Mercure Hotel & Residenz Berlin Checkpoint Charlie

Highly recommend

My adult son and I stayed at the Mercure for 5 nights in Berlin after a Christmas Market cruise on the Rhine. We stayed in one of the family suites which was 2 full bedrooms and separate baths and toilets so one person could shower while the other used the toilet. We had more than enough space and our own TV. Wireless was fast. Facilities were clean. Overall, the stay was good. The hotel is in an excellent location and a walkable distance to most of Berlin’s main attractions. Checkpoint Charlie and the Topography Museum of Terror within a few blocks as well as the popular Gendamarnmarkt. The street outside is quiet and there are many cafes and a small supermarket to get provisions nearby. Awesome affordable Italian restaurant called Valvoce down the street with fresh pasta. We ate there 3 times. Also close by is a restaurant called Lowenbrau with typical German food with fantastic schnitzel

The only downside to the hotel was the inconsistency with the efficiency of the staff. We arrived early for our check in and due to travel we were too tired to walk around so we decided to wait the 3 hrs. until check in time. There was no effort made at all to have our room ready before the official check in time, which is unusual for most hotels. When 3 pm came around the room was still not ready, they needed to contact housekeeping to see if it was clean. To make a long story short it took 30 minutes to figure out if the room was ready and even when we went to the room, housekeeping was still there cleaning. The following days I left a “do not disturb” sign on the door (I don’t like to tidy up when I am on vacation before housekeeping comes in) but housekeeping came in anyway. I called the front desk to let them know and requested no housekeeping while I was there and they still came in the following day. The third day my son arrived to the room earlier and they were there cleaning and HE told them not to clean and housecleaning called and spoke to me to confirm I didn’t need housekeeping and they finally got it. So if anything, my only negative is that they really need to work on communication.