I hate giving bad reviews to hotels where the staff is very nice. Sadly, Engergie Hotel is exactly one of those places. All of my interactions with the staff were very pleasant, but the hotel itself is horrible.
The pictures of the rooms are very misleading. Perhaps that's what the rooms looked like when the hotel opened, but now the rooms are worn, dated, and depressing. They are, however kept clean. The walls of the entrance halls need to be repaired and getting into the elevator in the "annex" reminded me of some really trashy places friends lived on the Lower East Side of NYC.
Unfortunately, the design of the room is tragic. The bathroom isn't really separated from the sleeping/working area, so my shy friend and I had to take turns stepping outside into the rundown hall while the other made use of the facilities...The frosted glass shower door serves as a type of door for the bathroom, but nope... just a bad idea.
The location is excellent for a more "German" experience in Berlin even thought it's right in the middle of the Vietnamese restaurant and Chinese massage (legit!!!!!) area. There are many lovely cafes and restaurants that aren't hipster magnets near the hotel.
For the same price, I could have stayed in a "gemuetlich" (comfy) small pension that had some character. Instead I felt as though I trapped in some Ikea knock-off misadventure.
But the staff was friendly ;-) read more