NH Collection Barcelona Podium

"Hotel is in a great location - 15min walk from Potsdamer Platz (so getting the train from the airport it easy) and Stadtmitte UBahn station is a 2min walk. It is a maximum of 30minute walk from all the main tourist sites, with most being much closer - 15mins to Brandenburg Gate, for example. Checkpoint Charlie is at the end of the street and the Communications Museum is at the other end. Friedrichstraße, with lots of shops and restaurants is 5mins away, if that. Despite central location, the street is quiet so you won't be disturbed by outside noise. The rooms are nice. Mine was pretty big and had a desk, a safe and some spaces to hang clothes. Bed was quite hard, even by German/European standards! Two different types of pillow, so you can choose soft or hard. Bathroom has a good amount of counter space and a hairdryer. The shower has good pressure and gets hot enough. And the towels are proper bath-sized. I've seen comments about cleanliness on other reviews but I had no issues there. No fridges or drink-making facilities in the rooms though. There are water dispensers and tea/coffee on some of the floors, but the cups are so teeny tiny, I'd recommend using your own water bottle or travel mug if you want to top up there. I had the breakfast (got a good deal to include when I booked. I think it would be €20 to pay as you go, which seems a lot for any breakfast) which I thought was decent - cooked options like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, vegetables, boiled eggs. As well as cold meats and cheeses, fruits, cereals, breads and pastries. Vegetarians have some options but I think vegans would struggle. For me, I'd want a fridge and/or drink-making in the room for a long stay but would definitely recommend for a short break (I stayed 3 nights) for the location and peace."

"We are appalled by the treatment we have received from this hotel and its staff. Firstly, we requested early check in and was told it wasn’t possible, which was fine, but when we arrived the woman on the front desk was very rude “Do you know that check in is at 3pm?” and we felt like a nuisance for leaving our bags for a couple of hours till our room was ready. Then upon check in, we were told that we had to pay city tax. We queried this as on our invoice from booking.com, we had already paid the city tax. We were told that we hadn’t and had to send email confirmations and invoices to the hotel to prove that we in fact had. This took up a lot of time out of our holiday to sort. Once it was sorted, we received an email from the hotel informing us that the city tax had been paid and we were allowed to enjoy the rest of our holiday. We spoke to a woman on the front desk who said that this happens all the time - so is it booking.com or the hotel at fault? A couple of days after we arrived home, we have been charged on our card again by this hotel. I spent ages trying to phone and email. Eventually, a woman answered the phone. She shouted at me in both English and German on the phone. She would not let me speak and explain the story of how we had already provided email proof of payment and invoices from our account or even explain how days before I had spent my holiday standing in her hotel sorting it out. She told me that I was wrong and that the manager can prove what we owe to the hotel. I asked to speak with the manager. I was told “no send an email” and she hung up on me. I have sent multiple emails to both the hotel and booking.com, both have ignored. I have had to contact my bank in order to try and get my money back and block any more payments from these people as I just can’t trust that the hotel won’t charge us again. It is incredibly disappointing and frustrating, especially as it is Christmas. When we booked this hotel, we booked for location - nothing fancy, just cheap and cheerful. But this hotel is very basic and nothing special and the rudeness from staff and the lack of organisation is appalling. Avoid this hotel at all costs - it is not worth it."

"Great location, spotlessly clean, friendly staff, spacious room, quiet, good breakfast, cool bar...would definitely stay again. I give it 4 stars because of the lack of closet or bureau space. There's limited open shelving and even more limited hanging options. I ended up living out of my suitcase for my 3 night stay. Would have liked to be able to unpack and have my clothes out of sight. Otherwise...all good."