Tom Michelberger and it is designed by Werner Aisslinger. Rates are around 65 EUR per night. There are 119 rooms. The location: in the up and coming Friedrichshain district by the Oberbaum bridge which spans the Spree River.

Michelberger Hotel
Warschauer Straße 39/40
10243 Berlin
Germany
+49 302977859-0
www.michelbergerhotel.com

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Don’t forget to check out our favorite restaurants, cafes and boutiques in Berlin. And if the Michelberger is too much for you, we have other Berlin hotels on our list.

Uniqotel is a network of small, stylish hotels and apartments run by people who believe in good design and personal service. It’s hard to believe that there aren’t more of these networks around, but I guess getting small hotel and B&B owners together is like herding cats. Uniqotel’s first three members are Miniloft Mitte (Berlin), Haus Auf Møn (Denmark) and Manzara (Istanbul). Miniloft is my favorite place to stay in Berlin (read my review). I have not been to Haus Auf Møn or Manzara (although I stayed in a superb boutique hotel in Istanbul called Witt Istanbul Suites).

Check it out: www.uniqotel.com

Looking for the best falafel in Berlin? It’s in a small cozy place called Dada Falafel run by a bunch of Lebanese guys on the Linienstrasse in Mitte. In addition to falafel, they serve hummus and shwarma, too. This is a great place to go for a quick bite for very little money.

Dada
Linienstrasse 132
10115 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 27596927‎

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Click to see my favorite restaurants, hotels and cafes in Berlin on a Google map.

Sushi fans rejoice! After posting my review of Mikoto Sushi, I decided to add Go-Ko (in Mitte) to my list of favorite sushi restaurants in Berlin. Go-Ko blends delicious sushi dishes with feng shui interiors. They also offer sushi-making courses if you decide to do-it-yourself at home.

Goko Sushi
Neue Schoenhauserstrasse 12
10178 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 2758 2549
www.go-ko.com

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Click to see my favorite restaurants, hotels and shops in Berlin.

I love sushi but it’s often very expensive. Not at Mikoto Sushi Lounge, which has lunch specials priced at 5 Euros complete with soup and tea. Even for dinner, Mikoto is now offering a recession friendly 50% off all menus. They also served udon noodle soups, donburi, salads and teriyaki dishes. The sushi lounge is a stylish and cozy, and the crowd is very Prenzlauerberg.

Mikoto Sushi Lounge
Pappelallee 22
10437 Berlin
Germany
+49 44 677 988
www.sushi-mikoto.de

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Click to see my favorite restaurants, hotels and shops in Berlin on a map.

Berlin is one of my favorite cities in the world because it’s vibrant, young, artsy and international. Compared to other German cities, there are many good Asian restaurants. So imagine my excitement when I discovered a Thai restaurant in Mitte that serves very spicy Thai food. Goodtime Restaurant on Chausseestrasse 1 serves piquant curries, spicy soup broth, and all the other Thai favorites you’ve been craving, but unlike other “Thai” restaurants, this one doesn’t scrimp on the flavor and spiciness. The prices are also reasonable. Oddly enough, they serve Indonesia rijstaffel as well.

Restaurant Goodtime
Chausseestrasse 1
10115 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 2804 6015
www.goodtime-berlin.de
(other locations at Hausvogteiplatz 11 and Teltower Damm 46)

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Click to see all of Mapplr’s favorite hotels, restaurants and shops in Berlin on a Google map.