OSTEL - Das DDR Hostel  

the location, the design the wide room

the bathroom, to cheap, broken shower

Desein is very good. and the room is clean. close to Ostbahnhof.

i can allways hear the voice from the other room and the acrosse, can't good sleep.

The design of the rooms and the location

The smell of smoke in the room

Good location, nice and helpful staff, and comfortable old gdr- style room.

The shared-bathroom is not that clean sometimes.

Nice design

inefficiently soundproof

The location is excellent.

Rooms were too hot and the shower was clogged

Liked that the room was spotless, decor quirky, shower powerful and hot. Liked location too, Friedrichshain v interesting. Good price overall.

Room smelled strongly stale of previous smokers, which was horrible and the didn't have proper double sheets, despite it being a double room, just single duvet bags, which was inconvenient and uncomfortable. Tiny towels.

Design was really great

Although we booked the most expensive room (double room with ensuite bathroom), there were no toiletries. Towels were too small and cleaner didn't come on daily basis.

The room and the bed was very big and comfortable. The decoration was cute, atmosphere was cosy.

The bathroom was outside the room, unlocking and locking each door everytime was a bit uncomfortable. While paying with credit card, there were a few technical difficulties, unfortunately the staff was not very friendly to find a resolution.

Price, convenience, simplicity and style

Noise disturbance from adjoining rooms and corridor Multiple sharing of sole bathroom/toilet Inadequate duvet

The theme of the Hotel

Rooms were small, no television or Wifi in room.

Located in an original poor-quality DDR Plattenbauten and boasting a semi-authentic Socialist interior and furniture, the hotel Ostel is at a two-minute walk from the Ostbahnhof. In operation since 2007 the Ostel offers rooms in a series of apartments turned into hostel accomodations. For its price the Ostel is an OK backpackers accommodation.

The paperthin walls and constantly buzzing heatpipes make earplugs advisable.

It was an original hotel with decoration from the DDR. It was quiet and clean, and the people friendly. The location was excellent, next to a train station.

We had to pay in cash as they did not accept credit cards. There were also a couple of things that could be better. One that we were in a 6th floor without elevator that for us was not really a problem till I had a problem with my feed.... The other problem was that our room had a shared bathroom, and there was a single bathroom for four rooms, so sometimes it was very busy and we had to wait to have a shower or go to the toilet.

Friendly, clean, cheap, cotton sheets, laid back.

Only one small towel. They could only accept cash because their machine was broken. If you are a light sleeper the sounds of returning revellers on a Saturday night/early Sunday morning will disturb you.

the price and geographique place

one shower for four room

Great location. Located one block from U and S baun station.

Bathroom unattached from the room.

The hostel was very basic but very clean. It had amazing decor 70s style wallpaper , furniture, radio and lighting. Excellent position right next to train station that had trains running every 5 mins into centre which was 2 stops away and took about 5 mins .I loved it . Would def return there!

We have stayed on a few GDR era hotels in Germnay but none quite so authentic! The rooms are very well put together and the location is excellent.

Our room was on the 8th floor! Quite a long haul without a lift (but I guess that is all part of the experience) The rooms with private bathrooms could be improved by having the "front door" to the room include the corridor space that has the bathroom (each flat is divided into 3 rooms 2 with an shared bathroom and 1 with its own) this would also help with the amount of keys you have to work out!

I loved its quirky style (the volleyball court is an excellent touch for a city centre hotel), its thoughtful DDR design touches and humour and its friendly staff

The breakfast restaurant wasnt open at 0700 as advertised, or 0730; perhaps this was a realistic reminiscence of the DDR...

The location was good, nearby a train and subway station and also close by an impressive piece of the Berlin Wall.

We were disappointed when we entered the hostel. First of all, the girl at the reception was not very friendly or helpful, secondly we got a room on the sixth floor and there was no elevator. In our room we did not have any washing facilities, not even a water basin. No problem for us, if there are enough shared bathrooms. But there was only one bathroom for our whole floor, and the toilet, shower and water basin were in that room. So when you had to go to the bathroom, you had to wait until other people finished showering and brushing their teeth etc. Now, we are not difficult people, we don't mind all the complaints above when we pay a small price for a room. However, we paid 56 euros/night for this, so I think it is fair to say that this is not correct. There are definitely better hostel in Berlin with better price/quality ratings. And the whole 'DDR design' argumentation is just a lame excuse to ask more money for poor accommodation.

I found OSTEL very good value for money. I was looking for an inexpensive bed and breakfast hotel as I was intending to spend most of the day in the city. The staff were friendly and helpful and the room was ideal - I chose a single room with private bathroom. The room was bright had a good view and the bed was comfortable. I have stayed in many much smaller rooms which were more expensive. The location was ideal, a few minutes walk from the Ostbahnhof and from there a short train ride to the centre. The buffet breakfast in the Volkskammer restaurant was excellent.

Only one small towel was provided - bigger ones would be better

It is 'great' to get some touch from the way reception and bedrooms used to be during the DDR era. Hotel is quietly located. Train station is just 100 meters walking to go to the city centre.

Can be noisy when doors are opened in the hall.

The atmosphere, the room was really big and clean. amazingly furnished

being close to the toilet, too much noise in the morning from 6 on

The rooms are seperated by simple mdf plates, you can hear everything.

It's easy to get to the hostel. Staff is very hostfull and friendly. My room was comfortable.

They had more services than announced on hostel webpage. It is necessary to explane clearly to hostel guests, that they have to keep clean shared bathrooms :)