Berlin Intercontinental Hotel

I was in Berlin Intercontinental Hotel for a few nights.

I usually like these types of chain hotels since you know what you’re in for when you stay.  There is some level of familiarity.  I don’t have the budget to stay in these for all or most of my trips anyway, but sometimes I woulud stay in a hotel that I don’t know about and I would end up staying up all night because of the smell of the room (they even had those automated air freshners… should have been a red flag), or hotels with no sound insulation, or beds with non-existent pillows and springy mattresses.  I’ve found that what makes a good hotel good is the quality of the bedding and you can expect good quality beds/pillows/bedsheets in these 4*/5* hotels.

Pros:

1. Really good spa, pool and sauna choice. You have water beds, one sauna, a cold dip pool, numerous interesting showers, two steam baths, lap pool, large jacuzzi. Not as good as dedicated spa hotels like the Corinthian in Budapest but this is a good alternative. Unfortunately, things get in a bit of a disarray by the end of the day.

2. Location is good for higher shopping as it is within walking distance to Bikini Berlin, KaDeWe. It’s in the Tiergarten area so you also have the zoo and aquarium within walking distance.

3. Intercontinental brands.

4. Mattress is really comfy. I’ve found that quality of the bedding easily makes or breaks a good hotel. I’m also a light sleeper and have had instances where poor quality beds has led me to stay up all night.

5. The business centre (which I only used once to scan a document) was more the 90’s/early 00’s style centres (think faux leather chairs) but it was still a dedicated business center.  Not 24 hours like in Hyatt Regency Waikiki but at least it exists.

Cons:

1. Not really in the centre with the major tourist type locations if you want to be within an easy ride or public transport stop.

2. You have to pay an additional fee to access the spa service that I mentioned above. Which, I don’t understand considering the cost of a room. Then again, it’s quiet small if you compare to spa luxury hotels. Maybe the cost is a way to make it more ‘exclusive’.

3. Not really in an interesting area (like first point above).

4. The hotel restaurant did not seem that exciting, but only if you consider the brand name and location.