Berlin is not a very cheap tourist city, so it is quite difficult to find inexpensive and comfortable accommodation, although by European standards the prices for accommodation here are quite affordable.
Entrance to the hostel from the side of Spandauer Damm.
The cost of accommodation.
Judge for yourself, a bed in the room of the Sleep Cheap Hostel cost us about 15 euros/day, it's not that expensive. We are talking about a shared room for women and men, and the toilet and shower are shared. The room was designed for 6 people. However, if we compare prices for hostels in Poland with German ones, then everything speaks in favor of Polish ones. There you can find accommodation with the best conditions for the same price.
It was the cheapest hostel that we could find in July on Booking, so we didn't complain much, the price suited us. By the way, there is a sign at the entrance that you can spend the night here at a price of 10 euros (for 1 bed).
So, let's take it in order: what you liked and what you didn't like.
Reception.
Service language.
The receptionists at the reception do not speak Russian (English, German), but they can call someone from the Russian-speaking staff if you need help.
The location of the hostel.
The accommodation of the hostel completely satisfied us, it is located very close to the metro station (Westend), you can get to any point of the city quickly enough. In the vicinity of the hotel there is a Berlin landmark (within walking distance) - the Charlottenberg Castle and Park. With great pleasure we spent several hours in the park, the park is quite large, laid out on a large scale, an ideal place for outdoor enthusiasts.
Check-in.
Check-in time at the hostel is from 14:00, and you need to check out before 11:00.
The reception operates around the clock (24 hours). This is extremely important and convenient for tourists. In Poland, we had a very unpleasant situation when the owners of the hostel were not ready to receive guests at a late period, and we literally stayed overnight on the street.
Living conditions.
Sleeping places.
The rooms in the hostel are shared for women and men. The hostel administration tries to settle men with men, and women with women. However, when the load of the hostel increases, it may well be a situation that women will also live in a room with men and vice versa, which happened in our case.
Services in the hostel. Wifi
As for Wifi, each guest is given a temporary login and access password. The Internet is quite fast, but it happens only early in the morning and may be in the afternoon, but late in the evening the load increases significantly and its speed is barely enough, it's very difficult to download/ upload anything, difficult and slow, it's easier to quit and leave this case...
Breakfast at the hostel.
What I didn't like was the lack of any conditions for eating. Other hostels had a shared kitchen where you could either have a cup of coffee (tea) for free, or do it for an additional fee, but no one forbade you to come to the kitchen with your food, and the kitchen was open around the clock. There was also a paid bar, which operates according to the established schedule, closed at night and in the evening, which is extremely inconvenient. There was one small table in the hostel room, and then it was broken, it was inconvenient to eat at it, it was low. Therefore, we had dinner sitting on the bed in the room, and had breakfast early in the morning in the lobby of the hostel in chairs at a table, although it is not intended for food, the administration did not complain to us…
Hall. Here we had breakfast)).
Bathroom and showers.
We go further. Lack of basic amenities in the shower: no shelves for shampoo and soap, nowhere to hang clothes (no hooks)… That's what we didn't understand at all! The shower has not been renovated, the toilet is combined with a shower, and the window is constantly wide open for some reason, it turns out a strong enough draft, it is absolutely uncomfortable to wash in the shower.
This ill-fated shower.
This corridor leads to a bathroom and showers.
Washbasins
The corridor with the stairs of the hostel requires renovation.
We were placed on the 2nd floor.
Washing and drying clothes. Room cleaning, bedding. Deposit
There is nowhere to dry and wash clothes yourself, laundry services are expensive (8 euros per item). The premises are not cleaned or ventilated, at least for two days we have not observed any cleaning. For the same room rate, for example in Poland, you can get a decent hostel.
If desired, for an additional fee, you can use such a safe-a wardrobe for clothes and things.
The bed was handed to us immediately upon check-in at the reception, the bed is clean, there are no complaints, as well as mattresses and pillows. We also received the key to the floor and the key to the room, however, it was necessary to leave a 10 euro deposit (deposit) at the reception. It was returned to us without any problems during the eviction in exchange for the return of the keys and the used bed.
A small note: if you need to go down to the reception for any questions, then do not leave the room without keys, the door on the floor slams shut, and you will have to wait quite a long time for someone to open it for you.
Photo memo of the hostel.
Smoking is prohibited inside the hostel, the fine is 100 euros, you can smoke in the courtyard on the street. A memo about these rules is printed on a piece of paper with a login and password for Wifi.
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