I admit it: I am a bit of a hotel snob. I wish I had the yearning to camp in swampy settings or share a hostel bedroom with 23 other girls, but truth is, I like my creature comforts and prefer not to have to don shoes to get to the toilet.
Call me crazy, call me stuck up, but it's the truth. But I'm not so snobby as to let a charming boutique hotel like East Side go unnoticed.
My Beloved and I stayed here for three nights (my first trip to the capital), and I found the staff here warm and welcoming, while representing a hotel that is clean but delightfully unconventional (I mean, part of their branding includes Leonid Brezhnev smooching Erich Honnecker for God's sake).
When we arrived, our room wasn't ready, but the gentleman behind the counter made amends by offering us a free beer while we waited (which, for a weary traveller coming from the UK, was a welcomed gesture for only a 15-minute wait).
East Side is like a haven for hipsters, with charmingly playful colour schemes and eccentric photography dotting the walls. Our room was fairly large, and amazingly, the bathroom was nearly the same square footage. The staff thankfully granted our request to have a room facing the iconic Berlin Wall, which made for fantastic people watching, even in the deluge of autumn rainstorms.
East Side is within convenient walking distance from some of the city's best bars and restaurants, which meant we didn't bother taking the U-Bahn until the second day of our trip. read more