I found it odd, having said goodbye to the BA crew and stepping on to the jetty that links the plane to the terminal building, that I was already stuck in a queue of some sort. I soon realised that the reason for the hold-up was passport control, which was quite literally at the end of the jetty.
Behind passport control was the baggage reclaim, behind that the customs, and then, no more than a few yards from customs, I was on the taxi rank. In other words, from the plane to the taxi was no more than a matter of yards. And the closeness of everything continued as I soon discovered it was only 25 Euros by cab to my hotel, the Best Western Hotel President.
Talk about a perfectly located hotel! The Best Western Hotel President had a metro station no more than five minutes away (Wittenberg Platz); it had shops (including an Apple Store and all the big brands you can imagine) no more than 10 to 15 minutes away (on foot) and there were a fair few restaurants too.
The front desk is, arguably, the most important place for any hotel as it's where the customer gets his or her first impressions of the place. My first impression was that the Best Western Hotel President was going to be good. Why? Because the check-in was not only friendly, but efficient and soon I was standing in front of the elevator waiting to take myself and my suitcase to room 416, which was a pretty standard room, but nevertheless a perfectly functional room with decent WiFi, a decent TV, perfect bathroom – a kind of wet room – and a comfortable bed.
It was, however, another hotel without a restaurant and I know that, in previous reviews, I've mentioned this and have been in two minds as to whether 'no restaurant' is a good or a bad thing. I think, in fairness, that it's a good thing as it gets you out on the streets sampling the delights of the city and in Berlin's case it's all good. From the hotelier's point of view it's a good thing too as why should they have to compete with those who specialise in being restaurateurs? There has, as I've also said before, always been a stigma attached to the hotel restaurant. Many people don't use them because they dislike dining and breakfasting in the same space. So why have one?
I'm not going to criticise the Best Western Hotel President for not having a restaurant as it meant that I got to experience a decent Italian restaurant (Antica Roma) and an equally decent Vietnamese restaurant (Lien in Berlin).
In fact, the only confusing thing about the President's 'restaurant' was the fact that it did exist and was available to large parties, but not individuals like yours truly. Confusing because I was told there wasn't a restaurant (and there wasn't) but then, in the evenings, I could see people dining there. It wasn't a big problem and it also doubled as the breakfast room. Breakfast, incidentally was good as there was plenty of choice for all tastes. I always had cereal, yoghurt and fresh fruit, but everything else was available too.
Another great thing about the hotel (although it was by no means rare in Berlin) was bicycle hire. Yes, there were 'Boris Bikes' but why bother with them when most hotels offered their own bikes for hire and Berlin is an extremely bicycle-friendly city? I hired bike 3113 for 12 Euros and rode through the amazing Tiergarten to the Reichstag and the central railway station and back.
Check-out was as easy as check-in, all the front desk staff were impeccable and the hotel was ideally located bang in the centre of the city, not a million miles from anywhere.
I would definitely stay at this hotel again should I find myself back in Berlin and I would recommend it to anybody.
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