Dorint Airport Berlin Tegel

The breakfast buffet was a real highlight, with a huge range of pastries, meats, coffee, tea, juice, and even hot chocolate. The hotel is also handy for reaching some Berlin attractions. Still, I left disappointed and wouldn't recommend staying unless the location and food are worth it to you. The guest experience needs more attention. The entrance had little to it beyond a small makeshift fountain and benches. Inside, the lobby was large, with some sofas and brochure stands. The internet kiosk was okay, but slow internet and a broken keyboard made it nearly useless. The rest felt ordinary. The room was bare and gloomy, almost like a haunted house. There was no air conditioning, and although the cooling fan was good, it only arrived halfway through my stay. Sound insulation was awful: I heard footsteps and voices outside. We kids like to gather in one room and talk late, sometimes loudly, but at other hotels this hadn't been a problem. Here we were complained about and threatened with being kicked out of the rooms we had paid for. The facilities were mediocre too. The toilets were small and basic, the TVs weren't as high-tech as in other hotels, and the beds were smaller than usual. The cushioning was good, but the pillows were nearly flat. Wi-Fi wasn't free: we got just 15 minutes every 24 hours at Dorint, and extra access cost 7 Euros for 3 hours. I didn't think that was reasonable.

The internet was really slow, and the dinners were overpriced. The hotel was clean, but I wouldn't stay longer than one night or choose it again on another trip through Berlin. The decor looks decades out of date, with laminated faux wood that seems straight from the late 80's. Smoking and non-smoking floors are mixed, so that could be an issue if you don't like smoking rooms. Even the non-smoking rooms smelled strongly of the soap they use. I suspect it's meant to cover smoke smells, but it gave me a headache.

I paid a lot for a dirty room with a child's single bed and nowhere clean and comfortable to sit except on that little bed. The whole place smelled of smoke. I can put up with it for one night, but I won't come back. It looked nice online when I booked, though trips to Germany always seem to mean paying a premium for poor service, poor accommodation, and unfriendly people. Makes you wonder what it would cost to stay somewhere nice.

It might be okay for one night, but I wouldn't stay longer. The hotel is five minutes on foot from Kurt Schumacher Platz U Bahn, with shops and a mall nearby. Planes pass overhead quite regularly, and the soundproofing isn't as good as the hotel claims. I was shocked to find no air conditioning. The cheap fan barely helped, and the pillow had so little filling that I woke up without it. Even basic bathroom amenities weren't provided. Breakfast was the same each of the four mornings. There's little to the hotel besides the rooms and a restaurant.