Prenzlauer Berg

Hotel Oderberger Berlin

★★★★★

Hotel Oderberger is one of the most unusual hotels in Berlin, and a delightful choice for anyone who wants to stay in a neighbourhood rather than the tourist centre. It occupies the former Stadtbad Oderberger Strasse, a public bathhouse designed in 1898 that served the crowded tenement quarter of Prenzlauer Berg for generations, closed in 1986 and then stood empty and decaying for decades. After extensive refurbishment as part of a campus that also includes seminar rooms and studio apartments, the hotel opened in February 2016, and its centrepiece is the restored pool hall: a long swimming pool under a vaulted, neo-Renaissance ceiling with arched windows and galleries, one of the most beautiful indoor pools in Germany. The pool is part of the public baths, used by both hotel guests and Berliners, and it is open on average five days a week, except on days when the hall is used for events, so check the schedule if swimming is your priority. The hotel has 70 rooms, including apartments and tower rooms and suites with views over the rooftops, decorated in a calm, modern style that respects the historic building, with high ceilings, large windows and good beds. Breakfast is served in the restaurant, and the fireplace bar is a cosy spot in the evenings. The real advantage is the location, at Oderberger Strasse 57 in the heart of Prenzlauer Berg, one of the most attractive residential districts of Berlin, with leafy streets of restored nineteenth-century apartment houses, independent shops, playgrounds and countless cafes. The Mauerpark, with its famous Sunday flea market and open-air karaoke, is a few minutes' walk away, as is the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse. Prices are mid-range, and the pool makes it excellent value.

Swimming and the building: the pool hall is the reason to book, and swimming under the old arches early in the morning, before the city wakes up, is unforgettable. Because the pool is shared with the public and is sometimes closed for events, ask about the schedule when you book. The hotel offers a Midnight Swim package that includes the pool and sauna. The rest of the building has many original details, and the tower rooms, at the top of the building, are the most characterful.

Neighbourhood life: Prenzlauer Berg is a district for walking. Kastanienallee and the streets around Kollwitzplatz are full of cafes, bakeries and restaurants, the Kulturbrauerei, a former brewery turned cultural centre, is nearby, and on Sundays the Mauerpark flea market draws crowds from all over the city. Families love the area for its playgrounds and quiet streets, and couples for its relaxed cafe culture and good-value restaurants.

Getting around: the U2 at Eberswalder Strasse and the tram lines along Bernauer Strasse and Kastanienallee connect you quickly to Alexanderplatz and Mitte, about fifteen minutes away, and the S-Bahn at Nordbahnhof is a short walk. The downside is distance from the western sights, such as Charlottenburg Palace, which take longer to reach. For a first visit focused on museums, Mitte is more convenient; for a stay that feels like living in Berlin, with a pool thrown in, this is hard to beat.