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Vibe: Boutique, cool, eco-friendly.

At a Glance: One of the newer boutique hotel additions (opened in 2009), Casa Camper is perfectly located in the cool Mitte neighborhood.

Review: One of the newer boutique hotel additions (opened in 2009), Casa Camper is the sister hotel to the cool Spanish label’s Barcelona property. The boutique property has just 51 rooms, all with eco-friendly bamboo floor, rust-red walls, and spacious, light bathrooms. Many of the rooms can connect, a plus for families.

There are no amenities to speak of, but the Camper has a really nice seventh-floor lounge, which is stocked all day with food and drink. It’s open only to guests and the views and lovingly prepared culinary fare (including cakes, cookies, sandwiches and an honor-system cocktail bar) inspires you to want to curl up with a book. Not that you want to stay put, given the hotel’s central location near the Hackesche Höfe and some of the city’s hippest restaurants, galleries and shops.

Bikes can be rented on the premises (it’s unclear why more hotels do not offer this, considering the bike-friendly nature of the city). Foodies will love the fact that acclaimed Spanish tapas restaurant Dos Palillos is just downstairs (chef Albert Raurich worked as the chef de cuisine for Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli).

WHO SHOULD STAY: Independent travelers who can forgo five-star amenities and round-the-clock service and who want to be based in the center of the action in the former East Berlin. The affordable rates are enticing as well.

WHAT’S NEARBY: Shopping streets like Neue Schönhauser, August-, Mulak- and Steinstrasse. Fabulous and fun restaurants and cafés, like Monsieur Vuong, Mädchenitaliener, The Barn, Bandol Sur Mer, Dudu and the fabulous dance hall Clärchens Ballhaus. Galleries like Eigen + Art, c/o Berlin andKW Institute of Contemporary Art. Plus, Museum Island is a 15-minute walk. In a nutshell: this is one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

Indagare Loves:

• The eco-friendly interiors
• The central location in walking distance to many of Mitte’s coolest restaurants
• The 7th-floor lounge stocked with snacks all day

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Vibe: Hip, contemporary, apartment-style hotel.

At a Glance: The minimalist-chic Lux 11 lead the design-hotel boom in the former east Berlin, with apartment-style, affordable rooms.

Review: This apartment hotel occupies three adjacent whitewashed buildings in happening Mitte. It’s clear from check-in that the place is for low-maintenance guests: there’s no round-the-clock service—the front desk, in a small reception area, closes at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 5 p.m. on weekends. Guests, a mix of stylish international thirty-somethings, don’t seem to mind, as the lack of pampering is made up for in serious savings. The minimalist but chic rooms, designed by London-based duo Silvestrin/Salmaso, have kitchenettes, glass-enclosed showers, flat-screen TVs and faux-fur throws. Book a premier suite on one of the upper floors (the hotel has seven stories). Rooms that look over the leafy courtyard are more quiet than the ones with Alexanderplatz views. On the ground level is an Aveda salon and spa.

WHAT’S NEARBY: Shopping streets like Neue Schönhauser, August-, Mulak- and Steinstrasse. Fabulous and fun restaurants and cafés, like Mädchenitaliener, The Barn, Bandol Sur Mer, Dudu and the fabulous dance hall Clärchens Ballhaus. Galleries like Eigen + Art, c/o Berlin andKW Institute of Contemporary Art. Plus, Museum Island is a 15-minute walk. In a nutshell: this is one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

• Affordable rates
• The in-room kitchenettes
• Staying in one of Berlin’s most vibrant neighborhoods, near the fabulous restaurants, cafés and shops around Auguststrasse