Novum Hotel Aldea Berlin Centrum

“Good location but can do much better”

It is a 3* hotel located on a main road and in a fine neighborhood by our standards. Choosing a mid-budget hotel in Berlin with breakfast, closeness to major tourist sites and proximity to a metro station was a challenge. After days of agonizing over which one to book, I finally decided to book a S… more

It is a 3* hotel located on a main road and in a fine neighborhood by our standards. Choosing a mid-budget hotel in Berlin with breakfast, closeness to major tourist sites and proximity to a metro station was a challenge. After days of agonizing over which one to book, I finally decided to book a Standard Triple Room online for us for 3 nights with breakfast. There were all kinds of mixed reviews about the hotel, so it was going to be a risky affair to start with – nevertheless, I chose to take the risk. We reached Berlin by train from Warsaw and took a cab to the hotel. It was evening by the time we reached the hotel reception. My family sat down in the lounge next to the reception while I began the process of check in. After a good 15 minutes or so, at my turn, a young person at the counter took the details from me and after a few minutes of frantic activity, informed me that there is no booking in their system on my name. I thought to myself, my worst fears are already coming true. When I insisted on rechecking, a sweet and more experienced lady took over the charge of finding the issue with my pre-paid booking. Meanwhile, my family conversed with a couple of fellow countrymen in the lounge. Fortunately, the booking was there – just that their system had not been updated with it. We were past one hurdle after almost an hour. We were given a preview of the triple room and though I didn’t have high expectations, I still asked if there was another option available somewhere way from the main road facing room which was allotted to us. We were told that the hotel was fully booked and there’s no option for that night – was kind of reassuring to hear that I was not the only one who chose this hotel. The room was of good size with three simple looking single beds laid out among a writing desk and chair. The twin beds had side tables next to them with drawers and storage space and reading lamps too. There was a small flat LCD TV on the writing desk, which was difficult to turn on (and I think we never could manage it to work even after the hotel staff looked at the problem). There was a mini fridge hidden within the desk. The room had a big cupboard, hooks to hang jackets, and a luggage and shoes rack next to the entrance door. A tall mirror was hung next to the cupboard. The third-floor room overlooked an elevated metro rail line and the metro station was towards the left (about 100 meters) after exiting the main entrance of the hotel. The windows in the room could be opened to let the fresh breeze in. Overall, the room was basic with almost no other aesthetics and the carpet was run down and dirty with stains and torn at places. The rooms don’t seem to have been renovated or refurbished in a long time, again something that didn’t come as a surprise after reading many reviews. The bathroom was one of the smallest we encountered in our stays across the hotels in Europe this time. It had a small shower area with a shower curtain to prevent the water from flowing out. The white tiles in the bathroom were clean enough. I don’t remember facing any major issues with the usage of the toilet and the shower, except for the space. Hand-wash, body wash liquid and shampoo were provided. After exploring the neighborhood a bit, we were happy to find some good Indian restaurants on the main road turning behind the hotel from the corner near the metro station on the left. There were other restaurants and cafes too and we chose to eat middle eastern food for dinner that night. On the way back to the hotel, we were made aware that the metro station and line in front of the hotel was closed for renovation for a long time. A main reason for choosing the hotel just turned into a disappointment. But not for long since there was another metro station a bit further away in another direction that was operational for a different line. One of the major issues cropped up once we were back inside the room and ready to get some shut eye. The room was full of foul smell and the source was the bathroom. Even with the bathroom door shut, the odor wouldn’t leave the room and we were forced to open the windows for ventilation. But when we kept the windows open, the noise from the traffic on the road below was too loud to allow a good sleep. We were experiencing issues that some of the reviewers had mentioned and they were quite real. When I went to complain to the staff at the reception, they offered to send someone to take a look but there was no repair work that could solve the issue that night. I also requested a change of the room so that we wouldn’t have to face the issue for the other two days/nights but was told that it seemed impossible considering the occupancy of the rooms. Somehow, we went to sleep that night but not before I wrote an email to the management highlighting the issues and making it very clear that the quality of the room was totally unacceptable at the price being charged. Next morning, we got up and got ready to have breakfast in the restaurant at the lobby level. The restaurant is quite spacious with a lot of seating available. The service of the staff is also good and the variety of rolls, breads, cold cuts, sausages, egg preparations, cut and whole fruits, jams, cheese, butter, tea, coffee, juices, yogurt, etc. was large. We enjoyed the breakfast but realized next day and the day after that it was always the same menu everyday. Anyway, we weren’t there to stay for weeks so repetition didn’t bother us much. The good part was that the buffet breakfast was sumptuous and the sitting was comfortable. After breakfast, the staff at the reception informed me that we could be moved to another room that day but we would have to pack and leave our luggage with them to sore while we went out sightseeing. Since we were ready to head out, we could not spare the time to go upstairs and pack everything up. I was surprised at the casual attitude of the staff that they didn’t consider it important to inform us of the same early in the morning, instead of waiting for us to come to them and inquire about the room change after we had breakfast. We had to let go of the opportunity to change to a possibly better room for 2 nights. That night, the foul smell in the room was a little less and we opened the windows only slightly. But then as we lay down to sleep, the other issue we had read about in reviews materialized. Men and boys, mostly young, were quarreling on top of their voices in a non-native language – my educated guess is Turkish or Arabic – and they went on and on outside on the pavement without any objection from anyone from the hotel administration. All that shouting right under our room windows made it nearly impossible to fall asleep. We’d to bear that nuisance for at least good two hours even after we had shut the windows tight. Fortunately, the hotel staff was courteous (though unable to help many times) and the other guests looked cultured too, so we knew that the hotel was just poorly managed but was still in a good standing among people needing accommodation. Also, the location is quite suitable for transport, food, and shopping options as everything was at a walking distance. We were able to enjoy our sightseeing in Berlin with little trouble. The hotel may not be your first or second choice but if you’re constrained by many factors, then it is not too bad a choice for a night or two.

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