Victor’s Residenz-Hotel Berlin-Tegel

This feels like a one-star hotel. The rooms are old and smelly, and it’s time they renovated them. Maybe I was just unlucky and got checked in last by the service desk, since the room wasn’t ready.

We’re staying here for six weeks, and for three days the toilet and shower were clogged. They said they’d fixed it when they hadn’t. When we went back to reception, the man said he didn’t want to clean it, even though the bathroom was overflowing with sewer stuff and smelled terrible. He told us to use the basement bathroom instead, after we’d already been without a usable bathroom for three days. I expected them to offer another room or something. It was extremely unhygienic and could cause infections. I’m angry and disappointed, especially since we’re here for six weeks and have nowhere else to shower or use the bathroom. I wouldn’t recommend staying here. Edit: They eventually fixed and cleaned everything, apologized with a gift basket, and gave us a drinks voucher. I hope it doesn’t happen again.

We stayed for two nights while interrailing, and the rooms were clean, comfortable, and well equipped. The side entrance, which we had to use when we arrived late, only opens with a key card, which made it feel like hotel staff care about guest safety. The receptionist was a bit unhelpful at check-in and took too long with the paperwork, even though we were clearly tired. Getting into the city is easy: the bus stop is just around the corner, and it takes about 20 minutes to reach Berlin central train station by bus. There’s also a metro station about a 15-minute walk away. I’d recommend it for people looking for a decent place that isn’t too cheap.

The price is high for the sort of room you get. I had a double bed but only one pillow and one blanket. The pillow was terrible, with hardly any filling. I wouldn’t recommend this place unless you’re desperate. The front desk service was bad too. There was a queue, and although two employees were there, only one was helping people while the other barely lifted a finger.