I chose this place based on tripadvisor reviews and was not disappointed! I booked 4 rooms for a small group, and they were slightly different but all impeccable in their minimalist style, and with a lot of attention to detail. The German style beds (two single together, no doubles) were comfortable, and the frosted glass door to the bathroom was not a problem for privacy. Staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and the included breakfast in the nice dining room was delicious. As others said, the area is safe and quiet (the slightly messier area is around Moritzplatz underground station, but you don't need to go there). Last but not least, we weren't charged a single penny upon reservation or check-in. We paid the whole balance at check-out, and cash payments had 3% discount.

Great breakfast. New building, all rooms refurbished. Bright and clean, close to the metro station "Hallesche Tor" and "Gneisenauer Straße". You can walk downtown (just follow the Friedrichstraße from the subway stn "Hallesche Tor") in about 30minutes. Supermarkets near by. I liked it!

Date: 8 May 2008
Reviewer: Tania - Greece
We stayed there for 4 days. It is a superbly clean, quiet and stylish hotel, not exactly in the heart of Berlin, but very comfortably located (the nearest metro and bus station are a 5 minute walk away, through a lovely park, along a river canal). Safe and absolutely non touristic area. Just across the hotel there is one of the finest german restaurants ("Altes Zollhaus"). The room was pretty spacious, very clean and pretty. The glass bathroom door is not highly recommended for new couples, as it may cause some embarassment..... It also had a small balcony, which for us smokers was pretty useful. The hotel has a very cosy breakfast room (where you should not expect scrambled eggs and bacon, although everything that is offered is fresh and delicious) and also a very nice backyard, where you can take your breakfast, if the weather is good. The owners are simply adorable, extremely polite, but in a relaxed and casual manner and always ready to make you feel you are more than welcome, almost part of a big bunch of friends. I loved it!! You will too, if you fancy small hotels with a relaxed atmosphere and a casual but absolutely professional attitude.

We stayed at the Hotel Johann for 3 nights, on a bed and breakfast basis. We chose it mainly because of the good reviews on Trip Advisor but also because the price was reasonable and it looked nice on the website. To get there from Berlin-Schonefeld, take the ‘Airport Express’ to Friedrichstrasse, then the U6 to Hallesches Tor (direction Alt-Mariendorf). The hotel is 5-10 mins walk from Hallesches Tor, on a quiet residential street. The whole journey took an hour – but I would allow 90 mins in case of missing connections etc – check-in is available until midnight.

On arrival, we were greeted by a very helpful staff member who spoke very good English (a godsend considering our poor skills in German). We were in our room within minutes – after stopping to get some reasonably priced drinks from the honesty bar in the hallway. Our room was just as we had hoped it would be – spacious and comfortable with lovely furnishings. The bathroom had a sliding glass door which gives no soundproofing whatsoever, so it’s definitely best to stay here with someone you know well! We didn’t realise that the bathroom floor was supposed to be heated – this must have been what the thermostat in the bathroom was for (we thought it was for the room itself). The bed was an ‘Austrian twin’ – two single mattresses on a double frame and was very comfy. We weren’t so keen on the feather pillows – but that’s just personal preference I guess. The central heating worked fine when needed and the windows were easy to operate and provided good soundproofing. There is no air conditioning though – hopefully the high ceilings would compensate for this in the summer months.

Although others have praised the selection of food for breakfast, we found it a little bit disappointing. The breakfast room itself is really nice and you can eat in the courtyard when the weather is good. The food available included cereals, bread, cheese, ham, cold veg, fruit salad and yoghurt. There may have been 10 different types of bread but we were hoping for some hot food or at least some ‘sweet’ items such as croissants, pain au chocolat etc. The other guests seemed to be happy though so I guess this just comes down to cultural differences (although I don’t remember having any problems with breakfasts when we went to Austria).

Overall, we were really pleased with this hotel and it is highly likely that we will stay here again if we go back to Berlin. The location may seem quite far from the centre of Berlin, but the proximity of the U-Bahn makes travelling around very easy. One useful point to note is that they are currently offering a 3% discount for cash payments – there are ATMs in the shops near Hallesches Tor.