There are two Sofitel hotels in Berlin, and this review is for the Dorint Sofitel Schweizerhof, not the Dorint Sofitel am Gendarmenmarkt. Both are part of the Accor hotel chain.
~~~ Location and Getting There ~~~
The Schweizerhof can be found on Budapester Straße. It is extremely well ... Read review
...this review is for the Dorint Sofitel Schweizerhof, not the Dorint Sofitel am Gendarmenmarkt. Both are part of the Accor hotel chain.
~~~ Location and Getting There ~~~
The Schweizerhof can be found on Budapester Straße. It is extremely well located, being between the Tiergarten (south-west corner of the park), the zoo and aquarium, the Europa Centre and the shops on Kurfurstendamm. The nearest station is Zoologischer ... ...from Tegel Airport (8km) or Tempelhof Airport (10km). There is a bus stop right outside the hotel for route 200, with other routes nearby. There are usually cabs waiting outside the hotel and there is a car park under the hotel (which isn't too cheap - about €18 per day).
~~~ Reception ~~~
As you enter through the revolving doors, you enter a large and rather grand lobby. Immediately to your left is a rather buzzy bar ... more
There are two Sofitel hotels in Berlin, and this review is for the Dorint Sofitel Schweizerhof, not the Dorint Sofitel am Gendarmenmarkt. Both are part of the Accor hotel chain.
~~~ Location and Getting There ~~~
The Schweizerhof can be found on Budapester Straße. It is extremely well located, being between the Tiergarten (south-west corner of the park), the zoo and aquarium, the Europa Centre and the shops on Kurfurstendamm. The nearest station is Zoologischer Garten (800m distance), or it is an easy cab ride from Tegel Airport (8km) or Tempelhof Airport (10km). There is a bus stop right outside the hotel for route 200, with other routes nearby. There are usually cabs waiting outside the hotel and there is a car park under the hotel (which isn't too cheap - about €18 per day).
~~~ Reception ~~~
As you enter through the revolving doors, you enter a large and rather grand lobby. Immediately to your left is a rather buzzy bar called '9:00 PM'. Past that is the restaurant. In front of you are low coffee tables, several sofas and chairs, a very large swirly modern painting, a customer tourist information point and a long reception desk. To your right are the conference facilities and three lifts.
The staff are very professional, smart, welcoming, and all speak English. Regardless of how many people are being served at reception there always seems to be someone else in the back office who will come out and help you if the other staff are busy - which was just what we needed after our 10 hour drive from Calais! The reservation was quickly checked and confirmed, and our queries about the car park dealt with. The receptionist tried to see if we were interested in an Accor hotel loyalty programme, which may be good value but we had no energy left to consider it. They don't have a porter service although I'm sure someone would come and help you if you were struggling.
~~~ Rooms ~~~
There are 384 rooms in the hotel, of which 269 are non-smoking, 10 are suites and 4 with facilities for the disabled. All the rooms have Air-conditioning, credit card safe, minibar (the usual wine/beer/coke selections), TV with radio options, voicemail, WiFi internet access, fax connection and hairdryer. We booked at the cheapest rate, but unlike last time where we got an internal courtyard view, we had a park/zoo view, which was lovely (photo below). There are absolutely loads of herons nesting in the trees at the moment, and they are incredible to watch. The room itself was clean, modern in style but not intensely so, and big enough, although I wouldn't say it was large. The lighting for the main room came from behind a panel which the bed was set into, so it wasn't too strong or direct. However, the individual bed lights were bright in a neon-y way, and shone a horizontal light across to the other side of the bed, which wasn't very helpful.
The bed was one of those irritating double beds, which wasn't really a double at all - just twin beds pushed together with separate bedding. Not too welcoming but I think it's standard in Germany. The room also had a desk, a chair to go with it, and a more comfortable easy chair with footstool. We had dinner as room service on our first night, and they wheeled in the food on a trolley table - but we only had one proper chair which wasn't ideal. In addition there was some drawers/dressing table, large wardrobe and bedside tables. All fairly new, modern and in good condition - think a posh slightly arty range of furniture from Ikea. No tea and coffee making facilities, by the way.
The bathroom had a shower/bath, sink, WC with a large surface around the sink with an extending make-up mirror. Again, all clean and in good condition, and the hairdryer actually had some oomph to it! Some complementary toiletries were provided but were extremely fragrant and too strong for us to use - even the bar of soap. There were three sets of towels each, all white but not very fluffy. It's a shame that hotels never provide fluffy towels - they nearly always feel like exfoliaters and aren't particularly absorbent! Also slippers and bathrobes were provided.
One downside to the room experience was that we put a 'Do not disturb' sign on the door one morning, but the housekeeping staff ignored it - she knocked twice and then came in! She was exceedingly apologetic when she saw me, but those signs are there for a reason!
~~~ Drinking and Dining ~~~
The room service menu has a modest range of food, including burgers, club sandwiches, and soups, but also some more substantial dishes. I ordered a chicken with rosemary and courgettes, which came with a very thick and rich sauce that I enjoyed, but had not expected. The dishes all seemed pretty fancy, nothing was plain or simple. I'm not sure the reasons why people get room service - we ate in as my partner wasn't well, so although I had a nice meal, there wasn't a lot that he could order. But it all came beautifully presented with a complementary hors d'oeuvre of an espresso cup of salmon soup.
The lobby bar '9:00 PM' has small round glass tables with red and orange boxy sofas and chairs, and also some stools at the bar. Although they do serve beer and wine, it is mainly a cocktail bar. The cocktail list is very enticing, with old familiars and some new combinations to try. One night I was in the mood for experimenting, and ordered several of the unusual ones. I finally caught them out when I ordered a cocktail with basil in, which they didn't have - although that probably serves me right for wanting a cocktail with basil! The bar is open from 11am until 2am, and there is a happy hour from 9-10pm where the cocktails are €6 each (normal price €8-11).
There is also a restaurant called 'Xxenia', which offers Mediterranean and regional specialities. There is a non-smoking area and it is open from midday until midnight. Examples of main dishes are Quinoa risotto with ladyfingers and orange tomato sauce, Salmon fillet with saffron sauce, glazed snow pea pods and Basmati rice, Anglerfish in Shiitake mushroom stock with broad noodles, Fried fillet of wild perch with laurel, Noilly Prat sauce, artichokes and La Ratte potatoes, Saddle of herb pork with garlic tomatoes, artichokes and rosemary potatoes, Sliced of calves' liver with balsamic vinegar shallot sauce, coriander apples and chive potato purée and Fillet of Argentine Angus beef with Roquefort crust, port wine sauce, broccoli and fried sweet potatoes.
The room rates vary but breakfast is usually extra - €21 a head. They offer a fantastic range of food: ham, cheese, fruit, yoghurts, cereal, juices, bread - and many different and delicious types of each of those. There is also scrambled or boiled egg, bacon, and different types of sausage (it is Germany, after all). But my favourite option is freshly made crepes, with a range of sweet or savoury toppings. I went for a Nutella one. Mmmm… As this is all buffet style you can eat as much as you like, which makes it great value - if you're hungry!
If you want to eat out then there aren't any restaurants on Budapester Straße, but there is a Chinese and a great Japanese restaurant in the nearby Europa Centre, and several other options slightly further away but still nearby.
~~~Other Facilities~~~
The hotel has an indoor swimming pool with sun terrace and bar, three saunas, Hammam (steam bath), fitness centre, solarium and massages. They also recommend various jogging routes in the nearby area.
The hotel offers 31 conference and meeting rooms with different configurations, maximum capacity is 700. All rooms have natural daylight and modern conference technology.
~~~ Booking and Costs ~~~
We booked through the Sofitel website, http://www.sofitel.com/gb/reservation/rooms.jshtml. The rates for a standard room (called Sofitel Guestroom) range from €125-155 per room on the basic rate. Some nights can be at different cost, but the website allows you to book the best rate available. For example, you can book the first night for one night at €125 and then the second night for one night at €155, but be careful as they tried to charge us €155 for both nights, although they quickly charged us the original amount when we showed them the booking confirmation print-out.
Room types are Executive (courtyard view), Superior (Zoo/Park view, some rooms have extra long bed and trouser press), Deluxe (inner courtyard, tea and coffee machine, printer) and Superior Suite. From this description it looks like on this occasion we were upgraded to a Superior room, even though we booked the cheapest rate, which is always nice! One child goes free if sharing with two adults (I've never seen any children stay at this hotel actually, but am sure they are welcome!).
Check in time is from 2pm, check out time is midday.
I have stayed at the Schweizerhof twice, and have been very pleased on both occasions. While you won't get offered the personal service that a smaller hotel could provide, I enjoyed the style and the ambience of the place. The location is quiet, yet central and I'd really recommend it! Make sure you're hungry when you go for breakfast though…
Address : Budapester Straße 25 10787 BERLIN
General Website for Sofitel: http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/gb/reservation/recherche_destination.shtml
