While the bland exterior doesn’t impress, behind lies one of the city’s coolest stays: 40 individually designed rooms with themes as varied as James Bond, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes and the rock-n-roll Musik room, lined with cassette-tape wallpaper, vintage music posters and including, of course, a turntable. Four categories range from single-stay #Smallfriends rooms to the two-bedroom family room and all feature modern bathrooms with showers and Rituals products. The groovy ‘70s vibe of the common spaces attracts hipster locals, who come for cocktails at the vintage-style Klassentreffen bar and to play foosball and watch sports on the flat-screen TV in the Sporthalle lounge. In place of a full restaurant, there’s a generous breakfast spread and a 24-hour snack bar, which also stocks essentials like razors and toothbrushes as well as retro gifts like candy cigarettes and water pistols.
Neighborhood: Trendy Flingern—several miles west of the city center—abounds with cool indie boutiques and galleries by day, and come evening, the hipster nightlife scene takes over, with dozens of clubs, bars and funky, affordable restaurants.
Nearby:
Philara Collection: For edgy contemporary art in a former glass factory
Café Hüftgold: For excellent homemade cakes and coffee
Wunderwerk: For sustainable organic clothing and eco-friendly denim
Time Out tip: The lower level gallery space hosts exhibitions of contemporary local artists.