The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin

The hotel is in a great location, and the staff were friendly. After checkout, I noticed I had been charged for a bottle of red wine I never consumed. I contacted the hotel, and a representative assured me the charge would be reversed. When it wasn't, I followed up and was told the charge would remain. I ultimately disputed the charge with my credit card company. Fortunately, I had saved the email from the hotel confirming the refund. It wasn't about the cost of the bottle of wine; it was the principle. The hotel's handling of such a minor issue was disappointing.

As other reviews will attest, the Ritz Carlton Berlin is a wonderful property that more than lives up to its 5 star rating - but with one caveat, I am referring to the Club Lounge Level. Yes the rest of the property is lovely, but the service at the Club Lounge level is exceptional. From the selection of food and drink - breakfast, lunch and dinner - to the staff who provide you the personalized service, I cannot imagine anyone feeling less than pampered. The rooms on the Club level are fine and consistent with the Ritz standard, nothing more, nothing less. Would like to express our appreciation to Mandeep and Guan(sp?) for their service. Would posit that the extra cost of the Club Level is well worth it. (Ok, Management, pls don’t now go and increase the prices:)

We stayed for two nights for a weekend break in Berlin. On checking in we were told that the rate booked had no breakfast and that it would be 55euro per person per day, despite online clearly stating that breaksfast was included. As. doubted my self I cheked again and returned to reception where the second team memeber I spoke to added the breafast without question; nice touch. The breafast is very good and has a wides selection. Rooms are large, spacious and very comfortable. Two small complaints were that almost every tv and radio stations actually worked; depsit being on the menu. Also my wife found it an issue that there were no plug sockets near any mirrors to use her hairdryer. We ordered room service, two salads, a fries and two colas, it was nicely served and large portions, but very expensive, at 100euro. Room service is expected to be a bit mroe expensive, but this was VERY expensive. Beware of the wate in room, we accidentally opened a bottle of the fiji water and it is 14euro for 500ml. There are free water bottles, but it is slightly confusing as there are multiple bottle laying out. I would expect any water laying out of the mini bar is complimentary. The wellness centre is ok. The pool is very small, too short to really exercise and water very cold. The steam room needs to be refurbished/deep cleaned; it has a strange mould like smell to it, and the grput in between some tiles was greenish. The "behind the curtian" bar was very nice, staff were very pleasant and the atmosphere nice. On checking my bank statement today they have also blocked my card for three separate paymetns that total more than double the entire booking cost. Overall a nice stay but somehow lacked, it is a good hotel, not amazing. Overall we are (supposed pay) around 1000 euro for two nights, that includes breakfast and 100 euro in room service. Not sure I see the value on this occassion. We have certianly stayed at much better Ritz-Carlton hotels.

Above all the staff was extremely gracious including the front desk staff, doormen, bellmen, cocktail lounge staff and head concierge, Marc. The room was spotless. If you don't have a breakfast package, avoid the hotel breakfast. We only went one morning because we had an early tour. It was just OK. We also ate at the restaurant the last night because we had to pack and catch an early flight the next morning. While restaurant staff at dinner was gracious, they seemed to be understaffed. Food was good quality but there were few choices without heavy sauces. For a luxury hotel, the value was exceptional. One small complaint was that the electical outlets in the bathroom were in a hard to access position, too high up for short people and difficult to get an adapter plugged in. The cocktail lounge was a really nice place to come back to after dinner. After dinner drinks were not that expensive for a luxury hotel cocktail lounge. The location was good. We used Ubers almost exclusively but we did note that there were lots of nearby public transportation options. The Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, the Bundestag and the Mall of Berlin were all within walking distance.

Terrible hotel - barely the level of a courtyard Marriott - ordered room service twice and both times took over an hour and a half. Worst part is breakfast downstairs. Abrupt and rude hostess, servers never come to the table, food is bad quality and poorly cooked. Terrible hotel, avoid