Monday, November 14, 2011

Rob in Berlin - Part 1

I've just returned from a mad week and a bit in Berlin. I have to say, what a city. I absolutely loved it. Over the next few days I am going to post a little about my experiences there...

The Hotel

Oh. My. God.
I have never seen nor heard of a hotel like the nhow Berlin. It's bright and bold and stylish and colourful. I saw it online and knew I had to stay there... as a huge music/architecture fan it looked like a great place.






My first impressions were good, the reception is amazing. Then they said as I was staying a long time I had been given a free upgrade! I walked into a decent sized room, decorated in a way I can safely say matches no other hotel in the world. Mental, but bright, bold and comfortable.


Then I realised that I had four big windows with a view of the river Spree in three directions!


The TV set is built into a reflective unit that also holds the desk, attached to the wall with no feet... you can plug in your ipod or any device with headphones... which I did.
The bar was even better than the rooms. This place looked incredible. I spent hours sat in the bar looking at all the different designs and styles of the furniture and layout.







Sure the bright colours will annoy some people, but if it was done so everyone liked it it wouldn't be half as good.
Even better, the service was brilliant throughout. With nice staff who spoke English very well (despite my best attempts at German, I am by no means a good speaker), and were always happy to help in any way they could.





I have to mention Nadine and Caroline who worked at the bar. They were cheerful, nice to talk to and always happy to help. They even avoided laughing when I left a full glass of beer when the evening's drinking caught up with me quickly and I nipped off to bed before I fell off the stool!

When I turned up to the bar with my luggage for an apple juice they both pulled sad faces, which is exactly the kind of friendly service I like, not the straight, upper lip service most hotels aim for.

In fact this hotel should be a lesson to every major hotel chain that uniformly aiming at bland smartness and 'expensive slickness' is not the only way. You can create places with individual charm, character and genuinely good people. The hotel was perfect for this part of Berlin, and I have to say I enjoyed staying there more than any hotel I have ever been to.

2 comments:

Charles Edward Frith said...

Agreed. I enjoyed my stay at the nhow hotel in Milan.

http://www.charlesfrith.com/2007/11/jump.html

Real Design Tube said...

Very impressive the interior. Honestly I was amazed.