Holiday Inn Berlin Mitte - Berlin, Germany     

My wife and I stayed in the Holiday Inn, Mitte in December 2007, it is a nice enough hotel, quite basic, however the room was clean and the staff were friendly. The hotel is just off a main street with plenty of local shops, bakeries etc. The hotel is situated across from the 'Gesundbrunnen' underground, city train and railway station of the Deutsche Bahn, so travelling to and from the city centre is no problem. A 30 minute walk takes you right into the heart of the city centre. The local area has a very Turkish influence which although was off putting at first turned out to be quite enjoyable, the local Turkish cafes/bakeries were nice and the staff were very friendly and helpful. We went to Berlin in December to experience the Christmas markets, this in itself was a great experience and is thoroughly recommended.

While the room and hotel was fine for the price, I found there were few restaurants or places to see within the vicinity. It is also quite a bit out from the city and the park in front was run down and littered when I was there. The other thing was I felt there was a safety issue around the U and S-bahn station at night with groups of youths hanging around and generally up to no good. The one other issue I had was that the front desk, while helpful, gave me incorrect directions to get to the airport, so I ended up changing at the wrong station. Fortunately with the regularity of the trains I was able to hop back on and go to the right stop, but it is something to be aware of when asking for directions.