Hotels Near Helmertturm, Helmert Tower in Potsdam

A very nice hotel, both regarding location and design. The receptionist was very helpful, and even served in the hotel bar in the evening. Our room (apartment) was very good and very large. Only bad thing was that the room was in a section of the hotel without lift, so we had to carry our luggage 3 floors up. The room (apartment) was very well equipped, and certainly made for several guests at the same time (3 bedrooms). The room had 3 safes, and a huge double coffeemaker with a good selection of coffee capsules. It was WiFi at the hotel, but I did not test this. Breakfast was standard, quite alright. Parking for the car was in fact in a public parking cellar, but it was only 50 meters away from the hotel.

The hotel is big, conference-type, and all kinds of facilities are very good. It is by the lake and can park for free on the nearby roadside. The hotel is a bit off, there is a Chinese restaurant in a few minutes drive, and I walked past ten to twenty minutes.

Unfortunately, the hotel has the best years behind it. Putting women seem not to be able to book and stretch. And lack of service is excused with lack of staff. After a short rainfall and then again beautiful weather, the outer area is no longer operational. (Say: no staff to wash chairs) However, the few staff are mostly very friendly and premature. Eat ... naja .... For this price category you can actually expect something else. Great market sauce and every day the same breakfast offer leaves the desire to a great start of the day pass quickly. Overall, it's very bad that you have the impression that this object is slowly going before the dogs. Finally .... Reserving a room via any online provider (on the call at the hotel you get the information that direct booking is not possible) leads to extreme prices. 240€ for a night, with a breakfast that really leaves to wishes, is finally only sad.

Unfortuntalely, we didn't manage to use the hotel for the purpose we came for. We booked this hotel in the nature to be able to rest, but the weather was extremely hot and there was no air-co in the rooms, so it was not possible to stay in the room at all. There is a cozy restaurant in the hotel which we wanted to use instead, but it was closed because of lack of staff.. We asked if we can just use it, without the need of any service, but that was not possible. In the end we couldn't use the hotel and had to look for another cafe around, which ruined our overall experience and made us not like our stay. There was an annoyance with the cleaning staff as well, that decides to clean your rooms at 8:30AM. Yes, 8:30 in the morning you will hear a knock on the door that will wake you up and ask your room to be cleaned. Afterwards, we hanged a do not distrub sign, but the maid still insisted on cleaning our room, went inside and opened our curtains which made the room very hot when we were back. Keep in mind that even though the hotel has some nice chill areas, you will NOT BE ABLE TO STAY IN THE HOTEL, so better look for an option where you can actually chill in the hotel, if that's your goal. Location is good at the river and next to the S station. Breakfast is pleasant.

Pet- and tourist-unfriendly place. My latest experience very much resembled extortion. I was charged 100 euro for dog’s fur on the bedsheets and 150 euro for dog’s fur on the floor (the hotel representative had to put quite an effort into scraping some with her shoe) and an approx 0,5 mm brown-ish spot on the carpet which they claimed to be “blood” (considering that there was an approx 5 cm black stain on the carpet as of my checkin which hotel apparently didn’t see as something of an issue to me as a guest). I used to like this hotel (despite being placed on several occasions in rooms with obvious sewage issues), until I stayed there with my dog. I presented my dog at the reception at the checkin (that is the receptionist saw the dog). Paid 15 eur per day pet fee and proceeded to the room. No additional rules, policies or verbal requests were presented to me. My dog damaged a pouffe which I informed the hotel about at the checkout and happily paid whatever was asked of me (200 eur). In addition to that I was demanded to pay 100 eur for some fur on bedsheets and 150 eur for some fur on the floor as mentioned above. No oficial price list was presented. No explanation why 15 eur a day pet fee wasn’t covering washing blankets and vacuuming floor was provided, all my questions or logical arguments were ignored. The team of hotel representatives generously offered me a 50 eur discount on cleaning (which I didn’t ask for) only confirming that the amounts weren’t based on any actual price list, because if the hotel really suffered a loss of 250 eur why would they “gift” me 50 eur. I considered it to be an extortion and suggested to call the police. When I came back after 15 min the hotel still hadn’t called the police. As I had an urgent matter and had to leave, I paid the hotel whatever its staff demanded. I think what actually happened is the hotel staff had accidentally or recklessly placed us in a no-pet room (as there was a carpet, unlike in some other rooms. I was placed into that room after finding out the one I was initially given smelt of sewage - repeatedly happened before). And instead of charging their staff, they’ve charged me, so that they can do (if they actually do) for some deep cleaning after an animal to make it suitable again for people with allergies. Staff’s rudeness and ill attitude with me as a client weren’t in line with the hospitality filed’s even moderate standards. Most customers might find this hotel pleasant - which it is, until it is no longer.

By the time this incident happened, I have already completed a 4 days stay in the hotel and was willing to increase my stay. For that purpose, I went to Mrs. Hausweld and asked to please consult the availability and the price of the rooms for extra nights. In response, I was told that the final price, including the city tax for 3 additional nights would be 350 euros with breakfast included. Consequently, I was willing to go along with that reservation and requested to pay by card. Afterward, then Mrs. Hausweld offered me the POS terminal to go along with the payment, and the amount ascended to 419 euros. Due to that unexpected difference, I kindly asked for an explanation and was told that 419 euros were the final price, and if I was not happy with it I would need to leave the hotel immediately. As a result, I kindly refused to pay that amount and asked her to please consult the price for two nights instead of three. In response to that, the front desk manager told me that no more rooms were available for me and that I needed to check out now and leave the hotel. Following that conversation, I went on Booking.com and reserved a room for the same days, without breakfast, and surprisingly rooms were still available. Next, I went to the front desk and asked to please pay for my booking Mrs. Hausweld looked at me in an unfriendly manner and told me she could not find any reservation. After 5 minutes of searching, she could finally open my booking. Then, although I already provided a credit card in my booking, she asked me to show it to her because she was not believing that it was not mine. I answered that the card was in effect mine and offered her to have a look, but it did not have any numbers on it. So she got ahead to request me to write down my credit card details, including the CVV code, on a piece of paper as ”a security”. Afterward, I was asked again by her if I would like breakfast or not, despite I selected the no breakfast option on booking.com. A moment later I was offered the POS terminal to pay by card, which stated an amount 30 euros higher that the price I booked the room for on this site. Due to the reoccurrence of the same, previous situation again, I refused to pay and respectfully asked her why the price was higher again. Mrs. Hauweld answered in a very disrespectful manner that I asked her to have breakfast included and that I was confusing her again. After that situation, I kindly asked them to speak with her supervisor. She answered, that she had no supervisor and was the only person working in the hotel for the whole weekend. That experience left me in complete disbelief of her professionality and her being in that important role in the hotel. However, despite that bad experience with that particular staff member, I would like to note that the other front desk managers were very friendly and helpful at all times.

Staff were nice and pleasant. Good part of town with convenient transport links. Room was spacious and light. Able to open windows to a leafy quiet street. Style of interior isn't that of a super modern hotel.. it feels slightly dated but kept clean and tidy. Only bad points for me is the pungent stink coming from the bathroom, which I can only put down to old plumbing/drainage systems. A quite unbearable sulferous whiff which reached a highpoint in the morning 'showering' time... The aforementioned windows had to be opened wide. Apart from that it was fine, okay for a short stop Didn't partake in any of the dining or breakfast on offer

While Hotel Villa Kastania, Berlin, is generally a good hotel, I can't recommend it, due to the rude behavior of one of the reception clerks. This behavior spoiled the atmosphere and ruined my mood for my short stay (1 night). This guy (young, with a French beard) was not very courteous and serviceable from the moment I got there. After realizing the hotel has no lobby where you can sit and work with a laptop, I asked to do so in the dining hall (my room wasn't ready yet). He approved, but said I should be sitting next to a Coffee table rather than next to a regular one, as ”the hotel is fully booked and people are coming for breakfast”. Since you cannot really work next to a low Coffee table I asked to sit on a regular one, explaining that people never all come to have breakfast at the same time. He did not like it (and expressed it and his tone) but I did, and guess what - the dining room was almost completely empty the entire morning! But the really severe behavior on his part happened a bit later on. I went out to have Coffee outside, telling the nice and polite waiter of the (empty) dining hall that I'm storing my laptop aside but leaving my charger and mouse on the table, since I'll be back to work there shortly. He approved. When I returned, the reception clerk started talking in a really rude, impolite and improper way to me, almost shouting at me, about how I shouldn't leave my things ”In the restaurant”. I explained that I left it because I was going for a short while, but he continued accusing me of acting the wrong way, as if as a first time guest I have an idea of the hotel's code about leaving things here on there. Even when I told him that I informed the waiter about this he did not calm down. He only calmed down from his raging behavior when I snapped back at him, telling him that he has no right speaking to paying customers like that, that he can't expect a client to know his made up arbitrary rules and that even if someone does something wrong - there's a nice and polite way to point that out, especially when your job his to serve him. A paying client should not be treated like a young kid getting reprimanded by a hotel clerk, who clearly doesn't like his job, doesn't know the meaning of service and has no patience for clients. I NEVER ran in to this kind of behaviour in any hotel I stayed in. Only after talking back to him in this fierce way he started to behave more politely towards me, but he never apologized. During check-out, when he asked if everything was OK and I responded: ”Yes, besides your behavior yesterday” he did not apologize. Therefore, I do not recommend staying at Hotel Villa Kastania, Berlin. A place that employs someone like this, who clearly doesn't know how to treat customers - is not a good pick.