Hotel Pension Messe - Berlin, Germany     

This place is not swanky or in any way luxurious, however it is very good value for money. It is basic and a little old fashioned in decor etc but it is clean, the staff are extremely friendly and helpful and the breakfast is great. There are two properties owned by hotel Messe, the pension and the hotel. We stayed in the hotel for 4 nights over New Year and it was great. We had an on-suite bathroom which had a good shower. The room was spacious and clean. The hotel is literally right next to the Messe Nord S bahn station and a 5 min walk from the Kaiserdam U Bahn station which is great for getting into town and home again at any time of day or night... very regular services! You are expected to pay before you get the key so have cash ready as the card machine wasn't working when we were there.

We stayed at the Pension Messe for 5 nights and paid €370 for a double room. I booked fairly late and did not by any stretch of the imagination expect luxury for that price. I was willing to trade off having a shared toilet for a private shower. At check-in the full price is payable up-front as well as a €20 key deposit. I would say the plus points of the hotel was it had a lift to get your heavy baggage around (reception located on the 1st floor) and my room was clean and tidy with a comfortable bed. The hotel is also within minutes of the U-Bahn (Sophie Charlotte Platz) and the S-Bahn (Messe/ICC Nord). On the negative side the curtains did not cover the whole of the road-facing window, which made the logistics of changing clothes at night a bit fraught. The shower attachment was faulty in that it would flip off its hook at any given moment when in use. There was a maid service every day but on one particular morning (when we had consumed just a little bit too much German beer the night before!) I tried to explain in my best German possible that we did not require a cleaning service but she was insistent on coming in which I did not appreciate. We were out most mornings so did not have to put up with it much but the towels were only changed once, and those were almost threadbare! I would recommend the management of the hotel respect the privacy of guests when they don't want to be disturbed (there were no 'do not disturb' signs for the door) and invest in some decent curtains and shower attachments! All-in-all it wasn't an awful experience but I think this has taught me to book a hotel early and save up a bit more for a nicer hotel. If you are looking for cheap, I'm pretty sure that the Pension Messe will suffice but there will be certain things that annoy you slightly.