Ackselhaus & Blue Home

Rooms

Between them, Ackselhaus and Blue Home have various accommodation options to suit couples and families alike.

The themed rooms in ochre-coloured Ackselhaus are more like suites, with sitting areas and, in some, fireplaces and freestanding bathtubs. Paintings, furniture and knick-knacks evoke the seaside, exotic destinations such as China, Rome and Africa, or even the lives of famous figures like Picasso and early 20th-century globetrotter Burton Holmes; it’s fun yet sophisticated. We loved our Cairo room, set at the front of the building and filled with spring sunshine. We felt a little bit like professors on an archaeological dig - well-picked antiques, intricate carved doors, Arabic tiles and sepia photographs added flair, while the huge flat-screen TV, Denman sound system and Nespresso machine reminded us that we were in the 21st century. We also had a peek inside the fabulous Beach House room, lined with whitewashed wood and dotted with hurricane lamps, model ships and jars of pretty shells.

Ackselhaus also has several mini-apartments with an entrance hall, a bathroom, a bedroom, a sitting area and a kitchenette (small but functional, with the basics and no more). Some have an extra room which can be used as a second bedroom - useful for families. There are fun touches here, too - a life belt in Ocean, tented walls in Safari.

Blue Home has a sleeker look, with a range of rooms, studios, apartments and suites. Expect plenty of handsome Balinese teak furniture, beautifully fitted bathrooms, and walls in calming shades of blue and cream. Floral fabrics, chandeliers and bright tropical prints are scattered here and there to add colour. The apartments and suites have kitchenettes (the rest have fridges), and the larger suites have a second bedroom.

Features include:

• Minibar/fridge
• WiFi

Eating

Ackselhaus and Blue Home share Club del Mar as their breakfast venue. It offers a superb selection of cereals, yoghurts, fruits, juices, jams, cold cuts and cheeses, as well as excellent salmon gravlax. We loved the different varieties of German spelt bread and multigrain rolls. In addition, you can order cooked breakfast à la carte for an extra cost. Everything is beautifully presented on a teak buffet table.

The room itself is bright and airy, with light filtering through large glass panels in the porch and a series of aquariums with tropical fish on the walls. A gilded mirror, a chandelier, a pair of bright paintings and a fireplace (lit in winter) create an atmosphere which is comfy and exotic at the same time. If the weather is nice, you can take breakfast outdoors on the wide pavements of Belforther Strasse, and come evening the candlelit gardens are beautiful spots for sitting back with a drink from the honesty bar (each building has one).

The hotels don’t currently offer other meals, so for lunch and dinner you'll probably find yourself wandering down to nearby Kollwitzplatz, a Notting Hill-like square with a small park in the middle, lots of restaurants around (Gugelhof is recommended), and a great Saturday market. Needless to say, there are some superb dining options in other parts of Berlin, too, representing all the major cuisines of the world - just ask staff for recommendations.

Features include:

• Children's meals
• Minibar/fridge
• Restaurants nearby

Activities

• Explore leafy Prenzlauer Berg, one of the city’s most vibrant districts. It abuts the Berlin Wall, with pavement cafés, independent boutiques and galleries aplenty
  
• Head to the Kulturbrauerei, a former brewery still recognizable in its red-brick buildings and chimneys, which houses a cinema, bars, restaurants and a furniture shop
  
• Visit the Jewish cemetery on Schönhauser Allee. Enclosed by graffiti-sprayed walls, it’s an atmospheric place to recall the tragic events of WW2
  
• Hop on the U-bahn to Alexanderplatz, the centre of government of the former GDR, whose tall TV tower (nicknamed Alex) dominates this undeveloped yet fascinating area
  
• Stroll down Unter den Linden, the wide boulevard which connects Alexanderplatz and the iconic Brandenburg Gate. It’s the heart of historic Berlin and lined with famous buildings, including the Berliner Dom (cathedral), the Zeughaus Berlin (an old armoury, now the History Museum), the Cathedral of St. Hedwig at Bebelplatz, the Berlin State Opera, Humboldt University and the Russian Embassy
  
• Museum Island, just north of Unter den Linden, brings together a wealth of historical art collections: the Pergamon (Near and Middle Eastern art and architecture), the Bode (sculptures, Byzantine art, coins), the Alte Nationalgalerie (Classical-Romantic paintings) and the Altes and Neues Museums (antiques and pre-history)
  
• Marvel at the Reichstag Dome, a stunning glass-and-mirror construction by Norman Foster, with a double helix walkway up to one of the best viewpoints in the city (free to enter but you must reserve a time in advance)
  
• Take the U-bahn to the Gendarmenmarkt, an open square dominated by the twin domes of the French and German churches. It’s a great place to stop for a light lunch or coffee, and in winter it hosts one of Berlin’s many Christmas markets
  
• Visit Potsdamer Platz, destroyed in WW2, forgotten for 50 years in the no-man’s-land of the Berlin Wall, then radically redeveloped in the 1990s. Landmarks include the Debis tower, the Sony Centre and the 93m-high observation deck of the brown-brick Kohlhof building

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Nightlife
• Shopping / markets

Kids

Children of all ages are welcome. Leafy Prenzlauer Berg, with its wide boulevards, playgrounds, kids shops and family friendly cafés, though also populated with young and trendy twenty and thirtysomethings, is a great place to stay with a family.

Berlin is a great year-round city with plenty of parks for kids to play in during spring, summer and autumn, and fantastic gingerbread-fuelled Christmas markets and fairs in November and December.

Children under 6 go free; extra beds incur a small cost and cots are free.

Best for:

All ages

Family friendly accommodation:

Kids will enjoy the adventurous quirky decor. Book an apartment in Ackselhaus - they have a basic kitchenette and some have an extra room to use as a second bedroom. Or book a suite in Blue Home - the larger ones have a second bedroom and all have a basic kitchenette.

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available, Family Rooms

Distances:

• Airport: 30 minutes
• Hospital: 20 minutes
• Shops: 2 minutes

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Ackselhaus and Blue Home are located a few doors away from each other in Prenzlauer Berg in the former East Berlin. They're a 10-minute walk from the U-bahn station of Senefelderplatz.

By Air:
There are 2 major airports in Berlin: Tegel (12km away) and Schönefeld (20km away) - click on the links below for a list of airlines serving them.

From the Airport
The airport bus from Tegel stops at Karlplatz, and busses 128 and 109 connect with various U-bahn stations. From Schönefeld, it's a 1-hour journey by overground S-bahn to Senefelderplatz. You can also take a taxi from either airport.

By Train from the UK:
Certainly a viable option for those with more time and who are prepared to change en route. See Seat 61 for more details.

By Car:
Some street parking is available near the hotels, and generally traffic in Berlin flows better than in most British cities, but as a tourist there would be little point in having a car here. The city is easily navigated on foot and public transport. If you want a car to explore the wider area, see our car rental recommendations.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

More on getting to Berlin and getting around