Hotel Abendstern - Berlin, Germany     

The only negative thing to say (and it's a bit subjective at any rate) is that the hotel doesn't look fabulous from the outside. The lobby isn't too charming, either. Other than that, it's just great. The hotel is inexpensive, the rooms are very, very clean, the front desk is attentive. But what is best about this hotel is its location - two minutes to an S-bahn station (direct train line to a number of places, Schoenefeld airport among them), two minutes to a bus stop (around the corner - Tegel airport bus No.109 stops there), within walking distance to Deutsche Oper, Kudamm and the Zoo. Plenty of nice bars and cafes around. Excellent for a weekend break in Berlin.

And thats all I really want. Sure there are plenty of other nicer hotels around, but I like the Abendstern simple enough rooms with decent facilities, friendly breakfast room. The other really handy thing about the Abendstern is that it is a stones throw from Charlottenburg station (One minute hotel door to platform). There are overground trains every 2-3 minutes into the centre of town during the day, which is really nice as you get to see things rather than been on the underground and it's especially useful for getting home in the early hours after a nigh out. That said if you need the tube it's also one minute walk away. I've stayed at Abendstern three times now (and probably again later inthe year) , it's by no means the Ritz and may not suit everybody. But if you are happy with cheap and cheerful in a nice area with great transport links then it's definately worth a look.