Overall: The Waldorf Astoria Berlin is worthy of its luxury name
Pros: Wonderful breakfast, responsive staff, beautiful sauna and spa area
Cons: Lack of upgrade, mediocre location
We paid: 236,000 Hilton points for 5 nights
Value: $1,447 including taxes and fees (.61 cents per Hilton point)
How to stay here without paying full price:
- Get one of the Hilton Amex cards and link it to your Hilton account.
- Hit the minimum spend required for the Hilton card you chose:
- $4K for the Hilton Amex Aspire card (which is my favorite) – See why here!
- $3K for the Hilton Honors Business card
- $3K for the Hilton Amex Surpass card
- $1K for the Hilton Honors card, which is fee-free
- Wait for your bonus points (and/or weekend nights) to come into your Hilton account.
- Once your bonus points/nights hit your Hilton account, search the app or website for award availability. Standard nights at the Waldorf Astoria Berlin range from 58,000 – 74,000 Hilton points per night. You can stack free weekend nights with a night you book with your points too.
- Book online through the Hilton app or website, OR if you want to stack your weekend night(s) to the reservation, you should call Hilton.
- Make sure to take advantage of your elite benefits during your stay, which include an awesome free breakfast if you’re a Gold or Diamond!
For full instructions, see my guide to booking Hilton hotels for free.
Full Waldorf Astoria Berlin Review
I stayed here for five nights over Christmas, having arrived via a quick train ride from Nuremberg – check out my experience at the Park Plaza Nuremberg here. Much of Germany shuts down from Dec 24-26, and I chose the Waldorf Astoria Berlin because we’d be in Berlin over those days, and we confirmed the Waldorf Astoria’s fantastic facilities would be open over the holiday. I would’ve been happy with this hotel at any time of year, but this made it even easier to love.
Editor’s note: All photos are mine, except for the view of the pool, which is credited to Waldorf Astoria Berlin.
Checkin: Waldorf Astoria Berlin Review
This hotel has a beautiful lobby and lots of staff who greet you upon walking in.
Checkin was quick and efficient, but did not include a significant upgrade, even when I asked. (I’m a Diamond thanks to my Hilton Aspire card. I had booked a standard King room and was given an “upgrade” to a King With View. The view rooms cost a little more, but they’re otherwise identical and I thought the view was pretty standard.)
I knew from looking at the app that there were about 80 rooms available including a number of suites. (PRO TIP: Open up your app immediately prior to checking into any hotel so that you’re armed with this information!) Again, it was Christmas, so there was high vacancy. I pointed this out and they said they could offer me a really beautiful junior suite at a cost of 120EUR per night. I declined.
This upgrade experience seems pretty consistent with other European hotels, and the room ended up being lovely anyway.
Plus, these two little cakes were in my room as my welcome amenity for being a Hilton Diamond!
Location
The Waldorf Astoria Berlin’s location has some distinct pluses and minuses.
Plus: You have LOTS of transportation options. Berlin’s public transport system is awesome, even by European standards. (Don’t get me started on how much better Europe is than the USA with transport….) This hotel is right on top of an entrance to the Berlin Zoologischer Garten stop, which means you have immediate access to all the U and the S trains. There are also 9 different bus lines within a block of the hotel. So, even though Berlin is a large city, you can be virtually anywhere within about 20 minutes.
Minus: There’s not much around here after 6p. The Waldorf Astoria Berlin is in a great shopping district, within a 10-minute walk of the infamous KaDeWe department store. It’s also right by the zoo. But these things close down fairly early, and even after the Christmas holiday was over, we noticed the area became pretty desolate around 6 or 7p. There are some fast food and convenience store options within a block or two of the hotel, but that’s about it.
Overall, I thought the Waldorf Astoria Berlin’s location was average, given these pluses and minuses. The rest of the hotel more than made up for this, though!
The room: Waldorf Astoria Berlin Review
This was a lovely room, and large by European standards. It felt modern and updated.
The bed was comfortable, they provided two sets of slippers and two sparkling waters, and the pillows were very plush.
The bathroom was particularly nice. It’s unusual for standard hotel rooms in Europe to include a separate bathtub, but we loved it.
I liked how the bathroom had two glass doors, one for the water closet and one for the separate shower. Everything was marble too.
The hotel does a good job with some of the minor details, too. The minibar is stocked with a number of glasses for your own personal use. Prices for the snacks are around 5EUR. Half-bottles of wine are a bit pricey at 26 and 29EUR, respectively.
There’s an umbrella you can borrow in the closet. The hotel offers laundry service too, but I’m pretty glad I didn’t need it, because it’ll cost you 7-8EUR to get each pair of socks and underwear washed!
There were plenty of outlets everywhere, which was great. One thing I didn’t understand, though, was the media setup. We asked the staff downstairs for some adapters to see if we could attach our laptop to the TV, and they gave us a couple of options, none of which fit or worked for us. Oh well.
They provided a really nice set of local chocolates at the turndown service! This is one factor that really sets a five-star hotel apart from a four-star hotel.
Breakfast at the Waldorf Astoria Berlin
This is a big highlight. If you’re a Gold or a Diamond with Hilton, which you can get with a number of Hilton personal or business credit cards, you get free breakfast. And free breakfast at this hotel is awesome, complete with champagne!
When you first sit down, they give you a menu from which you can order a handful of mostly egg-based dishes. These were some that we ate over the course of our days here. All were made fresh to order and were wonderful:
You’re also invited to order unlimited champagne, various juices, and coffee. We definitely had a few champagne breakfasts!
Finally, you’re also encouraged to go to the buffet area. The buffet includes a big variety of fruits, cheeses, yogurt, some hot dishes, breakfast breads, and various meats and cheeses.
I didn’t manage to capture everything, but please take my word for it: It was awesome. Here’s a picture of my favorite roast beef with horseradish sauce and croissant with brie from the buffet table:
Oh, and how could I forget, they had actual honeycomb too. Just scoop it up on your plate.
Sauna and Spa Area
It’s free to visit the Guerlain-branded sauna and spa area at the Waldorf Astoria Berlin, IF you’re a Hilton Honors member. (I don’t even think you need to be a Hilton elite, but I’m not 100% certain of that.) It’s 15EUR per adult per day otherwise. When you check in at the spa counter, they provide you towels and robes.
It’s great! I wasn’t able to take too many pictures of it because it’s a traditional European spa (read: lots of people are naked in the sauna area). However, I snapped a few quick pics. Here’s the beautiful entrance to the spa:
Each locker room was well-equipped with areas to get ready and toiletries.
I took this picture from the Waldorf’s website, but it’s very accurate. The spa facilities include a pool and hot tub that are co-ed and clothed.
Pool and hot tub area (where it’s ok to wear clothing)
Past the pool area, is a coed and clothing-free area. It includes a wet sauna and a dry sauna. Both were hot and large enough to accommodate maybe 10 guests at a time.
The fitness center was pretty standard, some cardio machines and weight machines. Nothing special, but serviceable. One downside was that they didn’t provide you actual bottles of water, just glasses you could fill.
Experience: Waldorf Astoria Berlin Review
I think this hotel really knows what it’s doing, from a staff and experience standpoint. The concierge was extremely helpful with securing multiple dinner reservations. Any question we ever had, they responded promptly and accurately.
Attention to detail is apparent throughout the hotel. The upstairs lobby, where the breakfast is served, is beautiful and has REAL flower arrangements like this one:
Yes, all the flowers are real.
Value for Points
We paid 236,000 Hilton points for four nights, or 59,000 points per night. But due to my Hilton elite status, we actually stayed for five nights and got the fifth night free.
We stayed over Christmas, which wasn’t a very busy or expensive time of year, so our five-night stay “only” would’ve cost about $1,447. This represents a value per Hilton point of about .61 cents. TPG values Hilton points at .6 cents, so this is about average.
However, I think this hotel was an excellent value for Hilton points. For one thing, it’s more expensive outside of the Christmas holiday, which would drive up the price. For another, the breakfast and spa value alone provided high-quality, free meals and entertainment – as long as you have status.
Bottom Line
I hope you enjoyed my Waldorf Astoria Berlin review! This hotel was a highlight of our two-week trip to Germany because of its staff, attention to detail, and lovely spa and breakfast. I’m really glad I stayed here for five nights.
