Profil von AckNo

Unlike many people who have reviewed this ( as far as I can tell ) I am not Jewish. Not even a little bit. Very much Irish catholic. However I’ve always been interested in Jewish history and understanding the faith, much to the annoyance of my Jewish friends. This museum was in fact one of the main reasons I chose to visit Berlin, And I was not disappointed. Of course the architecture is fascinating, but the museum itself is completely engrossing. Never have I spent so long in a museum without loosing interest, I only left because I’d become hungry.

Perhaps because I’m not Jewish I found the information offered more of interest. I felt it had the right balance of information to art.

I have mad love for this place. I’ve been to a few short lived squat bars in London that had tried to do something like this, and adored them, but this was just too vast for words. The first night I visited I lurked in on the street and found the whole building to be an Aladdin’s cave of surprises. Music, Iron work, stalls, art, bars… I probably didn’t find everything. When I got to the top penthouse type area I could see “Blues Brothers” being projected onto a wall and a man made beach type area below (I’ve since discovered these are somewhat common in Berlin).

I found this hostel to be very good value for money. Yes, they do have a policy not to change bed linen or give new towels everyday, however if you request it they have no issue providing these services for you.

Beds are comfortable, location is perfect, the happy hour in the bar is very happy indeed. Unlike the previous review, I found the staff very helpful. On my last day I lost my keycard and was quite panicked over it, as places I’ve stayed in the past have either charged me or given me a telling off. Yet, the man at reception was very friendly and understanding and assured me it wasn’t a problem. They also posted some postcards for me, saving me the bother of searching for the local post office. To me they seemed very accommodating for the guests.

Of course, as with any youth hostel you have to expect a certain amount of “youths gone wild” rowdiness, especially with the young american travellers who are too young to drink in there own country. This does make a fair bit of noise, but is totally forgiveable considering I paid 16 euro a night for a private room.

I stumbled across this place on a recent trip to Berlin and fell for it’s kitsch squat chic charms. Defiantly an acquired taste so I can understand the negative reviews, but personally this is my kinda place. The cocktails are all around 8 euro, not the cheapest locally but the quality makes up for it, like pina colada’s made with coconut milk not coconut syrup like many other places.

I found the hand written menus a cute touch, the whole place feels like someone has invited you over to there flat. Would highly recommend.