I stayed 4 nights at Smartments Karlshorst. My family lives nearby, so I’m familiar with the neighborhood. It's a good hotel overall. However, it can improve on a few points.
Pros:
- The location is great; it's near the S-Bahn station. You can reach the city center or other places in the city in no time. Also, the U-Bahn is not that far if you take the tram. There are multiple supermarkets nearby if you need something.
- The building is quite modern, and you can check in yourself. Also, it’s a nice change to stay in an apartment with a kitchen.
Areas for improvements:
- I stayed in May, and there were a few warm days with temperatures around 28 degrees. The room became quite warm. I understand AC is expensive, but it should at least have some blinds or awnings, as the curtains are not enough to block the heat. Hopefully, they can improve this in the next renovations, as this is the biggest drawback. If there were a thermostat with a setting to blow in cooler air from outside, it would already be much better.
- My room was next to the road. The first night was on a Friday, and it felt louder than on other nights. It's doable, just not great for light sleepers. Keep in mind that it will be noisy if you open the windows, for example, if you want to cool down the room in the evening or at night.
- When leaving, I checked out because I got an email urging me to do so. I later realized I had left my phone in the room but couldn’t get back in. Even the employees couldn’t access it at that moment and told me I didn’t need to check out that early. I would suggest changing the system so you can still access the room until the official check-out time. Huge shoutout to the employees for sending my phone back to me!
Overall, a nice hotel. They regularly have good deals, and with the kitchen you can save some extra money. Just during the summer, I would choose a different hotel because of the heat.
