Casa Camper Berlin

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

• 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
• The flat screen TVs in rooms that are loaded with free movies

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 floors, rust-red walls and spacious, light-filled bathrooms. Many of the rooms can connect, a plus for families. The accommodations are all the same size, have the same layout and face the same direction, but the best ones are on the highest floors thanks to their stunning views.

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).

Nearby are great 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 and KW 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.

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 and attentive staff are enticing as well.