Thanks to the Westin Grand for the great stay; it was my second time visiting the hotel, first since 2005 and first stay since renovation completed. Wonderful room; upgraded to suite, clean, comfortable. Bathroom bright and upbeat, great coffee maker which staff provided refills to, gladly. Comfortable beds, nice flatscreen TV. Hotel staff team is helpful yet not imposing; they give you your space yet are ready to assist. I thought the location was spectacular and the view from streetside room was very nice. I can't wait to stay at the Westin again very soon!!!

My girlfriend and I stayed here the last weekend of June and had mixed feelings about the hotel. While it's location and staff can't be faulted I felt the cost of some things were over inflated for what was on offer.
First the good stuff; I arrived 2 and a half hours before check in to drop my bag off and chanced my arm by asking if our room was available, the reception staff were very friendly and checked me in no problems. I went up to my room and found it had twin beds rather than the queen-sized I had reserved, so I went back down and they moved me, again no problems. The second room was much better as it had the bed I'd asked for and this time overlooked the inner gardens. (So if you're not happy at first just ask and see what they can do). I had checked out the hotel on-line before booking and they claim to have the best beds in the industry, well after two nights on them i definetly agree! huge beds with a very comfy mattress; so comfy we slept in both mornings!
Now the gripes; Used the Gym and swimming pool and found both of these a good standard, only slight gripe is the overflow drain in the pool sounded like a Formula 1 car was parked next door. We also paid for the Sauna which was 8Euros each and not really worh it. The Sauna had two smallish mixed saunas (95F & 65F) and a female only sauna; and that was it, no steam room or plunge pool and overall felt pretty cramped. Having stayed in similar-rated hotels and used their saunas I would definetly say this one is slightly below par.
We also ordered breakfast in our room the first morning and were very happy with the hotels 'healthy food' menu much cheaper than the other options (which makes me think they're just trialling it?) and very tasty. However we ordered a tea and coffee with our food and I couldn't believe that it cost 8Euros for a (small) pot of coffee and 7.5Euros for a (equally small) pot of Tea! So all in our food was cheaper than our drinks. Maybe I'm being a bit naieve about hotel bills but I still think this is over the top.
On our second morning we had the buffet breakfast which again had a good selection and was very tasty but compared with similar hotels was (in my opinion) at least 5Euros overpriced, again not a huge amount but couldn't help feeling that we were paying for some kind of perceived privelige.
So to sum up; lovely hotel and friendly staff, nice room and bed but could do with re-thinking their price structure a bit.

Booked a 5 night stay in Berlin to travel to the Depeche Mode concert at the Olimpiastadion and as a city break for my girlfriends birthday.

Initially booked the Novotel, but then found an excellent rate of £455 on lastminute.com afte reading the good reviews.

The hotel is perfectly located, easily found on the corner of Unter den Linden and Freidrichstrasse, a couple of blocks south of the main Freidrichstrasse s bahn station [which we'd arrived at from the Schonefield airport]. Check in was easy and a friendly welcome. Allocated a room on the 2nd floor at the side of the hotel. Sadly no view [I had asked if this was possible as it was a break for g/f's birthday].

Rooms are well decorated, furnished well and spotlessly clean. Couldn't ask for anymore.

Generally we like to get out and about and try restaurants and bars, so we didn't eat at all in the hotel. The rate we got through lastminute.com was room only, so neither did we eat breakfast. Prices were however as per any other 5* hotel in Europe.

The hotel really gets the big thumbs up from us in terms of standards and location. You can walk to anywhere in Mitte from the hotel [from Potzdammer Platz to the west over to the Museum Island, Alexander Platz to the Hackesher Markt/ Oranienburger Strasse areas].

There aren't that many bars and restaurants in the immediate area of the hotel at night, though there are a couple just around the corner on Unter den Linden and also a Vapiana pizza restaurant [bit like Pizza Express] on the street west of Freidrichstrasse about two blocks north of Under den Linden. Generally, we headed to the livelier areas of Berlin for restaurants - see forums for recommendations. We did however eat a variety of food [Indian at Amrit on Oranienburgerstrass, Bohemian at a restaurant in the Nikolaiviertel, Currywurst at a restaurant near the Pergamon at lunch, a very good kebab in Freidrichshein amongst plenty of other meals]

As mentioned, we were room only, and on Freidrichstrasse there are loads of coffeebars, bakeries and patisseries that offer coffee and pastries/ sandwiches for breakfast. There are also Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts branches all over the city if that's your thing. Salami sandwiches at the Kamps bakeries are very good.

Shoppers will love the location of the hotel, with Lacoste, Marco Polo, Hugo Boss [opposite entrance], Gallerie Layafette, plus every other major designer brand located somwhere along Freidrichstrasse. Car lovers will love the VW group showrooms opposite too, with a Bugatti Veyron parked on display as well.

Overall, a fantastic break in Berlin. So much to see and do, plenty of nightlife and great food. Can't wait to go back, and if we got a similarly good rate, we'd definitely head back to the Westin.

As an SPG Platinum member, I was upgraded to what they called a junior suite even though I was on an award stay and was told the hotel was 100% full. It was a large living room with large bedroom and bathroom that could be completely closed off. The room was on the second floor and the living room had a small window so there was not too much natural light. The bedroom had no windows. The bathroom was very nice with a seperate rain style shower head. Both living room and bathroom had modern flat screen TVs.

There was no doorman available to assist upon arrival or departure. I had to fetch my own taxi on the street.

The breakfast was very expensive and though there were a lot of items, the room had all the charm of a college dining hall. It was also difficult to get a server for coffee or tea. In fact, my request was forgotten. The breakfast was EUR 29. The food was quite good though.

In room internet was wired and fast but should be at EUR 19.50 per day.

The exercise room was a bit small but sufficient but the indoor pool looked nice.

Room service soup and salad was prompt and tasty.

The location can't be beat. Easy walking distance to Museum Island and the DDR Museum which is kind of interesting.

When I did have interaction with the staff, they were all very nice and accomodating but just seemed a bit overwhelmed due to the high occupancy.