Created from four former apartment buildings, this 72-room property is a cut above the city's other recent high-design openings in large part because of its fabulous location on Rosa Luxemburg Strasse, bang in the heart of the Mittecurrently Berlin's hippest neighborhood. More good news is that it offers attractive accommodations at great prices: celadon walls and bleached wood furniture with minimalist lines. The spacious rooms also have useful comfortsDVD/CD players, wall-mounted flat-screen TVs, and kitchenettes. Shiro i Shiro serves Mediterranean-Japanese food in a very different space, more reminiscent of Liberace's living room.
When to go: Year-round, but Berlin is appealingly funky in summer.
Which room to book: Since rates are so reasonable, spring for a $220 junior suite (doubles, $145–$220).