I have wanted to go back to Berlin ever since my whirlwind press trip back in 2017. So, when BuyAGift got in contact with me and offered me one of their experiences, I was so excited. I knew I had to choose the Two Night European Break package. There were plenty of places to choose from, with hotels in ten European countries including Greece, Slovenia and Germany. As I said, I really wanted to be able to explore Berlin properly. There were three hotels available in Berlin, so I had a look at decided on the abba Berlin hotel.

Using the voucher

The BuyAGift voucher was sent to me in the post. The vouchers contain a booklet with destinations, a voucher code and instructions on how to use it. I logged in online using the instructions, chose the hotel I wanted to book and was given a phone number. We originally wanted to use the voucher in December, however all weekends were booked up. This was actually really lucky as flights in December were over £100. We managed to get return flights from East Midlands to Berlin Schönefeld for just £26 each.

I ended up calling the hotel twice to check availability, which cost me £2.50 for each call. Once I knew the dates that we wanted, I was given an email address. I simply emailed them with my name, address, dates that I wanted to book and our voucher code. I was then sent a confirmation of the booking. It was so easy!

abba Berlin hotel

abba Berlin is a four star, modern hotel located in the Wilmersdorf district of the city. The hotel is a short walk away from the famous Berlin Zoo, Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church and the Kurfürstendamm shopping district. It’s really easy to get to from Schönefeld airport. You just need to jump on the S-Bahn (you need the S9 line) straight to Savignyplatz and it is a 10 minute walk to the hotel from there. There is also a U-Bahn station, Uhlandstraße just an 8 minute walk away from the hotel.

Check in is from 3pm, however we went straight over to the hotel after our early flight. Expecting to just store our bags, we were told that our room was ready at 11am. The staff at the reception were all so polite. Check in took a couple of minutes. I just had to give them my debit card so they could authorise it in case of any extra charges.

The room

We were given a double room. However instead of one bed it was actually two twins pushed together and two separate single duvets. I had a look on the website to see if we had been given a twin room, but this was actually a double. This wasn’t really a problem for us. However, I did wake up at one point to find that the beds had moved. I was sleeping down a crack in between the two! The bed was really comfortable, as were the pillows and I managed to have a great night’s sleep each night.

Hotel facilities

The hotel is located on a busy main road, however our room was at the back of the building. We didn’t hear any noise from the traffic all night. The other hotel guests also kept the noise level down, which was great. Our room, 724 was on the seventh (top floor) so there was a great view from our window over Berlin.

I was pleased to see that our bathroom had a bath. When a hotel room has a bath, I think that it just makes it feel so much more luxurious. I was so glad to be able to relax in the bath on our first night. After a 6:45am flight and walking eight miles around the city, I really needed to relax! There was a small selection of toiletries which came in handy. I used the shower gel as I hadn’t taken any with me.

The room was so spacious. We had a desk and separate table with two chairs. There was a good sized wardrobe with a safe inside, which we used for my laptop when we went out. There was also a television fixed to the wall. Another plus, was that there were a lot of sockets in the walls. I have stayed in hotels in the past where you have had to fight over the sockets. I was able to charge my phone and laptop while Leigh also charged his phone. There were no tea and coffee making facilities. It would have been nice to have had these when we checked in. We were both knackered and needed a caffeine hit.

Breakfast

Our voucher included breakfast on each morning. I am a big fan of hotel breakfasts, even though I am not usually a breakfast person. abba Berlin hotel serves breakfast between 6:30 and 10am on weekdays and 7am and 11am on weekends. We went down to breakfast at around 10am each day and there was still plenty of choice, with the food being topped up constantly. There was a great choice of both hot and cold items.

On the first morning I had scrambled egg, cold meats and pastries. On the second morning, I wasn’t feeling as hungry so I just made myself a sandwich with their fresh bread rolls and meats. Leigh has a better appetite than me, so he really made the most of it. One thing that I am surprised about, is that there were no sausages. I was hoping for some bratwurst! Germany is famous for the sausages and I have had great ones at other German hotels. There was a different selection of hot food each day, so we may have just missed out on the bratwurst.

There was a range of five different teas available, including English breakfast tea which Leigh was pleased with. There’s also a coffee machine which does espressos, cappuccinos, lattes and americanos. There was also three different cold juices, apple, orange and mixed fruit. At one point, the apple juice ran out so I asked a member of staff about it and he quickly refilled it.

If you are planning a trip to Berlin, I definitely recommend the abba Berlin hotel. It’s really easy to get to, the rooms are amazing and the staff are great.