Smartments Business Berlin Karlshorst

The hotel was clean and nice. Location wise, it was a bit far out from the city centre. More suburban. But there's a train station just next to the hotel and tram lines outside the hotel too. Train servicesand cars runs well throughout the night and early morning. Convenient but too noisy unless you shut all the windows, then it'll become a bit stuffy. No air/con, but there's a fan that works very well. Laundromat is available in the basement. A plus. Check-in was a nightmare. The check-in terminal was all in German. No English. We had to use a translator app to work out how to check in and get our room key. The lady there at the time did not speak English and was quite short with us as we couldn't understand what she was trying to tell us and was struggling badly.

This was a brilliant place for me - an autistic woman travelling on her own. The location was perfect, literally right next to the station with supermarkets almost across the road. Close enough to the city to travel (and airport) to easily but not so close that it's noisy. The lack of staff initially seemed strange but for me it was not a problem at all. I booked direct with the owners as it was cheaper and they emailed me an access code to the front door a few days before arrival. Once inside it is easy to check in via the online terminal - simply follow the instructions, get your card and find your apartment - it really couldn't be easier. There is a number you can call if you need help but for me it wasn't necessary. The apartments themselves are lovely - spacious and airy with everything you need and nothing you don't. They are essentially studios with a separate bathroom - you get a nice big double bed, a wardrobe to hang stuff in, a TV (which I didn't use personally) and a well equipped kitchen with everything you need. I couldn't get the coffee maker to work without spilling water everywhere but there is a kettle - you also get a microwave, a hob, a dishwasher with a few tablets and a good sized fridge. he bathroom was good too with plenty of hot water and nice fluffy towels. The internet worked well for me with no issues. They have several other locations around Berlin but this was the cheapest and so for me the best - less than half an hour from Alexanderplatz and pretty much anywhere else. The only thing I would change is to have a left luggage area but there are plenty of lockers in the main stations so this wasn't a a major problem.

The room was so clean. It has everything you need, even a dishwasher. A weekly cleaning service was included in the rent. There is a laundry room in the basement and you can wash your clothes and dry them by spent 3 €. We really enjoyed our stay. Just 1 min to S-Bahn (train station) and 1 min to Tram.

I reserved accommodation for three nights at this establishment and unfortunately for two of those notes I had no Internet access; in addition to that because there was no Internet access I wasn’t able to have my card replaced and even though I complained to the telephone receptionist I was required to wait a total of five hours before I was given access to a new key so that I could access my room. In fact when I was on the phone with the telephone receptionist I was told that I should “take a walk and quiet while they tried to fix the problem even though the heat outside and Berlin was at record levels. The failure of hotel management to take precautions and be prepared to assist Hotel guests who experience these problems is appalling and frankly unacceptable. The rooms themselves are adequate but the failures provide decent customer service means that I do not recommend this Hotel.