smartments Berlin Karlshorst

I was in an apartment with separate bedroom for two weeks. The kitchen was useful and had what you need, e.g. hob, microwave, toaster, kettle, Nespresso, plates, pots, pans, cutlery. You might want to take a knife sharpening block because the ('sharp') knives could barely cut butter. The living area, bedroom and bathroom are all fine. There's lots of space. There's some noise from the street outside, but it's a quiet area generally and the noise stops in the evening. There's loads of wardrobe space in the bedroom. The TVs have around 20 German terrestrial channels. To connect your own devices, you'll need a long HDMI cable. Check-in is done on a device; I never spoke to a staff member during my two weeks. There's a laundry room in the basement with washing machines and dryers. It's €2 per wash or drying cycle which can be paid by cash or card. The location is very handy, with regular S-Bahn trains to Mitte (takes 15mins) and trams to other locations. There's a café on the ground floor. I had coffee and a pastry there several days. They also sell sandwiches, pizza and alcohol, which other customers seemed to enjoy. Opening hours were all over the place though. There's a discount supermarket in the same building, which is open 07:00-21:00 except Sunday. It's not fancy but it has the basics. Within a five-minute walk, there are better supermarkets (Edeka), several good restaurants, a bakery and two pharmacies.

Wonderful apartment that is clean and located right next to the station with the S-bahn directly connected to the city centre.

Room as clean but we had no hot water for most of the week and the elevator was broken. Being on the 4th floor this was not enjoyable

This hotel is brilliant: just steps from the train station and tram stops, two grocery stores and eating places. We stayed in a real neighbourhood of friendly people. The view of the vicinity particularly in a golden November was priceless. Communication with staff via WhatsApp was friendly and prompt. The only trouble we had was with the bed which had one side flushed against the wall, making it difficult for the one on the side of the wall to get in and out of bed.

practical as described by its name -"smart". Clean and fit our budget. We realized it is quite far out from all the tourist attractions but we went ahead with this place anyway as we saw that it is right by the train station. However, the commute is quite limited as there is only one train line. we were fine dealing with the transferring to different stations until there were issues with trains schedule and maintenance on some of the days, and that became inconvenient. We are from NYC so are used to public transportation (this feels like living in Elmhurst and commuting to Manhattan). The area itself is convenient in terms of getting to various grocery stores, and pharmacies.