It had been a long day so far. One of the longest on the trip. It started before 6:00 AM leaving on the first Train bound for Berlin. We then rushed over to Hotel Novum Gates in Charlottenburg to drop off our bags before our Alternative Tour of Berlin. After our amazing 4.5 hour tour through the lesser seen parts of berlin, it was time for some rest. We finally headed to the hotel to check in.
Hotel Novum Gates Location
Hotel Novum Gates is located in the Charlottenburg neighborhood of Berlin. Prior to the reunification of Berlin, Charlottenburg was the heart of West Berlin. It was the main shopping and was home to the higher end restaurants. Since reunification that has moved to the Mitte Area, but Charlottenburg is still a well off area. It is home to Charlottenburg Palace (the largest royal palace in berlin), as well as gardens, theatres, and museums. Of Berlin’s neighborhoods Charlottenburg seemed to be the cleanest and had the safest feel to it. Especially when compared to areas like Kreutzberg we saw on our Alternative Tour. While I prefer the art and excitement of the grungier areas, Charlottenburg is more my Mom’s speed. She felt more comfortable in Charlottenburg than any other area of Berlin.
Hotel Novum Gates is conveniently located between two major Berlin Metro stations. The closest of which is just a four minute walk. As I generally get around in bigger cities through public transportation, this was one of the main reasons why I chose this hotel.
Hotel Novum Gates Room
The room at Hotel Novum Gates was a decent size. Way bigger than our hotel room in Colmar, but was very minimal and dated. If one thing sticks with me about that hotel room it is the color red. The carpets were a very loud shade of red that were old and in dire need of replacing.
The room consisted of the main living area with a queen bed, a tiny television, a dresser and a chair.
As we had four people in our room, the other two beds were in a separate area. It is likely this area was originally a sun room of sorts or maybe a converted balcony. The room itself was tiny. It had just enough room to fit two twin beds side by side, but was separated from the main room by a wall of windows and a door. Its opposite wall also was a wall of windows.
Attached to the otherside of the main room was a bathroom it was small. It consisted of the toilet and then a large step up into the stall shower area. However, I liked the bathroom despite its size. What matters to me is heat and water pressure, and it had both.
While my comments on the room may sound like complaining (and it is), I actually did not mind the room. The room itself was spotless, the bed was comfortable, the shower was fantastic, and most importantly there was free wifi. As we were really only in the hotel itself to rest between adventures the room itself met my needs. However, for our mom’s sake I would have prefered it to be a bit more spacious.
Price
One thing I found while planning this trip is finding 4-person rooms in Europe is very difficult and very expensive. It took some searching to find a 4-person room in hotel that rated well and was in a nice area that did not break the bank. Hotel Novum Gates after taxes and fees came out to $377.99 for a three night stay ($125/night). This was still significantly cheaper than the cheapest 4 person chain hotel room. Being the points addict that I am I booked my hotel with Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly through the chase portal. In all I paid 25,199 chase ultimate rewards points (8,400 points/night).
Overall
Despite being a little dated, Hotel Novum Gates was an comfortable hotel in an extremely nice area of Berlin. While the price of the hotel was a little more than I was comfortable with, that is the cost of travelling in a group of four.