Quality Imperial Hotel

Just back from a 2-night stay in the Quality Imperial Hotel in Berlin. Good central location, 3 minutes from Ku'damm shopping street and Uhlandstrasse station on the U-Bahn for quick access to the rest of Berlin. Hotel staff friendly and efficient with good spoken English. Hotel rooms clean. Overlooking main road but road not too busy and windows double glazed so heard nothing when they were shut. We had 3 x twin rooms and 1 x queen room. All were 85 Euros (£60) per room per night so good value, as was a group weekend away on a budget. Breakfast (on the one morning I made it) was generally continental buffet so was pleasantly surprised to find scrambled egg and bacon as well. This is generally classed as a business hotel but as a base for a drinking and sightseeing weekend with friends was perfect. Don’t be put off by a few neon sex show signs close by. These appear in virtually all areas of Berlin as we discovered on our travels and does not mean you are in a red-light district. Nor does it mean the area is unsafe. The hotel also has an outdoor 20m pool which is open in the summer and a sauna for those who cannot be bothered to sightsee, which is pretty good for a hotel of this price. Nearby restaurants are mostly German or Italian. A particularly good Italian one at decent prices 1 minute walk round the corner. Only downsides, which are marginal: 1. If going to Berlin for the nightlife, which tends to see you back in your room about 3-4am, expect to be woken up by the maids cleaning the rooms near you (I was particularly unlucky that my room was next to the service elevator so could hear it going up and down all morning. Having said that, as we departed, someone just arrived who had also been placed in a room next to the service elevator asked to change rooms and this was not a problem.) 2. A bit further away from the "trendy" nightlife of Hackescher Markt and Prenzlauer Berg (3 x train changes on the underground) but cab back at 3.00am was approx 12 Euros (£8) and 15 minutes so not too bad. Drinking in Ku'Damm tends to be smaller local bars or massive touristy Irish bars. Depends on your preference.